It's fall and it's time to pick the oranges fresh off the trees here in Florida. This time of year, I like to look for ways to use these beautiful sun-kissed delights in cooking.
This marinade is great with beef, chicken or tuna. I used beef.
I served this dish over a store-bought beef rice mix with a squirt of orange added while cooking. That is a great tip for spicing up store-bought rice mixes; add fresh fruit or fruit juice.
I topped the rice with a big mound of stir fry veggies prepared with soy sauce, orange juice, and garlic. Just a little freshly ground pepper and a pinch of salt was all I needed to finish.
BTW - Add on any veggies that you like to the skewers. This marinade is great with those pre-packaged skewers that you find in the meat section of your local supermarket.
Ingredients for Marinade:
(For each skewers you will need)
Juice of 1/2 orange
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Juice of one lime
1/4 cup dry red wine or non alcoholic wine
6 whole cloves
Directions:
Combine all ingredients for marinade. Toss in the citrus fruit rinds. Marinate chicken or beef skewers for thirty minutes, turning occasionally.
For chicken, you will want to keep the food in the refrigerator. Beef can be marinated to room temperature as long as it's covered.
Marinate tuna in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Remove from marinade.
Note: Season the skewers as much as you like. I like to use a liberal amount of Adobo seasoning with pepper before I toss these on the grill pan.
If you have a favorite seasoning, you can use that. Go ahead and mix it up!
Grill on grill pan over high heat, turning skewers once on each side; about five minutes for medium rare.
Enjoy!
I will see you soon. I've got some great low calorie comfort food recipes coming up over the next couple of weeks so stay tuned!
If you like this recipe, check out one of my originals (and one of my personal favorites): http://welcometojustforcooking.blogspot.com/2011/02/corsican-style-beef-served-with-winter.html
It's been a great summer. The kids are going back to school next week here in Lake County, Florida.
In this series, I blended a little bit of American History in with the food. I also tried to focus on regional recipes or something which tasted of a region. For the last post of my summer series, I prepared a dish that I had been wanting to make for a while.
Tonight, the tribute goes to Delaware and Maryland. Maryland history dates back as far as 1498. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Maryland. Delaware's history is more recent, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Delaware.
I've been to Baltimore but never to Delaware. But I understand from a culinary perspective, both are big crab states. Crab and corn pasta is traditional in the summertime.
Here is my version:
Ingredients -
1/2 pound of your favorite cooked pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 ear corn, kernels removed from cob
1 large tablespoon fresh garlic, chopped
14 grape tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoon butter
Dash or two of hot sauce, optional
1/2 tablespoon seafood seasoning (I used Old Bay)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
4 ounces lump meat fresh crab (from a container if fine), picked clean of shells
Note: Hubby Dan made a wonderful fresh short cut pasta for this dish. But use any pasta that you like. I recommend a denser variety such as cavatelli.
Fresh chives are optional.
Directions -
Cook pasta per package directions. Drain and keep warm.
In a medium skillet, add olive oil, green pepper and corn kernels. Saute' for four or five minutes.
Add garlic. Continue to cook for one more minute.
Add the grape tomatoes to the pan and cook for one minute until they just begin to soften.
Add the butter and the hot sauce to the pan. While the butter is melting, add the seafood season and lemon to the crab and carefully toss.
Add the crab to the pan and gently toss with the other vegetables so that the crab doesn't break up too much.
Toss with pasta and serve immediately.
I hope you enjoyed this summer series. Next up, I'll be sharing another crab dish.
See you soon!
I love to travel. I would much rather travel someplace than to buy a car or a shiny something, because travel makes the brain, the heart, and the soul richer, while the other only makes us-- well, you can decide.
Summer is a great time to travel. Because the economy is still bad and times are tight, if you are like my hubby and me, we are choosing to stay close home this year.
I often say, "Food can take you anywhere you want to go, even if you don't have a lot of money." If you cannot afford to travel, you can create your own "vacation" memories at home. So in honor of all of those who cannot afford a summer vacation this year, I bring to you a virtual vacation through food. Over the remainder of the summer, I'll be taking you on more of these trips as I create new, healthy recipes to share with you.
If you are going to prepare this as a virtual "get-away" dish for two, take the time to create a little ambiance. Set the table sea-side style.
This dish (not counting alcoholic beverages you might wish to consume with it) will cost you less than $15.00 to make.
Seaside Broiled Sea Scallops in Vermouth
Do not expect a rich, buttery, unhealthy cream sauce with this dish. You can really taste the scallops, and this sauce is light You are going to want to serve this with rice pilaf (as I did) and perhaps even some crusty French bread to sop up that light sauce. Yeah, it's that good.
The scallop dish cooks up in minutes, so be sure to have your side dishes prepared first. Putting together a great meal is often about the timing. Plan which dish to prepare first based on the time it takes to make it.
Cook's Notes: I recommend using extra dry or dry vermouth with this dish, however, a nice dry white wine (one you can drink) also gives this great flavor. You can substitute non-alcoholic wine. If using broth instead of the wine, use garlic powder instead of garlic salt.
A serving is five large sea scallops per person or 1/4 pound each.
Ingredients:
1/2 pound sea scallops, fresh or frozen (if frozen, defrost and pat dry)
2 tablespoons extra dry or dry vermouth wine, divided
2 teaspoons of softened butter, divided
A few pinches of seafood seasoning, to taste
A few pinches of dried dill weed
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, divided
2 teaspoons plain dried breadcrumbs, divided
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt, divided
Pinch or two of white pepper, optional and to taste
Fresh lemon slices for garnish, optional
Fresh parsley for garnish, optional
Directions:
Spray ramekins with butter flavored cooking spray. Layer five scallops in each container.
Add 1/2 tablespoon of vermouth over scallops. Add 1/2 tablespoon of softened butter into each (as pictured). Do not place the butter directly on top of any of the scallops but to the side as you are creating a sauce.
Sprinkle each ramekin with a few pinches of the seafood seasoning. Top each ramekin with a pinch of dried dill. Add 1/2 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice to both containers.
Top the scallops with 1/2 teaspoon dried bread crumbs. Sprinkle each ramekin evenly with 1/4 teaspoon of garlic salt and just a 1/2 pinch of white pepper, scattered.
Transfer ramekins to a baking pan. Midst scallops and bread crumbs with more cooking spray to ensure browning.
Broil for until scallops and bread crumbs turn golden brown and all of the butter is melted. Carefully rotate pan containing ramekins if necessary.
Garnish with lemon slices and fresh parsley (optional).
For a week night inexpensive take on seafood, check out my new weekly online cookbook called Cafe' Cheapo for new easy and inexpensive to prepare recipe.
And if you liked "Amazing Artichoke week," look forward to my first cooking video on Living El Cheapo. I know you are going to like it! (COMING SOON!).
If you enjoy scallops, you might also like this post: BBQ Shrimp and Sea Scallops.
Wine tip: Check with your local liquor store. There are likely certain days of the week or month when they put the discontinued wines on clearance. You can enjoy a better bottle of wine for up to 50% off in many cases. Call your local store to find out what days they discount these wines and stock up for special occasions.
Enjoy and see you soon!
