Fish Pie

This month over at BakeBakeBake the challenge is British. Frankly, my experience with British food is very small. All I can think of is fish and chips. But a baked British dish? Google was required to find something to meet the challenge! Fish pie is a pie made with white fish. It is a traditional British dish. Upon googling I found Jamie Oliver’s Fish Pie recipe, using a combination of fish, shrimp, carrots, celery, lemon, tomato, spinach, and mashed potatoes.

I was skeptical, but clearly I had no reason to be. This dish was time consuming (until it went into the oven) but came out perfectly with a beautiful crispy potato topping.

Fish Pie

Ingredients
2 lbs white potatoes, cut into pieces
1 carrot, shredded
2 sticks celery, shredded
5 oz Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 lemon
2 1/4 lbs tilapia, cut into pieces
4 oz shrimp, cleaned and peeled
olive oil
1 handful baby spinach
2 tomatoes, quartered

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the potatoes and cook for 12 minutes. Once the potatoes are tender, mash together with several glugs of olive oil.

2. Place the grated carrot, celery, and cheese together in a baking dish. Zest the lemon into the baking dish. Cut the tilapia into bite size pieces. Mix the tilapia, shrimp, spinach, and tomatoes in with the grated vegetables.

3. Spread the mashed potatoes on top of the dish. Bake for 40 minutes.

* serves 6
* shared with Tasteful Tuesday Party, Tasty Tuesdays,  Tempt My Tummy, & Recipe Box 

Fried Rice Two Ways

 

Since Monday this week was a holiday, I had time to make dinner and didn’t need to rely on the slow cooker. But just because Monday allowed enough time to make dinner, Tuesday still did not. Because of this, I knew I needed to make enough dinner Monday to have on Tuesday and also to change the dish up a bit so I could have it two ways.

Clearly I’m not very good at keeping up with challenges I keep for myself (as you can see my 52 Week Around the World Challenge) ended short, but at least through this semester there should be a dish a week that I make two ways just because my schedule sort of forces it.

This fried rice made use of the crystallized ginger Rose sent me a few months ago in my Foodie Pen Pal box. Because it was cut up very fine, it wasn’t overpowering but to get a piece of that sweet ginger was excellent in the rice.

 

Day 2 got a bowl of fried rice soup, which was an easy way to make the dish into something else. In retrospect though, it could have used more broth.

Day 1: Fried Rice
Day 2: Fried Rice Soup

Fried Rice

Ingredients
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups shrimp, shelled, deveined, and cut into pieces
1 10-oz package frozen peas
3 cups cooked rice
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp white wine
2 tbsp crystallized ginger, finely chopped
4 tsp toasted sesame oil

DAY 2 EXTRA INGREDIENTS
1 cup chicken broth

Directions

1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until medium. Combine the eggs and pour into the skillet. Cook, stirring, until scrambled, about 1 minute. Break into small pieces and transfer to a bowl.

2. Add another tbsp of oil. Add the onion and the garlic to the pan, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and peas. Cook until the shrimp are cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the eggs.

3. Heat the remaining tbsp of oil in the skillet of medium-high heat until hot. Add the rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until crispy.

4. Stir together the soy sauce, white wine, ginger, and sesame oil. Add to the skillet along with the egg. Cook until heated through.

5. DAY 1 INSTRUCTIONS: Serve as is.
DAY 2 INSTRUCTIONS: Heat the chicken broth and the rice in a large pot until simmering. When warm, serve.

* makes 4 servings of rice (DAY 1 & DAY 2 each make 2 portions)
* DAY 1 CALORIES: 498 calories per serving
* DAY 2 CALORIES: 503 calories per serving

Lime Shrimp Fried Rice

 

I have a thing about lunches. I hate leftovers. I don’t really like sandwiches unless they’re purchased from a deli and the only thing I did in the creation of the sandwich was fork over some money. I really like my lunches to be just as delicious as my dinners – just different from my dinners.

My coworkers go out to eat so often. I really save money eating the way I do and I probably end up being a lot more satisfied than they are. When school starts next week I’m going to make sure I bring lunch with me on those days I’m on campus all day also, because cafeteria food and my stomach don’t always make the best pair.

Lime Shrimp Fried Rice

Ingredients
2 cups rice, uncooked
2 3/4 cups water
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 garlic clove, minced
6 oz shrimp
1/3 cup green onions, minced
1 cup cucumber, diced
1 cup tomatoes, diced
1 tbsp sesame oil
6 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 jalapeno, seedeed, devined, and minced
2 tbsp lime juice

Directions

1. Cook the rice in a rice cooker or in a pot with the water. Once cooked remove and allow to cool.

2. Place 3 tbsp of vegetable oil and 1 tbsp of sesame oil in a small bowl. Whisk to combine. Set aside.

3. Place the 3 tbsp of fish sauce and sugar in a small bowl. Whisk to combine. Set aside and finish the rice.

4. Place a large skillet over high heat. Add the vegetable oil/sesame oil combination and heat.

5. Add the beaten eggs and create an egg “pool.”

6. Add the garlic on top of the eggs to prevent it from burning. With a spoon, life and stir the egg mixture to break up the eggs.

7. Add the cooked rice and continue to stir-fry until the rice begins to brown.

8. Sprinkle with the fish sauce/sugar combination. Continue to lift and stir the rice.

9. Add the shrimp, continuing to cook for about 8 minutes or until the shrimp are cooked all the way through.

10. Stir in the vegetables.

11. Stir together the jalapeno, lime juice, and remaining fish sauce. Whisk to combine. Stir into the rice mixture.

* serves 4
* 392 calories per serving

Egg Drop Soup

Soup soup soup! I’m all about it recently, as I’m sure you can tell by my recent posts. So rather than break away from the soup, here’s another recipe.

I probably shouldn’t eat this, because I have high cholesterol and egg is high in cholesterol… But shoot me. It tastes good.

Egg Drop Soup

Ingredients
6 cups chicken broth
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
9 oz shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 carrot, shredded
1 cup portobello mushrooms, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup peas, frozen

Directions

1. Combine the cornstarch and broth in a pot and whisk together until fully dissolved.

2. Turn heat up to medium and bring to a low boil. Add soy sauce and garlic and stir. Add the carrots and mushrooms, stirring and cooking for 2 minutes.  Add the shrimp and cook for 3 more minutes. Add the peas and stir.

3. Reduce heat to simmer. Slowly pour the beaten eggs into the soup. Stir.

* serves 2
* 364 calories per serving
* I shared this recipe with These Chicks Cooked Weekly Recipe Collection and What’s Cooking Wednesday?

Chicken and Shrimp Stew

Awhile back my mom gave me this decrepit looking cookbook called the Low Calorie Diet Cookbook. I actually can’t even find a picture of it online, which shocks me. This book was published in the ’70s by Success Publications. When I first decided I wanted to lose weight my mom gave me a bunch of books which she had purchased previously for low-cal recipes. Some of the cookbooks she gave me flat out sucked. I was convinced this one was going to also, but tonight’s meal was just one of many that came from the cookbook.

I did end up making some variations from the original recipe, but that had to do with what I actually had to work with in the house.

This was a delicious meal for a cold night.

Chicken and Shrimp Stew

Ingredients
8 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
8 oz shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 tbsp Brummel&Brown
3 cups diced potato
2 14-oz cans fire-roasted diced tomato
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped

Directions

 1. In a pot over medium heat, melt the Brummel&Brown spread. Add the potatoes until brown. In the pot add the onion, tomato, and bell pepper. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until the potatoes are tender.

2. Add some water or chicken broth if it seems too thick. Add the chicken. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the shrimp and cook for 5 minutes more.

* serves 4
* 380 calories per serving
* shared with Cookbook Sundays over at Couscous & Consciousness 

Easy Jambalaya

Jambalaya, a-crawfish pie and-a file gumbo
‘Cause tonight I’m gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-oh
Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou.
- Hank Williams Jr.

While this obviously isn’t a traditional jambalaya, it was tasty and it was easy.

Easy Jambalaya

Ingredients
1 tbsp canola oil
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 small red bell peppers, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 cups dried rice
2 cups water
15 oz fire roasted petite diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 chicken sausage, sliced
15 oz boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks
5 oz raw shrimp, deveined and peeled

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a pot. Once hot add in the vegetables and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the spices and saute for a minute.

2. Add the rice and saute for a few minutes to toast. Add the tomatoes, water, chicken, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the rice is tender.

3. Remove the bay leaf. Add the sausage, shrimp, and parsley. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the shrimp are pink.

* serves 4
* 550 calories per serving

Shrimp in Jalapeno Lemon Cream Sauce

This is my first food post here on the new home of The Law Student’s Cookbook. One of the things about being a law student is the necessity of ease. My life is so hectic and crazy, that sometimes I just need things to be simple. While blogger has done me good for the length of me using it, I found that wordpress is definitely more customizable. And this customization is so easily accomplished. Literally, it’s as simple as pushing a few buttons instead of having to understand some sort of coding that I used to know, but has been replaced in my head with information about evidence, wills and trusts, and capital punishment law. None of that is very useful to running a blog that looks the way I want it to.

Anyway – this dish was very tasty. I have never made a spicy cream sauce before and I never would have considered mixing all these flavors together before. It came out better than I had expected, to be honest.

Shrimp in Jalapeno Lemon Cream Sauce

Ingredients
2 lbs peeled and deveined shrimp
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp Brummel&Brown yogurt spread
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 green onions, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped fine
1 tbsp honey
1/3 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place the shrimp in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.

2. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil and 1 tbsp of the yogurt spread.

3. Cook the shrimp until they are no longer translucent, about 3 minutes. Remove the shrimp and set aside.

4. Add the green onions and garlic and cook for one minute. Add the lemon juice, jalapeno, and honey and stir for another minute. Add the chicken stock to deglaze the pan. Allow the liquid to reduce for a couple of minutes until thick.

5. Place the cream in a cup and combine with 3 tbsp of the hot liquid. Stir well. Pour the cream mixture into the skillet with the rest of the liquid. Allow the cream to a come to a foam. Add 1 tbsp of the Brummel&Brown spread. Add the shrimp and any juice from the plate back in with the sauce. Stir to coat and heat for about a minute.

6. Serve over noodles or rice.

* serves 4
* 474 calories per serving
* the noodles (or rice) are not included in the calorie calculation