Cranberry Relish

This one is not mine, but a friend has prepared it for a workplace Thanksgiving meal the last 2 years and I adore it, so I am sharing it:

12 oz. Frozen Cranberries (Frozen Bag)
2 Large (3 Med) Granny Smith Apples
8 oz. of Crushed Pineapple (Canned)
3 oz. of Strawberry jello (sugar free works fine)
1 Cup of Hot Water
1/2 Cup of Sugar


Peel Apples
Shred Cranberries and Apples in a food processor
Add crushed Pineapple and pulse to combine

Dissolve Strawberry Jello in hot water, add sugar and dissolve.

Add Jello to mix of cranberries, apples, and pineapple and combine....refrigerate for like 15-20 before serving

Aaron's Turkey Gravy

Deep Fried Turkey is the best, but you need a good gravy. Fortunately, you can take the neck and innards from the thawed turkey and make a killer gravy:

4 tablespoons bacon grease
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons olive oil
Neck and innards from 1 (or 2 small) Turkey(s)
1 large onion, quartered
5 carrots, rough chop
4 stalks of celery, rough chop
1 head garlic, sliced
8 allspice berries
8 black peppercorns
Chopped Herbs as desired (Sage, Parsley, Thyme)
5 cups low-sodium turkey or chicken broth
5 Cups of Water
Salt & Pepper


Melt the bacon grease, butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil on medium heat; add the flour all at once whisking vigorously. When mixture thins and starts to bubble, reduce heat to low and cut back on the whisking. Cook until you smell a toasty aroma then cook 2 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Cool and refrigerate the roux until ready to make gravy.

Heat 4 tablespoons olive oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add turkey neck and giblets cook for 20 minutes. Add the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, herbs, and peppercorns and cook for 5 minutes. Add the Water, cook for 15 minutes. Add the broth/stock, let simmer for 2 hours on low heat. Strain the liquid and clean the pot. Put Stock back into pot and put on heat; add cold roux. Cook and Stir for 10 - 15 minutes until not lumpy (Adding flour for desired thickness)

Season to taste with Salt, Pepper, Thyme, Parsley, Cayenne Pepper, Garlic Powder and Allspice

Aaron's Favorite Coleslaw

VEGGIES

1 large green cabbage (shredded or finely chopped)

1 large red cabbage (shredded or finely chopped)

1 jalapeno, finely sliced

1 large vidalia onion, finely sliced

4 large red bell peppers, finely sliced

6 green onions, finely sliced

6 large carrots, shredded

DRESSING

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon brown sugar

2 teaspoons celery seeds

3 tablespoons ballpark mustard

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

2/3 cup olive oil (substitute peanut, vegetable, or canola oil, if desired)

1/3 cup of lemon and lime juice (ratio is not important)

1 teaspoon of sesame seed oil

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

3 cloves of fresh mashed garlic (optional)

Shred Veggies in Food Processor, put in mixing bowl - Put all Dressing Ingredients in Food Processor to emulsify.

Mix together - Let sit in fridge 24 hours and serve (preferably with pulled pork sandwiches)

Shark Stir Fry

I did a shrimp boil last weekend for the leadership of our church, so while I was in Publix tonight picking up children's advil, I was excited to see Andouille Sausage normally $4.98 a pack selling at 2 for $6. I grabbed 2 packs and was looking for some veggies for dinner and accidentally :) got stopped at the Seafood counter. They had something new that intrigued me, Shark Loin Steaks, so I felt that I had to try it since they said I could bring it back for a full refund if I did not like it. That is how this crazy recipe came together in my mind, and it was also affected by watching Bobby Flay make an enormous Seafood Paella on a grill last week on TV. Here's my recipe for the best meal Cara and I (even Landon and Noah wanted to try some Shark, "since Fish are Friends, not Food") have had in some time (and for the record, we eat pretty good):

This recipe will feed 3 unless one of you is hungry and then it is really for 2, for larger groups we'd have to tinker with the recipe...

Ingredient List:

6 Small or Red Potatoes

Old Bay Seasoning

Olive Oil

Sesame Oil

Soy Sauce

Sesame Seeds

Butter

Asparagus (roughly the same volume as the 6 potatoes)

1/4 Vidalia Onion (finely chopped)

2 cloves of garlic (minced)

1 Stalk of celery (minced)

1 carrot (to shave into stir fry)

Shark (roughly 3/4 Ilb)

Andouille Sausage (Johnsonville Brand are about the size of a Hot Dog, I used 3 of those)

In a Pot, add water to cover a little more than 6 small or red potatoes and 1 tablespoon of Old Bay Seasoning and bring to a boil. Dice, then add the Potatoes, cook for about 15 minutes, add the Asparagus for the last 3 minutes. Dump into a colander and rinse with cold water.

Cut Sausages into smaller chunks (I cut at an angle, so more of the interior is exposed to brown) and cut Shark Meat into half inch cubes. Heavily season the Shark meat with Old Bay Seasoning on all sides.

In a Frying Pan, add roughly 2 tablespoons of Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil, and Butter. Heat, add Onion, Garlic, Celery. Cook for about 5 minutes on high heat, stirring and picking up the pan frequently. Add the sausage, cook about 4 minutes until you start to brown the exposed surface of the sausage. Add the Shark give it between 1 and 2 minutes (check one cube, it should barely be cooked through) and then add the potatoes, carrots, and asparagus. Cook just long enough to get the potatoes and asparagus hot. (Again constant attention and stirring is important to avoid burning). Right before pulling off, add some sesame seeds and Old Bay Seasoning on top and stir one last time. Remove from heat and and scoop into bowls to serve.

Notes - Keep Olive Oil on hand. If it starts to dry out, add some - I found the shark meat absorbed alot of the moisture so added a couple tablespoons after that. Also, if you time it well, the potatoes and Asparagus will come out of the pot, get rinsed (to keep the asparagus a pretty green color), and add directly into the stir fry. This minimizes the chance of overcooking the shark and sausage.

I usually prefer a sweet stir-fry, so I'll probably try to work in some pineapple and pineapple juice next time. I'm also tempted to grill the sausage first, and then just throw it in with the shark.

Mahi Mahi - Oscar Style

It's been a long while since I posted a recipe, a combination of being busy and other priorities (including playing HALO REACH)... Today I was thinking about Bonefish Grill's Swordfish Oscar we have had the last two October's, so I went to Publix looking for Asparagus and Swordfish. Much to my dismay they had neither, I asked Mike in Produce to check in the back and he found some Asparagus, but no Swordfish. I settled for Mahi Mahi on sale in the display case and then noticed some lump crab meat and thought about trying to do it Oscar style, my recipe from today is below:

Prep Time:

The first thing to do is to make the crab patties for cooking later, it's best to do this a few hours a head of time. Ingredients needed for the crab cakes are:

1 rib of celery
1/4 Medium Vidalia Onion
1/3 Red Bell Pepper
1 Clove of Garlic
1 Tblspn Reserved Bacon Grease
8 or 9 Saltine Crackers
Approx. 1/4 Cup of Herbs (I used Parsley and Basil)
8 oz Crab Meat
1 Tblspn Lime Juice
1 Tspn of Old Bay Seasoning
A pinch of Salt, Pepper, Cayenne Pepper
1 Egg
1 Tblspn Half & Half

Finely Dice the Celery, Onion, Bell Pepper and Garlic and put in a hot skillet (Bacon Grease should be in the skillet, heated back up to a liquid state if previously refrigerated) for about 3 minutes, just to get the vegetables translucent. Finely chop the herbs and crush the Saltines and place everything in a mixing bowl, save the egg and Half & Half, and mix it up. Beat the Egg and and add the Half & Half, pour into the mixing bowl. Make small patties out of the mixture and place in the refrigerator to set.

For the sauce, we'll make a Chimichurri. We'll need:

1 Bunch of Parsley
1/2 Red Bell Pepper
1/2 Medium Vidalia Onion
10 Cloves of Garlic
1 Tspn of Salt
1 Tspn of Pepper
1 Tspn of Hot Pepper Flakes
Splash of Cider Vinegar
1 Tblspn of Lime Juice
3/4 Cup of Olive Oil

Put everything beside the Parsley and Olive Oil in a Food Processor and chop fine. Add Parsley and Chop until it is fine. Add Olive Oil Slowly and only process enough to emulsify. The less that you process the chunkier the Chimichurri will be which is best.

Take 2 Tablespoons of Chimichurri to marinate with the Fish for about 3 hours (I bought a pack of 2 Mahi Mahi Fillets from Publix). Also, snap the Asparagus and make into rafts (take 4 or 5 stalks and put 2 toothpicks through them to make a mini raft). Brush on a couple of tablespoons of Chimichurri on the Asparagus (enough to cover them on both sides.

Cooking Time:

In a frying pan put 2 tablespoons of Butter and 2 tablespoons of Oil (I used Peanut Oil). Heat - Add the Crab Cake Patties and cook until Dark Brown, approx. 3 minutes per side depending on heat. When done, put the Crab Cakes on tin foil, as they will go to the grill to stay warm.

Oil Grill Grates - This is Critical when Grilling Fish (I put some vegetable oil on a napkin and rub the grates and then spray with Pam Cooking Spray)

Crank the Grill to High Heat - We want to handle the fish as little as possible (Hopefully, 3 times before taking them off)

Put the Fish on the Grill. At about 3 minutes you should be able to slide a spatula under without much sticking, if so, turn at a 90 degree angle. After another 3 minutes flip the fish (you should see a good sear on the top and if not, it may need to cook a little longer). At this point put the Asparagus rafts on the grill and put the Crab Cakes (on tin foil) and the top warming rack of your grill. Flip the Asparagus every minute or so to avoid burning, with high heat they need about 5 minutes on the grill. You'll be turning the Mahi Mahi at 3 minutes, and then at 12 minutes total, you should be pulling it off. With any Luck, it will look like this:

I made a Large Crab Cake :)