Xuxu and Shrimp with Chile and Lemon

Since I love playing with new ingredients, I was intrigued by this recipe calling for Xuxu. What the heck is a xuxu? Oh, well it's a chayote. Well what the heck is a chayote? See how much fun this is? (The picture above is of the chayotes.) Lucky for me I had seen chayotes at my fruit market and in fact I almost bought some once just to play. But this recipe found me instead.

Besides this fun new ingredient, the recipe calls for shrimp, artichoke hearts and jalapeños - three of my favorite ingredients. So this a simple and fun dinner that ends up tasting very flavorful but also light at the same time. It's a nice easy dinner and probably would be really great in summer.

Xuxu and Shrimp with Chile and Lemon Serves 4 6 garlic cloves 3/4 cup chopped white onion 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh jalapeño, including seeds 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice 3 medium xuxu (chayote; about 1 3/4 pound total) 1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined 1/4 cup olive oil, divided 1 (14-ounces) jar or can hearts of palm, rinsed well, patted dry, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces 1/3 cup chopped cilantro

With motor running, drop garlic into a food processor and finely chop. Stop processor and add onion, jalapeño (to taste), lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, then pulse until finely chopped.

Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes for flavors to develop.
Peel xuxu if skin is tough. Cut xuxu off pit in slices, then cut into 1/4-inch-thick matchsticks.

Toss shrimp with 1 teaspoon salt. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Sauté shrimp until just cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Sauté xuxu in remaining tablespoon oil in skillet until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes.

Return shrimp to skillet, then add hearts of palm and sauté until just heated through. Remove from heat and stir in chile-lemon sauce and cilantro.

Blackened Shrimp with Mango Couscous

This is a super-yummy dinner combination. I found the Blackened Broiled Shrimp recipe in the Winter 2007 issue of Taste of South magazine. I realized that I have not had "blackened" anything in a long time and have never made it before. It was easy enough, just sprinkle on some seasoning and pop under the broiler.

Blackened Broiled Shrimp (Serves 6 to 8) Ingredients: 32 large shrimp 1/2 cup peanut oil or vegetable oil 3 tablespoons Vanns Blackened Seasoning 1 lemon, cut into wedges Louisiana-style hot sauce (optional) Instructions: Preheat the broiler. Shell and devein the shrimp, leaving tails on. Brush shrimp with oil and sprinkle with blackened seasoning. Broil for 2 minutes per side, until shrimp are pink and opaque. To serve, squeeze lemon wedges over shrimp and season with a few dashes of hot sauce, if desired.

To accompany the blackened shrimp I decided to make Mango Couscous from The Soul of a New Cuisine by Marcus Samuelsson (which is quickly becoming my new favorite). This is an excellent couscous that can stand alone as a light meal. Imagine the smell of mango, jalapeno and garlic being sauteed in olive oil. It tastes as good as it sounds. The flavors and textures are complex between sweet mango and raisins, fresh tomatoes and lime, and a bit of spice from the jalapeno. I absolutely love it.

Mango Couscous (4 servings) Ingredients: 1 cup couscous 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided 1 garlic clove, minced 1 mango, peeled, pitted and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 1 cup) 1 jalapeno chili, seeds and ribs removed, finely chopped 1/2 cup raisins 1 ripe tomato, chopped Juice of 1 lime 1/4 cup loosely packed small cilantro sprigs, chopped 1/4 cup loosely packed small parsley sprigs, chopped Salt Instructions: Prepare the couscous according to the package directions. Set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large saute pan over high heat. Add the garlic, mango, and jalapeno and saute until the mango begins to color lightly. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, the couscous, raisins, tomato, lime juice, cilantro, and parsley and toss to heat through. Season with salt. Serve hot or at room temperature.

#43: Chicken in Amaranth Sauce

I love when the meals I cook surprise me. It is one of the best parts about cooking recipes. Sometimes they are negative surprises when you are sure that the ingredients will yield an amazing meal, but you become disappointed at the blandness or flavoring. But other times the results are much more positive. When I read the recipe for Chicken in Amaranth Sauce, I did not know what to expect, but it didn't seem like anything special. The only reason I made it was because I wanted to try something with Amaranth because it is listed as #43 on Food & Wine's 100 Tastes to Try.


I purchased the puffed amaranth from Nu-World Foods who sells a wide variety of amaranth products. I found this excellent recipe for Chicken in Amaranth Sauce on their website.

Puffed Amaranth is a nutritious, whole grain, gluten-free product high in quality protein, dietary fiber, polyunsaturates, Omega 3 fatty acids and a variety of vitamins and minerals including iron and calcium. Puffed Amaranth is a uniformly puffed white seed, 1/16” in diameter, likened to a micro-popcorn, which maintains its identity through typical processing.

All the onions in this recipe scared me. Two large onions! 4 chicken breast halves. I pictured the end result something like Chinese food that I order which has a little bit of meat and alot of onions and sauce. But the onions are sliced thin and they melt down. There is no strong onion taste at all.

Making the sauce was simple even though when I read the instructions I thought it would take a while to cook. I saved myself by purchasing diced tomatoes from the produce section. So all I had to do was toast the amaranth puffs and do a bit of measuring. The most work came from slicing the onions and spinach.

The end result was amazing. Tender chicken simmered in a spicy sauce. Those chipolte peppers really have some kick! I am not sure what ethnicity this recipe would fall under, but it reminds me of Indian food - mostly due to the sauce and heat. I loved it!

#49: Fragrant-and-Hot Tiger Prawns

Another great meal I owe to my project to taste all the foods on Food & Wine's 100 Tastes to Try in 2007 list. #49 Hot Hunan Shrimp references the Revolutionary Chinese Cooking cookbook.

British cookbook author Fuchsia Dunlop was the first foreigner—and one of only four women in her class—to study full-time at China’s leading culinary school, the Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine. In February, she’ll publish her second book, Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook, about Hunan culture and cuisine. This stir-fried shrimp, like most of her recipes, is remarkably doable—and bracingly spicy.

The only problem I have with this book being on the list as it specifies Hot Hunan Shrimp as #49 and there are only 3 shrimp recipes in the entire book: Fisherman's Shrimp with Chinese Chives, Fragrant-and-Hot Tiger Prawns, and Noodles with Fresh Shrimp and Baby Greens. I decided to try the Fragrant-and-Hot Tiger Prawns because it seems to be the "hottest" of the three. And it was delicious!

One thing to note is that the cooking is SUPER-FAST. I had to read the recipe a few times so I could remember everything I was supposed to do before I started. I still had to glance back at the book now and then, but the recipe is pretty simple and it kind of cooked itself.

I really want to dive into this book alot more. But I have some family coming into town and we are going to be out and about for an entire week. I probably won't even cook at all. So I'm using this as my bed-time reading. It's really interesting to learn all about the Hunan way of cooking.

Fragrant-and-Hot Tiger Prawns xiang la xia 1 lb. tiger prawns or jumbo shrimp, thawed if frozen 1/2 tsp. salt 1 Tbsp. Shaoxing wine 1 tsp. finely chopped fresh ginger 1 tsp. finely chopped garlic 1 tsp. chili bean paste 1 tsp. chopped salted chiles 3 Tbsp. water 1/4 tsp. dark soy sauce 2 scallions, green parts only, finely sliced 1 Tbsp. finely chopped red bell pepper 1 tsp. sesame oil 1 cup peanut oil for cooking

Cut the heads off the prawns or shrimp, and remove the legs. Remove as much of their dark veins as possible.

Heat the oil in a wok over a high flame until it reaches 350 degrees. Shake the prawns dry. Tip them into the wok and deep-fry for less than 30 seconds, until they have turned pink and are partially cooked. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Pour off all but 3 tablespoons of the oil, and return the wok to a medium flame. Add the ginger, garlic, chili bean paste, and chopped salted chiles and stir-fry until the oil is wonderfully fragrant and stained a deep red by the chiles. Add the water and dark soy sauce and bring to a boil.

Add the prawns and then cook over a high flame to reduce the sauce, stirring constantly. When the water in the sauce has evaporated, add the scallions and bell pepper to give them a lick of heat. You should smell the fragrance of the onions after a few seconds, at which point remove the wok from the heat, stir in the sesame oil and serve.

Andouille Shepherd's Pie

Today is Mardi Gras! I am celebrating Fat Tuesday with this super spicy Andouille Shepherd's Pie. I found the recipe in Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Tastes cookbook. I have had this book for many, many years but I have never made anything out of it. One of my New Year's Resolutions was to make at least one recipe in each of my cookbooks. This one is perfect for a Mardi Gras feast! Also, I was challenged to make some type of pie this month!


This meal was a labor of love. I spent 2 days making this Andouille Shepherd's Pie. I have not made mashed potatoes in over a year and I forgot what a pain they are. To make the entire entree I think I used 5 bowls, 3 pots/pans and countless measuring cups and spoons. It was definitely alot more work than I am used to. And I'm not posting the recipe here because it is three pages long and I don't feel like typing it all.

First step is to peel and cut up six pounds of potatoes. Then you boil them and mash them together with butter and whipping cream. There are 9 different spices you combine together to make a bowl full of seasoning mix. Then come the veggies. Julienne and chop red, yellow and green peppers, carrots, garlic, celery and onions. The, julienned veggies get tossed with some seasoning. The chopped veggies get sauteed and then mixed in with an evaporated milk and egg mixture. Then off to the fridge for some cooling. That was where I stopped for day one.

Tonight I had to grind up the andouille sausage and them mix it together with ground beef and bread crumbs. Then all of that got mixed into the chilled veggie and egg mixtures. Spread all of that on the bottom of a 13x9 pan, top with the julienned veggies and then spread the mashed potatoes over all. Bake for 50 minutes. The juices from the meats boiled up and spilled over the edge of mine and started smoking when they landed on the bottom of my hot oven. So I pulled it 10 minutes early so that I wouldn't be eating a smoky dinner.

I'm glad I went through all that work. This dish is amazing! It is one of the spiciest things I have ever eaten. It made me sweat! Really. I had sweaty armpits and a moist brow! That has never happened to me before. But it was perfect because the potatoes cut the heat. This can feed about 10 people though. I made two leftover lunches and still have 2/3rds left. I'm going to bring it to my friend to feed her family dinner.

Check out the roundup for Waiter, There's Something in my . . . Pie! hosted this month by Cook Sister later this month.

#72: Sichuan Peppercorns

So far, #72 sichuan peppercorns are the most fun ingredient I have tried from Food & Wine's 100 Tastes to try in 2007 list. Not because it is unique like the truffle teas or funky like the charcoal peanuts. The fun part is that your tongue goes numb when you eat one of these peppercorns. And in a really different way. It's like only the top layer of your tonque goes numb, not like getting a novicane shot or anything like that.

Sichuan pepper is one of the most ancient Chinese spices and it is know for its tongue-numbing and lip-tingling effects. I only had one and it must not have been enough to tingle my lips, but I am intrigued! I have seen this ingredient all over the place lately but I am not sure if that is because I have just started paying attention to it or if it is becoming more popular in food. Sichuan pepper doesn't taste anything at all like black pepper. And it's not very hot like a red chile pepper or something like that. But they are fun and I look forward to making more recipes with them. So far, I made Numbing-and-Hot Chicken and it was super yummy!

Creole Sausage and Shrimp

Although this recipe for Andouille Sausage and Shrimp with Creole Mustard Sauce is featured in the February, 2007 issue of Bon Appetit Magazine, it was brought to my attention by Becky from Key Lime and Coconut. She reviewed this recipe and used it as her submission for her Weekend Herb Blogging entry a few weeks ago. I hope Becky knows that imitation is supposed to be the highest form of flattery . . . because I am totally copying off of her. Not only did I make the recipe for dinner tonight, but I'm also going to use it as my entry for this week's Weekend Herb Blogging which is being hosted by Tomatom. I was going to do something else, but I ended up with a thyme story so I figured I'd write about it here.


First of all, the recipe . . . Make this. Go out and buy yourself a pound of shrimp, some spicy sausage, creole mustard and creole seasoning. You will be happy you did. It's pretty easy to make and is nice because it only uses one pot. The hardest part was taking the shells off of the shrimp but you can purchase them without shells to make it even easier. I had one issue with the recipe because my sauce did not thicken in two minutes. It took mine more like 8 minutes and I was worried that the veggies would over-cook but the whole thing came out just perfect. This dish has a bit of spice to it, but it's wonderful spice. The flavors are just amazing and it's super satisfying. Now for the thyme. . .


Thyme is a Mediterranean herb but it grows easily in many parts of the world and has become a standard for various ethnic cuisines. The thyme leaves are tiny and by the time I got mine home, they had folded and looked more like an evergreen than small parsley. This recipe calls for chopped fresh thyme. I have one of those Pampered Chef food choppers so all I have to do is pill up my herbs and then stomp, stomp, stomp . . . it's all chopped. Well, most herbs anyways. This was not the case with the thyme. My normal practice is to chop the herbs stems and all. Those thyme stems are some tough suckers! I kept chopping and chopping and they wouldn't break down fine enough. I brought out the knife but they just weren't cooperating. So my advise is to take the time to pull the leaves off of the stems when working with thyme. This was definitely a learning experience for me with using fresh herbs. But isn't that what this is all about?

Andouille Sausage and Shrimp with Creole Mustard Sauce 4 to 6 servings Ingredients: 1 pound uncooked peeled deveined large shrimp 1 tablespoon Creole or Cajun seasoning* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided 1 pound andouille sausage, cut crosswise on diagonal into 3/4-inch-thick pieces 1 large onion, halved, thinly sliced 1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/3-inch-wide strips 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme 1 cup low-salt chicken broth 5 tablespoons Creole mustard (such as Zatarain's) 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

Instructions:
Toss shrimp with Creole seasoning in medium bowl to coat. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Add sausage pieces, cut side down. Cook until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes. Transfer sausage to bowl. Add shrimp to skillet; cook until browned and just opaque in center, about 3 minutes. Transfer to bowl with sausage. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil, onion, bell pepper, and thyme to skillet. Sauté until vegetables are beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add broth, mustard, and vinegar. Stir until sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. Return sausage and shrimp to skillet. Simmer until heated through, stirring occasionally, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.