Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 (51 page)

GARNISH

½ cup crumbled ranchero or cotija
cheese
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Make sure your oven has two racks so that you have room to heat up the serving skillet. Place a large cast-iron skillet or an oven-safe skillet (that does not have plastic handles) on the lower rack of the oven. This is the pan that will make the shrimp sizzling hot. Slice each of the potatoes lengthwise into 8 wedges. Toss the potatoes in a bowl with 2 teaspoons olive oil, plus a couple pinches each of salt, ground black pepper and minced parsley. Arrange the potato wedges in a nonstick baking pan (or in a pan lined with parchment paper), and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until potatoes turn golden brown. When the potatoes are done, take them out and turn off the oven. Keep the empty skillet in there on the lower rack. We’ll use that at the end.

2. Heat I tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the red and green bell peppers, and onion. Stir in the cumin, ¾ teaspoon salt, ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper, Italian seasoning, and cayenne pepper. Saute the vegetables for 8 minutes, stirring often.

3. When peppers and onion have sautéed for 8 minutes, add the can of diced tomatoes, including the liquid to the skillet. Add the shrimp, garlic and lime juice. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring often.

4. Use a thick hot pad to carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven. Pour the entire contents of the dish into the hot skillet, then arrange the potato wedges around the edge of the dish. Quickly sprinkle crumbled ranchero or cotija cheese over the center of the dish, followed by about a tablespoon of minced fresh parsley. Serve it up immediately—while it’s still sizzling.

1 cup ketchup
1 cup red wine vinegar
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup molasses
1½ teaspoons liquid hickory
smoke
½ teaspoon salt
rounded ¼ teaspoon ground black
pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon onion powder

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a medium saucepan over high heat, and whisk until smooth.

2. Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes or until sauce has thickened.

2 medium russet potatoes
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup diced white onion
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
¼ cup cornstarch
1 ½ cups instant mashed
potatoes, dry
1 teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon dried basil
⅛ teaspoon dried thyme
I cup half-and-half

GARNISH

½ cup shredded Cheddar cheese
¼ cup crumbled cooked bacon
2 green onions, chopped
(green part only)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake the potatoes for I hour or until done. When potatoes have cooked remove them from the oven to cool.

2. As potatoes cool, prepare soup by melting butter in a large saucepan, and saute onion until light brown. Add the flour to the onion and stir to make a roux.

3. Add broth, water, cornstarch, mashed potato flakes, and spices to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out contents with a large spoon. Discard skin. Chop baked potato with a large knife to make chunks that are about ½-inch in size.

5. Add chopped baked potato and half-and-half to the saucepan, bring soup back to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer the soup for another 15 minutes or until it is thick.

6. Spoon about 1 ½ cups of soup into a bowl and top with about a tablespoon of shredded Cheddar cheese, a half tablespoon of crumbled bacon and a teaspoon or so of chopped green onion. Repeat for remaining servings.

1 large sweet potato
1 tablespoon butter
¼ of a white onion, chopped
(about ½ cup)
3 tablespoons finely chopped
pecans
3 tablespoons maple syrup
¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1. Bake sweet potato for 40 to 45 minutes at 400 degrees. This will bake the potato nearly all the way through, while still leaving it firm enough to slice when cool. Remove the sweet potato from the oven and let it cool so that you can handle it. When the sweet potato has cooled, remove the skin and slice it into 1 -inch bite-size cubes.

2. Melt I tablespoon of butter in a large skillet. Add onion and pecans and saute for a couple minutes or until onion begins to brown.

3. Add cubed sweet potato, maple syrup and cinnamon and saute for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring often, or until the sweet potato pieces are hot and tender.

SAUCE

1 cup ketchup
1 cup white vinegar
½ cup molasses
½ cup honey
1 teaspoon liquid hickory smoke
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon Tabasco pepper
sauce

SEASONING

1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 6-ounce salmon fillets (without
skin)
canola or olive oil nonstick spray

1. Combine all ingredients for the sauce in a saucepan over medium/high heat. Blend the ingredients with a whisk until smooth. When the mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat.

2. Combine all ingredients for seasoning in a small bowl. Preheat barbecue or indoor grill to high heat.

3. Sprinkle seasoning lightly over both sides of the salmon, spray each fillet lightly with olive or canola oil nonstick spray. Grill the salmon for about 3 minutes then rotate it 90 degrees to make criss-crossing grill marks. Grill for another 3 minutes then turn the salmon over for 3 minutes and rotate it again to make criss-crossing grill marks on that side. Grill until done. Remove salmon fillets from the grill, brush with the sauce and serve.