Crazy Girl's Kitchen

Get ready:

• 4 Tsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried theme
• 1lb barley
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 15oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup black olives, chopped
• 2 lb shrimp (thawed if frozen)
• salt and pepper to taste

Now let’s play:

Heat up 2 Tsp olive oil and saute chopped onion with a pinch of salt for 3 minutes. Add 2 cloves of minced garlic and saute for another 2 minutes. Add barley, basil, theme, and chicken stock. Bring to boil and then simmer for 20-30 minutes. Stir in olives and beans. Set aside. Heat up the other 2 Tsp olive oil in a separate pan. Add the rest of minced garlic. Infuse the oil for 2 minutes. Add shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Cook about 2 minutes on one side and another minute on the other side until it’s pink and cooked through. Scoop the barley mix onto a serving dish or plates, and pour shrimp with the garlic sauce on the top. Serve immediately (about 4-6 servings).

After-play thoughts:

It’s very easy to over-cook shrimp. I find it helpful if you only cook for 2 minutes on the first side at medium heat, flip, watch closely so you can fish the shrimp out as soon as they start to curve up. As to the size of the shrimp used in this receipt, “31/40 per lb” seems to be the best.

For the pan-seared sea scallops:

Get ready:

• 12 sea scallops, thawed and towel-dried
• 4 slices thick-cut smoked bacon, cut into bites
• salt & pepper
  

Now let’s play:

Turn the heat to medium high. Sear the bite-size bacon until golden brown. Use a slotted spoon to take the bacon bites out, and reserve them on a plate for the pasta. Season the scallops with salt and pepper. Sear the scallops in the bacon fat about 1.5 minutes on each side. Don’t crowd the pan. Set the scallops later to plate over the tortellini (3 servings).

After-play thoughts:

Searing scallops in bacon fat give scallops a nice smoky flavor that neither  butter or olive oil would.

For the tortellini:

Get ready:

• 12 oz frozen cheese tortollini, broiled according to instruction on the package and drained (reserve 1 cup pasta water)
• 1 Tsp olive oil
• 2 ears of grilled corn (or 2 cups of frozen corn, sauteed and drained)
• 2 roma tomato
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 Tsp basil
• 1 Tsp thyme
• salt & pepper

Now let’s play:

Add the olive oil to the pan that was used to sear the scallops (Don’t clean the pan). Sauteed the garlic for 1 minute. Then add tomato, corn, basil, and thyme. Sauteed for 2 minutes. Mix with tortellini. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add some reserved pasta water if there isn’t enough sauce. Serve immediately with scallops (3 servings).

After-play thoughts:

Use bacon bites and grilled corn give this dish a nice overall smoky aroma, very complementary to the scallops.

Get ready:

• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 Tsp olive oil
• 2Tsp butter
• 1 can (10 3/4) condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 pound frozen green peas
• 2 cup cooked long grain white rice
• 2 pounds of flounder fillets, fresh or thawed and seasoned with salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1 Tsp dried cilantro
• 1 Tsp dried oregano
• salt and pepper

Now let’s play:

Turn the heat to medium high. Melt the butter together with olive oil. Saute diced onion (add a pinch of salt) until soft. Add garlic. Saute for 2 minutes. Stir in the condensed soup, frozen peas, and rice. Mix together. Cook till peas just thawed. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Turn off the heat. Pour the mixture into a 9*13 baking dish, and even out a bit. Layer seasoned flounder fillets over the rice mix. Double-layering and overlapping are fine and recommended, but make sure they are layered evenly. Sprinkle white wine, dried cilantro and oregano over the flounder fillets. Cover with foil, and bake it in a 350F oven for 45 minutes. Then let it cool for 15 minutes before serving (6-8 servings).

After-play thoughts:

I created this dish when my husband was on a week-long business trip and I felt I need a break from everything. It’s easy, light, elegant, and yummy. It was exactly what I wanted.

Get ready:

• 4 (8 oz) Atlantic wild salmon fillets
• 3 Tsp noodle soup base
• 1/2 Tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 Tsp olive oil

Now let’s play:

Whisk Dijon mustard together with noodle soup base. Add salt and sugar, whisk together. Marinate salmon fillets in the mixed sauce for 30 minutes to 2 hours. Turn the heat to medium high, and heat up the oil. Pan sear the salmon fillets about 2 minutes on each side. Serve immediately (4 servings).

After-play thoughts:

Noodle soup base is kinda like light soy sauce but more much flavorful. You can find in many oriental markets, such as H Mart. If you can’t find it, you can use soy sauce for substitute.