Good Food - Good Company

We are on the last lag of the construction adventure at the Stachel household. I couldn't be more excited!! It has been quite some time since I've been able to cook a decent meal in our construction dusted kitchen. The end is in sight and I know it will be well worth the wait (before and after post to come).

Although intricate meal making has come to a halt (not that it existed before), that doesn't mean entertaining has. A few weeks ago I decided to have a dinner party. I wanted to keep it simple considering we were lacking a put-together space. Initially I thought, "what a great night for a patio, dinner party", unfortunately MN weather refused to cooperate and we ended up inside. I dusted, it worked out. ;)

I wanted to serve something light, including only ingredients I had in the house. I started out with tortilla chips and Mango Salsa. For the main course I decided to serve a Curry Shrimp Flatbread. I served both of these with my favorite cheap white wine, the Kirkland Chardonnay. You can purchase a bottle at Costco (and Costco alone) for about $8.99. YES!!! Believe it!!! For those of you who don't know me well, I consider myself to be somewhat of a wine snob. I do NOT lead you astray. If you're a fan of a delicious buttery chard, this is the perfect everyday chard for you!

Anyhow, I was nervous about the mix and how everything would come together, but it turned out GREAT!! The wine paired awesome with the mango salsa as well as the flatbread. Sometimes the simplest things in life are the most enjoyable!

A "must have" summer wine!

Curry Shrimp Flatbread

Recipes
Curry Shrimp Flatbread
Shrimp seasoning (adopted from www.eat-yourself-skinny.com)
3/4 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 lime
1-2 T. chopped cilantro for garnish
Shrimp (you could use frozen small or fresh large, depends what you prefer)

2-3 T. Goat cheese
1/4 of  a Red onion
2 T. Sour cream
1 Cooked flatbread

Preheat oven or grill to 375. Mix all dry ingredients together. Heat 1-2 T. olive oil in sauce pan. Toss shrimp in the seasoning mixture. Cook shrimp. when shrimp is almost done, spread evenly on flatbread. Sprinkle onion and goat cheese over the top. Bake for 5-10 min. Top with cilantro and sour cream.

Mango Salsa
4 Mangoes 
1 Red onion
2 Jalapenos 
1/4 c. cilantro
salt
pepper

Dice all ingredients and mix together. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Picadillo

Picadillo is a traditional Latin dish. This dish is one of my all time favorites! It's easy to make and has amazing flavor. One of my best friends got me hooked on this dish far before I knew the power of a vegetable. Oddly enough, this particular friend can't even successfully cook a frozen lasagna, but somehow she manages to make a mean picadillo dish along with homemade chips!

Finely chopped veggies are the essence of this dish.

Basamati rice is a key ingredient. The brand above is the best out there. I've tried several and none of them stand up to this one. No matter what brand of rice you choose, be sure it's basamati and rinse the rice when it's done cooking.

The finished product!

Recipe
1lb Ground beef
3-4 serano peppers (depending on how spicy you like it)
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 red onion
1/2 clove of garlic
1  jar small green olives
1 can tomato paste
1 can black beans
olive oil
salt & pepper
celery salt
basil
red pepper flakes
cumin

Cook the rice according to the directions on the package. Rinse rice when fully cooked.

Season the hamburger with celery salt, basil, red pepper flakes and cumin. Dice all vegetables. Put 1-2T. in pan. Cook all peppers, onions, garlic, and black beans. Season the veggies with salt & pepper. In a separate pan, cook the hamburger. Once hamburger is fully cooked add the veggies, strained green olives and tomato paste. You may need to add water or tomato sauce in addition to the tomato paste, dependent upon the consistency you'd like. I added a can of water.  Serve the mixture atop a bed of rice and enjoy!

Haute Brunch

About three weeks ago, Dan and I were out and about and decided to grab brunch. Haute Dish in downtown Minneapolis was near and happened to be on our list of brunch spots to try. Although I heard the Biscuits & Gravy are a menu item not to be passed, I must say that my Pig in a Blanket was the right choice!

The Pig in a Blanket (contrary to your initial thought) consists of smoked pork shoulder, pepperjack cheese, and a johnny cake smothered with poblano gravy, topped with fresh cilantro. If you haven't been to brunch at Haute Dish yet, don't wait any longer. When you're there try the Pig in a Blanket alongside a mimosa and I promise, you won't leave disappointed!