October Top 10: French Fries

Welcome to the first installment of what I plan will be a monthly event: the top 10 list! I know, not a creative title, but that is what it is. Today's top 10 list is something near and dear to the hearts of all veggies: french fries. Why, you omnivores may ask, would french fries be so important? Well, the answer is simple, really: when all your buddies go "Hey, let's go to [fast food establishment]," do you want to sit at home just because you can't have a cheeseburger? Doubtful. Instead, you tag along, and have some fries. But, to be fair, you really can't compare the fries at, say, Red Robin (which btw are perfection!) to those at a fast-food drive through, so I narrowed it down to fast-food establishments only. And to mix it up, we're doing the top 5 and the bottom 5. Because a top 10 is too boring :P

Top 5 Fries:
5. Taco Bell: Yes, I know, T-Bell doesn't have fries. But they do have more vegetarian options than any fast food establishment ever. Therefore, they must make every fast food top 5 list.
4. Jack in the Box: They give you 3 different options for types of fries! How cool is that? No one kind is amazing, but choices are nice.
3. Chik-Fil-A: These folks have figured out the secret of fries -- a big grippable surface, perfect for dipping.
2. Checkers/Rally's: 1 order of seasoned fries + 1 milkshake = oh happy day :)
1. Arby's: Two words: Curly fries. Oh yeah, and horsey sauce! Are you thinkin' Arby's? 'Cause I am.

Bottom 5 Fries:
5. McDonald's: Honestly, McDonald's fries are not bad. If ever you will go through a drive through and receive cold, ancient french fries, though, this is the place it will happen.
4. Wendy's: There's really nothing wrong with Wendy's fries, they just bore me. I wouldn't pick them if given a choice.
3. Burger King: They just taste funny. I don't know why, I can't describe it, but they do.
2. White Castle: The fries taste like they were fried not only with the onions that fill the entire establishment with their odor, but with the meat too.
1. Steak 'n Shake: If your friends want you to tag along to Steak 'n Shake, don't friggin bother. The fries are pathetic, and not even cheese sauce can save them (plus, the grilled cheese is not much better). If it's Steak 'n Shake or bust, I'd rather bust.

Swordfish Steaks with Sweet Cream Sauce and Asparagus

Long title for today, because this dish was so freakin' good it deserved it. I always struggle with making fish steaks that don't come out either raw or tough as leather, and this time I actually managed to pull it off, with a sauce that makes even the dry outer edges taste creamy and delicious! You will love this, unless of course you're exceedingly lame.

Swordfish Steaks with Sweet Cream Sauce and Asparagus

fish:
2 single-serving-sized swordfish steaks
salt and pepper
1 T peanut oil

sauce:
3 T butter
1 T flour
1/2c coconut milk
1c milk
1t vanilla
2t cinnamon
1t brown sugar
2t salt
1/2 lb asparagus

1c rice
2c water
1T butter

Start with preparing the rice, because once that's done nothing weird will happen to it if it sits for a little while. Mix rice with water, microwave on high for 5 minutes uncovered, then 15 minutes on medium, covered. Mix the butter in, then put it back in the microwave so it doesn't get cold.

While the rice is cooking, start the sauce in a large pan over medium heat. Make a roux with the butter and flour, and slowly add the coconut milk and milk, stirring constantly until consistent. Mix in seasonings, continuing to constantly stir so it doesn't stick to the pan. Add the asparagus (chopped into 1-inch segments), and reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook 5-7 minutes, or until asparagus is tender.

Once you've covered the sauce, start the fish. Salt the fish-steaks on each side. In a medium-sized pan, heat oil over high heat. I do not recommend butter for this, as it burns at a fairly low temperature. Peanut oil can withstand the heat much better. When the pan is hot (test by dripping a little water in the pan -- if it pops like crazy, the pan is hot) add your fish steaks. Stay out of the way! I don't want to be held responsible for oil burns. Cook the fish over high heat 2-3 minutes on each side, then remove promptly! Overcooking results in not delicious fish.

To serve, make a bed of rice in the center of your plate. Place a fish steak over the bed of rice, and arrange asparagus around the edge of the plate. Spoon sauce generously over fish, and garnish with a little black pepper.

The combination of the bitter vegetable flavor of the asparagus with the sweet sauce and the rich meaty swordfish is absolutely divine, believe me. Or, don't believe me and make it for yourself.

Argentinean Red Shrimp

I was at Trader Joe's the other day, looking to restock the freezer with protein, and I came across a bag of "Argentinean Red Shrimp." They were the same price (give or take some pennies) as the regular boring raw shrimp, so I thought I'd give them a try. It was the best seafood decision I have ever made. These shrimp are the poor man's (or woman's) lobster. They have that perfect, rich, meaty, I think of it as a red flavor, that you find in lobster, but for a tiny fraction of that cost. The recipe I'm sharing with you today is really just a basic shrimp alfredo that I'm using to showcase this amazing shrimp, so you don't have the excuse of "well those sound good but what would I do with them?"

Shrimp Alfredo

2 tbsp butter
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tbsp flour
2c milk (or 1c milk, 1c cream)
1 lb Argentinean red shrimp
3/4 cup grated parm
3-4 artichoke hearts, rough chopped
salt & pepper
1 lb penne
2-3 medium-sized basil leaves, shredded

Heat large pan of water, when water boils add pasta.

Meanwhile, make a roux (heat butter and garlic, add flour until dissolved). Slowly add cream and/or milk, mixing constantly to prevent lumps. Once all the milk is added and the sauce is heated through, add shrimp (peeled and deveined). When the shrimp starts to shrink up and look curly at the edges, add the parmesan, gradually until melted through the sauce. Add artichokes (I get them out of a jar, but frozen is just as good), and salt and pepper to taste.

Dran pasta, and mix with sauce in large bowl. Garnish with fresh basil. I had some green beans as a side dish to this, just to make sure I got my serving of veggies :)

Beer Cheese Soup

The alternate title for this entry was "Ode to Schlafly," because not only does the recipe use Schlafly Oktoberfest beer, it was actually inspired by their beer cheese soup.

One of my very favorite places to eat in St Louis, and the one place that I will inevitably take every non-St-Louisan who visits me, is the Bottleworks. I recommend pretty much every item on their menu that I've ever had. They have a wide variety of vegetarian options, and lots of things made with beer! If you like to actually drink beer (which I can't imagine why anyone would) there are many varieties of that as well. While I really dislike beer for drinking, I love to make things with it -- bread, biscuits, and of course, cheese soup! The beer cheese soup at the Bottleworks, unfortunately, left me a little disappointed. So I went home and made my own. And now I am sharing it with you, in the hopes you can find the cheesy joy that I did :)

Beer Cheese Soup

3 tbsp butter
1 leek
1 carrot
1 tbsp flour
3 cups vegetable broth
1 12 oz bottle amber-type beer (As I mentioned, I used Schlafly Oktoberfest, but Sam Adams is a good one if you don't have anything local available)
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)
8 oz mild cheddar cheese (also shredded)
2 tsp garlic salt
generous grinds of black pepper

First and foremost, open the bottle of beer and pour it into a large measuring cup to go flat (try to pour it pretty quickly -- the more head builds up, the more quickly it will go flat). Heat the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the leek and the carrot, and cook until both begin to get soft, about 5 minutes. Add flour to make a roux, then SLOWLY add vegetable broth, followed by beer; stir constantly while adding liquid. When vegetables are cooked to desired consistency, add cheese gradually, stirring until there are no lumps of cheese or puddles of cheeseless broth. Add garlic salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another 2 minutes or so until soup is heated through (adding cheese lowers the temperature). Serve with thick slices of bread (I recommend sourdough!) and enjoy.

When I made this soup, I found I should have put more vegetables in it, but it was quite tasty even as it stands. Next time I'll probably try adding some corn, and maybe a little bit of celery.

Sweet Ginger Shrimp

Like every food item I post on here, I must include the story behind the dinner. I was attempting to make an Asian noodle stir fry type thing, and I cooked the shrimp separately so I could have two different flavors and then stack them. Well, I made an important discovery: I do not have the ability to make Asian noodles successfully. Whenever I try, they end up in a clumpy, starchy noodle cake. Also, unfortunately, I didn't have a good selection of vegetables to put in it, so the overall result of the noodle-fry half of the meal was, while tasty enough not to be an utter failure, certainly nothing to write home about (or to write you all about, for that matter). The shrimp, on the other hand, were fan-freakin-tastic, so I will now share that very simple and utterly delicious recipe with you.

Sweet Ginger Shrimp

1/2 lb large (16-20 count) raw shrimp
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tbsp ginger
1 heaping tbsp brown sugar
salt & pepper

Peel and de-vein shrimp, if necessary, then put into a medium sized bowl. Add ginger, brown sugar, salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium heat with the butter and garlic. When the butter starts to bubble, add the shrimp. Cook until pink and opaque, then serve over rice (or a tasty Asian stir fry! :P). Enjoy -- and trust me, you will!

Protein Tidbit: Eat More Nuts

I know for a lot of vegetarians and vegans (and sometimes for us peskies too) finding new and interesting sources of protein can be difficult. There is only so much tofu one person can eat. One thing that I like to do is to sneak nuts into recipes that normally don't have any other protein-sources in them, so you don't have to find a particular dish to cook just to get protein.

EXAMPLES!

Raw sliced almonds are very delicious in fried rice. I know, the rice already has an egg in it, but when you're feeding 3-4 people, 1 egg is about 0 protein.

Walnuts go well with Italian-type dishes; anything with garlic/olive oil/pesto/alfredo type flavor is good. One of my favorites is to put walnuts in garlic-sauteed spinach.

Cashews are good in sweet-savory dishes. Anything with sweet-and-sour, gingery stir-fries, teriyaki, that ballpark.

I tend to keep at least 3, if not 4 or 5 different types of nuts in the pantry at all times to fit into various recipes. It's a good idea, I promise! That, and they're good to snack on while you're cooking :)

Steak Dinner, hold the steak

For this meal what I really wanted was something to reflect the classic steak dinner, meat-and-potatoes-type of thing, but (obviously) without the steak part. This is extremely simple, and the BEST part of it (I think) is that I've finally perfected southern-style green beans without bacon or salt pork.

Steak Salmon Dinner

2 1/4 lb salmon fillets
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp steak seasoning

2 potatoes*
2 tbsp low-fat sour cream or cream cheese
1 tbsp fresh chives, chopped

fresh green beans (2 servings' worth -- can't really measure these by cups, they're too big. I'd say I used about 1/2 lb and had lots of leftover)
1 tbsp butter
1 shallot
1/3 c vegetable broth
generous sprinkling of bacon salt
1 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese

Start with the potatoes, 'cause they take a LONG time. Preheat the oven to 425, and toss the potatoes in it. Bake 40-60 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes.

When your 'tatoes have about 30 minutes left, start the beans. Dice the shallot. Melt butter in skillet over medium heat, then add shallot, heating until it begins to become translucent. Add green beans, seasoning with bacon salt and tossing to coat. Cook 5 minutes or so, stirring regularly. Add vegetable broth and reduce heat to low; cover.

When the potatoes have maybe 5 minutes left, prepare the salmon. This one's tough, so pay attention! Take a baking pan. Put the salmon in it. Coat them with a little olive oil, sprinkle them with steak seasoning. When you take the potatoes out of the oven, put the salmon in for 20 minutes. See? Really friggin difficult.

Turn off the green beans about 5 minutes before the salmon comes out. Split the baked potatoes and dress with cream cheese/sour cream and chives. Garnish the green beans with the parm. Then you eat it! :)

*potato note: When I made these I used red potatoes, but if you like baking potatoes or yukon golds or whatever, use what you like. It's just a baked potato.