If anyone knows me, Sara, or Ayesha, you know that we’re each obsessed with food. If you put any two of us together, the effect is compounded. If you put ALL THREE of us together – there is an exponential explosion of food.

That’s what happened when Ayesha came down to a Raleigh for a friend’s wedding. We had been planning what to make for weeks beforehand and finally settled on a high tea so we could make a lot of different little things. We spent all day cooking up a storm.

Also, our cameras got to visit each other. All pictures in this post are taken by me, Ayesha, or Sara, on one of our cameras. Whoever was the closest to a camera and had the least flour on their hands took the picture.

The menu was as follows:

Savories
Chipotle Grilled Shrimp and Mango Kabobs
Roasted Vegetable and Fontina Paninis with Chipotle Mayo
Mini quiches – bacon and cheese, spinach and cheese
Fruit and nut salad with homemade candied walnuts and raspberry-balsamic vinaigrette.

Sweets
Scones with lemon curd and cream
Mini tarts with vanilla custard and strawberries
Jam thumbprint cookies, assorted flavors
Chocolate truffles

Awwwww yeah baby. And the insanity behind making all this food….let’s get started.

Firstly, the salad. I saw the recipe for making homemade candied walnuts on the Tiny Kitchen and we wanted to try them. The process seemed simple enough – melt sugar until it turns brown, add butter, mix in walnuts. Easy, right? Simple raspberry vinaigrette – easy peasy!

Deception. Lies and slander.

Thus also began the trek of Sara running back and forth from her house (across the street) because we kept forgetting ingredients. We almost wrote an epic poem. Thankfully, it all turned out well after multiple tries!

Well. Let’s let the pictures tell the story. Click the first on the left for the lightbox gallery. Make sure to read the captions.

Then, there were the phenomenal chipotle grilled shrimp and mango kabobs. Sara wanted to try a tropical fruit with the shrimp, and mango seemed perfect. I’ve also now gotten Sara and Ayesha hooked on the wonders of chipotle-in-adobo. We mirrored the chipotle in the kabobs with chipotle mayo in the roasted veggie sandwiches. We roasted eggplant, zuchinni, red bell pepper, and red onions (the latter with balsamic vinegar) and then made them into paninis with fontina cheese.

We made two types of quiche – one with a really delicious halal bacon that Ayesha brought from Maryland, and the other with spinach and cheese. Ayesha put little tart dough circles into my mini muffin pan, filled with the different flavors and egg (dough still raw), and baked.

These were relatively low stress after the spinach-caramel and exploding vinaigrette fiascos.

I had made Ina Garten’s Jam Thumbprint cookie dough the night before. It’s a cross between a sugar cookie and a shortbread – more like the latter….i.e. it’s phenomenal. Sara and I filled the cookies with strawberry jam, dulce de leche, and chocolate chips (because Musa wanted chocolate ones). The strawberry were the best. The dulce were good, but the dulce got a little too brown while they were in the oven.

The little vanilla custard tarts were just cute. Ayesha cut out the pie crust for the tarts and baked them in the mini muffin pan. We let them cool and filled them with the cream and topped with a slice of strawberry.

Ayesha made her phenomenal scones again (how does she do it? she just throws stuff in a bowl and scones emerge from the oven. BOOM. BOOM. FIYAPOWAAAA) (You have to be super cool to know where that comes from). I made lemon curd and Ayesha made clotted cream.

Ayesha also made really yummy chocolate truffles. We though they would be too soft, but after a trip to the fridge, they were fine.

Awesome, right? Yeah. That’s what I thought.

Of course, we only remembered to make the “tea” part of the high tea when we sat down to eat. We ate with Uncle Wahaj and Auntie Sarwat (Ayesha’s parents) and my parents. My dad summed it up nicely – “See, this is why we had daughters. If we had sons and we asked for some tea, they’d say….okay let’s go to Starbucks.”

yay!

My mom and I were driving home from somewhere and realized that we were both really hungry. Mama started telling me about this spicy, saucy, ranch shrimp wrap she had in Mexico. So, of course, we had to recreate it when we got home!

We made a chipotle ranch sauce for the crispy shrimp and made a sweet relish to balance the smoky-spiciness. I really recommend the arugula instead of normal lettuce because the pepperiness goes well with the spice!

Frozen popcorn shrimp
Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
Ranch dressing
One bell pepper, red or yellow
One mango
Fresh cilantro
Tortilla wraps

1. Bake the shrimp according to package directions.
2. Puree the chipotle and adobo till smooth. Mix with any amount of ranch dressing until it is as spicy as you want. We mixed about 2 1/2 tablespoons with half a bottle of ranch dressing.
3. Dice the bellpepper finely, and do the same with the mango. Really, you could use any sweet fruit here – pineapple, peach, even jicama. Add some finely chopped cilantro, and add cracked black pepper and a hint of salt.
4. Toss the shrimp with the sauce and mix to coat.
5. Put down some arugula on a warm tortilla. Top with the creamy, spicy shrimp, and then with the yellow pepper and mango relish. Wrap up and eat!

At the end of the year International Law Journal banquet, the Editorial Staff treated us all to a dinner at Southern Rail Restaurant in Carboro. It was, to say the least, pretty phenomenal. There was a simple salad with a roasted garlic vinaigrette. Dessert was a coffee pot-au-creme with vanilla bean and nutmeg whipped cream. But dinner…oh…dinner was amazing. It was a linguini in a spicy tomato cream sauce with artichoke hearts and tomatoes, topped with a perfectly cooked salmon that had some kind of sweet crust to it. I don’t now how they did it, but it was just perfect.

To mirror that, I revamped my usual shrimp, spinach, tomato sauce pasta to try to capture the spicy-sweet aspect of Southern Rail’s salmon pasta. I didn’t know how to sweeten the shrimp, so I just caramelized the onions and garlic. Delicious!

Recipe after the link (more…)

These little shrimp make a perfect appetizer (like these, except a different kind of Asian). I marinated them for a few hours and then grilled them - and yes, they really are that red! I served them on top of bellpepper slices because usually tandoori meats are served with grilled bellpepper and onion.

To marinate: Marinate peeled, deveined shrimp in a mixture of yogurt and a few teaspoons (or more, to taste) of a tandoori or tikka masala spice mix. (I have to say that, as much as I try to be original, I am completely unembarrassed by using a tandoori spice mix. I use the mix by Shan Masala.) Put it in the fridge for a few hours if you’re marinating ahead of time and take them out about 30 min before ready to serve, to let them come to room temperature before being cooked.

To cook: Grill or saute the shrimp a couple of minutes per side. Squirt with lemon juice. Serve atop slices of green bell pepper with a dollop of cucumber-mint yogurt.

To serve as a meal: Add a little extra yogurt to the marinade (and more spice mix if you want too). Saute onions, garlic, and green bellpepper until soft (and tomatoes, if you want). Add the shrimp in a single layer and cook for 1 or 2 minutes. Turn them over. Add some cream and mix well to smooth out the sauce. Cook until cream is reduced to desired thickness. Serve over rice or couscous (or, add more cream and serve it over pasta!)

Sara Haddad and I had planned this extraordinary Asian dinner. Shrimp dumplings in a noodle soup (like here, except with shrimp instead of pork), thin, savory steak slices rolled up with peppers and carrots (like here), and fresh hot rice.

It mostly worked. The steak rolls (which i’ll tell you about later) and the soup turned out beautifully. But, right afte we had made this delicious shrimp mixture to pleat into wonton wrappers, we discovered that the wonton wrappers were MOLDY. What a downer.

But we didn’t panic! We brainstormed (and Googled, which is often the same thing). And we came up with these. Fried shrimp balls, a.k.a. Shrimp Falafel! They were phenomenal. We ate them dipped in chili sauce as a side dish to the steak rolls or floating in a brothy soup of cabbage, mushroom, and egg noodles. Sara took these great pictures, too.

Shrimp balls, also known as Shrimp Falafel (thanks, Sarah!)
(adapted from Steamy Kitchen)

1 pound ground shrimp (mince it in a food processor)
3 or 4 stalks scallion, finely minced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 egg
2 slices of toast, made into breadcrumbs and toasted in a dry pan

Mix everything up. Drop tablespoonfulls of the mixture into a pan with hot oil. Fry on both sides until golden brown. Makes about 20. Serve with chili sauce or plop them into a bowl of soup (for the soup option, maybe make them 1/2 tbs size).

Ohh, this was a good one! The chipotle peppers give this soup a smoky smooth flavor. It’s a nice departure from the normal corn chowder. But, beware. The first bite of the soup isn’t spicy, so you might be tempted to add more chipotle. Be ye warned – it gets progressively spicier as you eat it. In the end, I felt feel somebody kicked me in the tastebuds. And I liked it.

The fish tacos couldn’t be easier. Why? They’re made of fish sticks! Gasp! Cheating! I know. Fish tacos from frozen fish sticks? What? But they taste so good, and they’re so quick. All you have to do is fancy them up a little with some salsa.

Recipe here: (more…)

I know. Hold the phone. Don’t worry, I took pictures to memorialize this moment.

I hear this pretty often at home. It’s said with love, so I let it slide most of the time, especially when I get to experiment with new foods. (Otherwise, a certain someone would find himself doing without the essentials for a week). But this time, he actually made his own sammiches! Wha?!?!

I hope this will become a series. The guy has some pretty good ideas of what to make, but we’re still working on implementation. So far, he can make tea, mac and cheese with hotdogs, Ramen noodles, frozen pizza and now, tuna fish sammiches! Supposedly also Hamburger Helper, but I have seen no evidence of such a talent.

I love you, honey!

Ameir’s Tuna Fish Sammiches

2 cans tuna packed in water, drained
1 tomato, diced
Handful of parsley, chopped
Couple o’spoons of Miracle Whip
Bread, toasted

Mix first four ingredients. Put it on bread. Eat. Serve with pickles.

See, now this one is just easy. I was running errands and cooking all day for a family dinner yesterday night and around lunchtime, I was famished. I had some garlic herb butter leftover that I had used to marinate a roast chicken so I put together this quick lunch for myself.

Two handfuls of small pasta
Six shrimp, peeled
One handful of diced tomato
Bit of olive oil
Bit of garlic herb butter
Dash of red pepper flakes
Squirt of lemon juice
Half a handful of peas

Boil some water, cook the pasta. I used farfalle (which, incidentally, means “butterfly” in Italian. Don’t you think the words for “butterfly” are so light and airy in many languages – tittaali (urdu), papillon (french). I like when words sound like what they mean. But I digress.

In a small saucepan, warm the olive oil and the red pepper flakes. Add the garlic herb butter and let it melt. (Garlic herb butter = softened butter + garlic + any dried or fresh herbs you have. You could also just use plain butter and add garlic and herbs to the pan. Same effect). Add the shrimp and sautee until just pink. Add the tomatoes and frozen peas. Add the cooked pasta to the pan and swirl it around in the sauce. Hit it with some lemon juice, salt, black pepper. Eat while watching Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth version, of course).

OH, also – DONE WITH EXAMS! I’m officially a 2L. Well, I don’t have my grades yet, but I’m celebrating all the same.

One year ago: Genius Solution to Pollution and Awakening

I love soup, and while tomato isn’t my favorite kind, I get a hankering for it every now and then. When that hankering occurs at midnight, the only thing you can do is grab a can of Campbell’s. *Ick.* I know, I was desparate. I tried to make it better by adding some oven-roasted tomatoes and using milk and chicken broth to dilute it instead of water. Okay, but not great. I had a lot leftover, and I needed something delicious and nutritious while studying for Criminal Law. (yes, yes, I am studying. The Rule of Lenny…uh…Lenity, and all that.)

I’m not sure if this is a jambalaya or just an extremely saucy risotto made with extra-diluted creamy tomato soup-broth. Anyways, it’s very filling and very good and very easy. It took me about 30 minutes maximum from kitchen to sofa, not including the 5 minutes it took me to make the marinade and the 1 hour where the stuff was soaking in the marinade.

Click here for recipe (more…)

1. Marinate shrimp in garlic, lemon zest, and olive oil
2. Grill the shrimp
3. While still hot, mix with basil pesto (the one you bought a basil plant to make but now the plant is dead and you’re not sure why, you watered it and kept it in the sun and away from the cold)
4. Slice half of a lemon. Squirt the juice from the other half over the shrimp
5. Grill the sliced lemon. Use as a garnish.
6. Eat warm or cold or stir with pasta