A favorite Chinese restaurant remembered: Dim Sum Eggplant Stuffed with Shrimp

Our take on a traditional dim sum favorite, eggplant stuffed with a shrimp/pork mixture, sautéed and steamed. Recipe below.

Dim Sum Eggplant Stuffed with Shrimp

For quite a few years, one of our most beloved dim sum dishes was the eggplant stuffed with shrimp prepared at Hong Minh on Cermak in Chicago’s Chinatown. It was light and luscious and suave, and we were crazy about it. Continue reading “A favorite Chinese restaurant remembered: Dim Sum Eggplant Stuffed with Shrimp”

In a NOLA state of mind: Spicy Shrimp with Tomatoes and Cheddar Grits

A relentlessly busy schedule these days has us raiding the Blue Kitchen archives again, this time for New Orleans-style comfort food with a kick: Spicy Shrimp with Tomatoes and Cheddar Grits. Recipe below.

Spicy Shrimp with Tomatoes and Cheddar Grits

New Orleans is one of our favorite cities for food. Everything tastes of history, blended cultures and spices. Lots of spices. Some of them hot, of course, but more often just big flavored. And from the diviest dives to the fanciest white tablecloth spots, you have to work hard to find a bad meal.[Read more here…]

A simple, authentic taste of Venice: Fettuccine with Shrimp and Radicchio

Sautéing radicchio tames its bitter bite in this Venetian pasta dish. Shrimp, garlic, saffron and wine all add their flavor notes. Recipe below.

shrimp radicchio pasta

It’s another bookish week here at Blue Kitchen. This time, we’re looking at a pair of books on regional Italian cuisines, one covering Venice, the other Sicily. Most books on national, regional or ethnic cuisines aim for authenticity. These books immediately up the ante—they’re published in Italian with English translations.

The books in question are review copies we received of Venezia in cucina/The flavours of Venice and Sicilia in cucina/The flavours of Sicily, published by Sime Books. The Venice book is edited by Cinzia Armanini and Alberta Magris and filled with sumptuous, atmospheric photographs by Laurent Grandadam. William Dello Russo is the editor of the Sicilian book; Nino Bartuccio and Alessandro Saffo supply the gorgeous images. Continue reading “A simple, authentic taste of Venice: Fettuccine with Shrimp and Radicchio”

Spicy Shrimp with Tomatoes and Cheddar Grits deliver the down-home Taste of Tremé

Adapted from a recipe in Todd-Michael St. Pierre’s Taste of Tremé, this dish combines seafood, peppers and Creole seasonings on a bed of creamy grits—comfort food with a kick, quintessentially New Orleans. Recipe below.

New Orleans is one of our favorite cities for food. Everything tastes of history, blended cultures and spices. Lots of spices. Some of them hot, of course, but more often just big flavored. And from the diviest dives to the fanciest white tablecloth spots, you have to work hard to find a bad meal.

It’s been too long since we’ve been back to New Orleans. Fortunately, Taste of Tremé: Creole, Cajun, and Soul Food from New Orleans’ Famous Neighborhood of Jazz, delivers. Published just last month, it is stuffed with doable recipes, from breakfast right on through to dinner, dessert and cocktails. Continue reading “Spicy Shrimp with Tomatoes and Cheddar Grits deliver the down-home Taste of Tremé”

Everyday French made easy: Roasted Shrimp and Green Lentils

Shrimp roasted with garlic, scallions and tarragon tops French green lentils for a quick, satisfying, quintessentially French meal. Recipe below.

For all the complex, multi-stepped recipes that give French cuisine its daunting reputation, everyday French home cooking is filled with countless utterly simple dishes as perfect and impressive in their own way as the hautest restaurant cuisine.

Wini Moranville’s new book, The Bonne Femme Cookbook: Simple, Splendid Food That French Women Cook Every Day, proves this with recipe after recipe. La bonne femme is French for “the good wife,” the introduction tells us, but in French cuisine, “it refers to a style of cooking—namely, the fresh, honest, and simple cuisine served at home, no matter who does the actual cooking, femme, mari (husband), or partenaire domestique (significant other).” Continue reading “Everyday French made easy: Roasted Shrimp and Green Lentils”