I hope that each and every one of you have a bottle of sesame oil in your kitchen.  In everything from stir-fry to cookies, it’s an incredibly delicious, unique flavor.  I used to go to Chinatown in New York for $2 bottles, but by now, they’re readily available at any good grocery store. 

These are literally a five-minute dish — I bought the shrimp raw and already skewered, and just marinated them for about twenty minutes before cooking.  These can be sauteed for barely three minutes, total, flipping once, so you can’t really get much more low-maintenance than that.  For a quick weeknight dinner over some rice or a salad, or just on their own as a low-carb snack. 

Sesame Shrimp Skewers

INGREDIENTS

2 skewers of medium-sized shrimp (5 shrimp per skewer), peeled and deveined
1 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder

DIRECTIONS

Combine the sesame oil, soy sauce, salt and garlic powder, and marinate the shrimp for approximately 15 minutes.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add the skewered shrimp to the pan, and cook until shrimp are opaque, about 2 minutes on each side. Transfer skewers to a plate, and serve.

I know I’m a broken record on this, but I really don’t think you can say it enough.

I am so, so lucky and so grateful for all the amazing opportunities that Sugarlaws has brought me — I can never quite get it out of my mind that if I hadn’t started this blog back in 2007, I probably would never have had so many incredible experiences that I’ve gotten to have just because of Sugarlaws.

And one of those really incredible experiences was this video I shot last week, along with Noritake, Macy’s, and the Knot!

We had so much fun shooting this segment on china and wedding registries, adapting a few of my recipes to complement the dishes, and generally dishing (no pun intended… no, seriously, I actually wrote “dishing” in a post about china and did not intend a pun) about what couples today want and need in their kitchens.  As you guys know well, there’s nothing nearer and dearer to my heart than that.

The full video will be out next month, but I couldn’t resist sharing some quick snaps we shot that day!  Since most of my videos on this site consist of me talking into a Flipcam on a tripod, it was pretty exciting to work with a real, professional film crew.  As I’m sure you guys can tell from the photos, I had a total blast.

Getting Mic-ed Up!

With Jamie from Noritake

Demonstrating a homemade raspberry sauce with Anja from the Knot!

Chatting About China!

If you guys learn one thing from this blog, I want it to be this: Soufflés are not hard!

Really!

I mean, I wouldn’t want to make them for a stadium full of people, and in a restaurant there are obviously kitchen-to-table service issues that are out of the cook’s control, but for just your family or a couple of friends, they’re actually a pretty simple dish. 

And holy cow, just wait until you see your guests’ faces when you whip up one of these babies!  Or one of these, or these, or these!  A perfect soufflé doesn’t have to rise six inches in the air, or even rise perfectly evenly — it can just be its slightly-imperfect self, and still absolutely delicious.

After this cinnamon-white-chocolate creation, I feel pretty satisfied with the sweet soufflé recipes on this site.  Now it’s time for some savory ones, huh?  YUM.

Cinnamon and White Chocolate Soufflé

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup sugar
6 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs, separated

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Butter and sugar four ramekins, as desired.  Beat egg whites with the sugar at medium speed, until they just hold stiff peaks.

Mix the white chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla and heavy cream and microwave for 30 seconds.  Let sit for another 30 seconds and stir until combined (if chocolate is not fully melted, microwave for an additional 15 seconds).  Allow to cool for another minute and then stir in the egg yolks.

Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg whites.  Fill 4 ramekins almost to the top.  Bake approximately 10-12 minutes, or until the soufflés are puffed and just set.  Serve immediately.

I won’t lie… I was really hoping to post this if the Houston team made it to the Superbowl — how fun would that have been?  Even as a brand new Texan, it was hard not to get excited when every Monday, all anyone could talk about is whether or not the Texans would keep winning.  So this weekend was a little sad!

But no matter who’s playing, nachos are always delicious.  You can’t really beat a combination of chips, cheese, guac, salsa, sour cream and chives — throw on some grilled chicken and you’ve got yourself a whole meal! 

Chad and I used to regularly order nachos at one of our favorite restaurants in our neighborhood in New York, and while the Tex Mex here is pretty amazing, we somehow haven’t found a go-to nacho dish in quite the same way.  So for the immediate future, at least, I’m going to stick to making our own!

Nachos

INGREDIENTS

6-8 cups tortilla chips
3 cups shredded cheddar Cheese or Mexican cheese mix
2/3 cup salsa
2/3 cup guacamole
1/2 cup sour cream
3 large chopped scallions

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Arrange a layer of tortilla chips along the bottom of a wide, shallow baking pan.  Sprinkle a generous amount of grated cheese over the top of chips, and bake in oven for 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.  Add dollops of salsa, sour cream and guacamole, and another thinner layer of cheese, and broil at 500 degrees F for about 2 minutes.  Sprinkle with chopped scallions and serve.

So, one of my biggest Christmas presents this year was a huge addition to our kitchen: a sous vide machine! 

Because when Thomas Keller writes a book about a revolutionary cooking technique, most of us who love to cook immediately want to try it out!

Sous vide is a technique that starts with vacuum-sealing the meat or vegetables that you’re cooking, and then boils them at a low temperature for a long period of time, which breaks down proteins without toughening the meat.  You basically can’t overcook anything using this method — so long as you set the proper temperature for the water bath, you could leave the meat in it for anywhere from 90 minutes to about 8 hours with terrific results.  You can also cook foods at less than the temperature you’d need to oven-bake it to, because you’re holding the food at the temperature for longer.  Sounds good, right?  Add in dozens of people online talking about how sous-vide is the future of cooking, and I was extremely curious.

This machine is a pretty serious investment, and I’ve spent just about every weekend getting used to it.  What started with a so-so salmon filet (my fault, not seasoned properly or seared to finish) eventually became an absolutely perfect chicken breast (in bulk for weeknight dinners, even) and these terrific lamb chops.  I’m not usually much of a meat-eater (or -cooker), which you guys know already from reading this blog, but these were great.

Worth the investment?  Time will tell.  I’m still a little scared to leave anything cooking while we’re at work, both for food-safety and regular-safety reasons, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it.  And to save me from being stuck in the kitchen during a dinner party while everyone else is having appetizers and drinks?  Priceless. 

Lamb Chops Sous-Vide

INGREDIENTS

1/2 pound lamb chops
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Fleur de sel
Fresh cracked pepper

DIRECTIONS

Fill the sous vide machine with water and heat it to 132 degrees F.  Salt and pepper the lamb chops and rub a small amount of olive oil on each.  Vacuum seal the lamb chops.  Cook for two hours in the sous vide machine, and then sear them (in a preheated pan with a tiny bit of olive oil) on high heat for 30 seconds on each side. 

One thing you may not know about me: I’m half Greek.  That means that growing up, I learned to count to ten in Greek, celebrated a whole separate Easter (seriously!), baked bread with a dime in it, and ate the best baklava on earth, made by my grandmother. 

What it also means: I am extremely picky about Greek food.  Which is too bad, because Greek and Mediterranean dishes tend to be pirated on terrible menus more than just about any other type.  But one of my major pet peeves: when a Greek salad uses lettuce.

Greek salads are about thick, chunky vegetables and fresh, colorful ingredients.  And yet every diner and subpar restaurant I’ve ever been to seems to want to add lettuce to this dish — probably because it’s cheap?  But a real, true Greek salad consists of just a few ingredients, and it’s one of the freshest, most delicious meals you’ll ever eat.

And on that note, I want to introduce you guys to Costa Navarino, a gourmet food line that’s based in one of the most beautiful regions of Greece, and also happens to be run by one of my cousins!  Even better — their products are available at Dean & Deluca.  So you can bring a little Mediterranean sun (and salad) to your cold January day!

And speaking of color, I couldn’t resist breaking out my Noritake Colorwave plates — they’re 15% off on the Noritake website until January 8th!

True Greek Salad

INGREDIENTS:
1 package red or yellow cherry tomatoes
1 cucumber
1 shallot
1/2 jar Costa Navarino olives, in olive oil
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup olive oil (you can use the oil that the olives were packed in if it’s good quality!)
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Fleur de sel
Freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS

Dice tomatoes and cucumbers into 1/2″ wedges.  Dice shallot into 1/4″ pieces.  In large bowl, combine tomatoes, cucumber, onion and olives. Toss with olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper. Sprinkle feta cheese over salad, toss again lightly, and serve.

How do you plan to start 2012?

Last year, New Year’s Eve was a fun night out for dinner with Chad, and I think we just getting home when the clock struck midnight.  I’m generally in the New-Year’s-Is-Overrated camp, with all the pressure of figuring out what to do and where to go and what to wear (actually, the what-to-wear part is basically the only part that I like)! 

The added bonus of a relatively tame New Year’s was that I woke up on January first and cleaned out my entire beauty cabinet — which, by the end of 2011, has expanded from a single beauty cabinet to a full on beauty room (not complaining). 

The year before that, I rang in 2010 with some homemade toffee (yum) and one of my very first outfit posts!  And the year before that, I closed out 2008 (!) with this classic recipe for Garlic Roast Chicken. 

This year, though, one of my very best friends is getting married on New Year’s Eve, and I can’t wait to celebrate with her.  So I won’t be around to bake New Year’s Day pancakes, which (obviously) meant that I had to make them a few weeks early. 

But if you’re looking for a delicious way to ring in 2012 (or just a random weekend brunch later in the year), this recipe can’t be beat.

Happy New Year!

Buttermilk Pancakes

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup buttermilk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp butter, melted

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Beat until smooth.

Heat a frying pan or skillet on the stovetop to medium-high heat with a little extra butter to grease the pan.  Ladle out 1/4 cup of pancake batter at a time, and cook about 2 min on each side, flipping each pancake midway through. Repeat about eight times, until batter is gone.

Serve with maple syrup, honey or extra butter. Enjoy!

Makes about 6 large pancakes.

I can’t believe it’s been two years since the last time I made frosted Christmas cookies!

I’ve modified the recipe slightly this time around, and I have to say that I vastly prefer this icing for decorating.  No special tools required — just your hands for dipping and a toothpick for the smaller details.  Glycerin isn’t always easy to find, but any specialty baking store (or Amazon) will carry it!

A word of warning, though — you’re best off setting aside a whole day (or at least an afternoon) to make these.  Between chilling the dough, baking the cookies, waiting for them to cool and then decorating them, these take a while!  The first time I made cookies like these, I started them after work one night and found myself finishing them up around two in the morning (eek).  But they’re a fun way to spend a weekend afternoon over the holidays!

Glazed Sugar Cookies

For the Cookies

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs and stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, and mix them into the wet ingredients.  Chill the dough for approximately an hour, or until stiff.

After chilling, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, roll out to 1/4 inch in thickness.  Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheets.

Bake for 6 to 8 minutes in the preheated oven.  Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Icing

INGREDIENTS
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tsp milk, or more as needed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp glycerin

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, mix together the confectioners’ sugar, milk, glycerin and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth, about 5 minutes. Color with food coloring if desired. Spread icing on the cookies with a knife or dip the cookies in the frosting to ice them.

SO excited to finally announce the details for my book party this Thursday in Houston!

I would love for you guys to come out if you’re in the area!  The party is at Elaine Turner, and there will be shopping, drinks, desserts, and, of course, a reading by me from Moving Neutral It’s going to be an amazing night, and I totally can’t wait.

The Details:
Thursday, December 8th
6:30-8:30 PM
Elaine Turner
2437 1/2 University Blvd
Houston, TX 77005

Can’t wait to see you guys there!

Sometimes recipe ideas from from the unlikeliest sources.

Last weekend I met up with a friend for lunch during the tail end of Black Friday weekend (ugh), and we settled on a pretty generic lunch spot for a quick bite.  I ordered a fairly lackluster seared tuna, and on the side came this incredible creation.

Many of the best things in the world are deep-fried — donuts, chicken fingers (except mine), french fries… you get the idea.  But deep-fried vegetables?  That’s not one that jumped to the forefront of my mind.

But these delicate little bites have everything that’s good about fried food, and they’re a lot better for you than eating a giant funnel cake.  This recipe is probably best as a garnish — it would be amazing topping a delicious pasta recipe or some canapes for a party.  I know these aren’t the prettiest photos, but once you try this recipe, you won’t mind a bit. 

INGREDIENTS

2 cups canola oil
4 cups fresh, washed baby spinach
Sea salt
Fresh ground pepper

DIRECTIONS

Heat oil in a frying pan or deep fryer to 375 degrees F.  Place a large handful of fresh spinach in a mesh strainer (or deep fryer basket), and submerge to cook for about thirty seconds. Drain spinach on paper towels, and repeat with remaining batches. Add salt and pepper to taste.