Right now I'm in San Jose, doing God of Carnage, and I'm cooking a lot for myself with minimal ingredients and no recipes. This gave me an idea. I often make up recipes, and Kelli often tells me I should write them down so I can repeat them. So I thought maybe that would be a good use for my blog. So, today's discoveries:
Playing around with broiler a lot here. No grill, don't want to fry everything. So made two things.
1. Broiled Shrimp
Took shrimp, tail on, and tossed them with paprika, chopped garlic, oregano, a little cayenne, some cumin, and a bit of the smoked sea salt I've been enjoying recently. Added a bit of olive oil and broiled for about 3 minutes. Dumped a handful of chopped cilantro on top, and then squirted with half a lime.
How was it?
Pretty darned tasty. Nice about of heat and tang with the sweetness of the shrimp and great flavors from the spices. When I do it again, I think I will change out the ground cumin for roasted cumin seeds: the cumin didn't get a chance to meld, and so was a little bitter and a bit powdery. But still good.
2. Eggplant salad
Took some onion slices and broiled them. Took some Chinese Eggplant, sliced it thin and broiled it, too. Cut the eggplant into slivers, and mixed with slivered kirby cucumber and red peppers. Chopped up the onion and then put the salad together. Put some cucumber and pepper on the bottom, piled the eggplant on that, and the onion on that, and then topped with the rest of the cukes and peppers. Dressed with lemon and olive oil, some oregano and bit of my trusty smoked sea salt.
How was it?
Really good. The smokiness of the eggplant was nicely balanced by the crisp fresh veg, and the onions added a nice sweetness. Grilling the eggplant and onion would be really good. And next time I'll use fresh oregano. That will be nice.
