sliced avocado
cilantro lime sour cream (recipe below)
CILANTRO LIME SOUR CREAM
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 teaspoon cumin
juice and zest from 1 lime
salt to taste
In a bowl, whisk together olive oil, garlic, kosher salt, and cumin. Add in shrimp and toss to coat completely. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Cook shrimp in skillet on medium heat until pink and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Turn off heat and cover to keep warm.
Coat the bottom of a small pan with oil, about 2 tablespoons. Heat over medium-high heat. Cook tortillas in pan one at a time until soft, about 30 seconds on each side. As you cook each tortilla, place them on paper towels to absorb any of the leftover oil. Then fold over to make a taco shell.
In a separate bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the lime cilantro sour cream.
Spoon 5 shrimp into each taco shell. Top with lettuce, tomato, avocado, and cilantro lime sour cream.
Makes 4 servings.
When Pigs Fly Wings
This isn’t much of a recipe, so I’m going to call it a bonus “idea.” It’s the simplest thing you’ll ever make, and one of the yummiest, particularly if you like bacon and all things bad for you.
Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, just a little
bacon, pieces equal to the number of chicken wings
frozen chicken wing sections, you choose the amount
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Sprinkle a little of the seasoned salt over one side of each piece of bacon. You don’t need a lot, the bacon is naturally salty; this is just to give it a slightly seasoned flavor. Wrap each chicken wing with bacon, seasoned side inside. Place all the pieces on a baking sheet—make sure it has sides. Bake for about an hour or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 185 degrees.
Serve alone or with other dipping sauces. My favorite sauce for these wings is either plain honey or honey mustard.
Thing to remember about this recipe: A little goes a long way.
HOT DOGS
The combinations of toppings are endless, but below is a selection that would make any hot dog food truck vendor proud.
You can boil your dogs and put them on a bun, but the favorite method in my family is butterfly slicing the dogs, grilling them, and placing two regular-sized dogs on one slice of soft white bread, and then adding the toppings. You can either eat them by folding over the piece of bread or using a fork.
Don’t forget, there’s nothing wrong with the basics: ketchup, mustard, relish, chopped onions.
CHILI CHEESE DELUXE
You can’t beat the combination of chili and cheese on a dog, but switch it up a little and make it macaroni and cheese and chili. Give it heat with a splash or two of hot sauce or keep it mild.
CHEESY DOG DELUXE
Macaroni and cheese and tomatoes, or ketchup if that’s your fancy.
SOPHISTICATED LADY
Sautéed mushrooms and sliced onions. Sauté them together in some olive oil over medium heat. Keep them over heat long enough to let the onions become sweet. So good. Add a little spicy mustard if you like a kick.
NACHO DOG
Cheese, black olives, broken-up tortilla chips, and (here’s the best part) French onion dip. The mix of sour cream and onions is perfect. You can add some salsa, too, if you want.
ASIAN DOG
Grilled pineapple and teriyaki sauce. Yeah, grilled pineapple. If you haven’t tried grilled pineapple yet, you should try it soon, either on dogs or not.
WINE TASTERS
Gouda cheese and grilled red seedless grapes. Slice the grapes and grill them inside down. Simple but very flavorful.
GREEK DOG
Kalamata black olives, feta cheese, and tomatoes. Sometimes I drizzle a little olive oil and vinegar onto the bread.
CHEESY CRUNCH
Macaroni and cheese and crushed-up potato chips. Tomatoes sometimes, too.
THANKSGIVING DOG
Stuffing (Stove Top is fine) and cranberry sauce, or jelly. Yeah, it’s pretty good.
CHICAGO DOG
The typical Chicago dog is topped with yellow mustard, chopped white onions, bright green sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices or wedges, pickled sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt. The dog is usually boiled and served on a poppy seed bun, but the ingredients taste good if the dogs are grilled and served on white bread, too.
OTHER TOPPINGS TO REMEMBER:
Dill pickles, but don’t forget the bread and butter pickles. Olives—all kinds—and they typically go well with cheese. Speaking of cheese, get adventurous. Try some Havarti, or pimiento spread. Crunch is good, too. French’s French Fried Onions are great in place of other onions. Surprisingly, celery is good, too.
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06 Bushel Full of Murder Page 22
