Shrimp Burgers

Now that I'm finally home, I'm trying to enjoy summer by getting back to cooking again and doing more baking.  This was said with my fingers crossed :)  It hasn't been easy enjoying summer in Oregon when the sun isn't making its presence lately.  July has been a cold one, I think, compared to springtime.  But the weather has taken a turn this week, in fact, the rest of the nation on the east coast is experiencing a sweltering heatwave.  Not us, fortunately!

This shrimp burger is something that I enjoy making in the summer.  The grill is clean and ready, so why not utilize it to make something as tasty as this?  The good thing about this dish is that it isn't pretentious.  Armed with cheap white and soft buns, sliced tomatoes, maybe butter lettuce if you want it more elevated, and punchy tartar or cocktail sauce; it will satisfy hungry mouths at dinnertime.  My husband and I enjoy drinking shandy with our burgers, what about you?

Shrimp Burgers

Serves 6

1 pound medium (40-count) shrimp
3 tablespoons finely diced celery
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 cup bread crumbs--I used panko
3 tablespoons good-quality mayo
1 large egg, slightly beaten
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
A few dashes of hot pepper sauce
1 to 2 tablespoons peanut or canola oil
6 cheap white hamburger buns
Lettuce for serving
Sliced tomatoes for serving
Tartar Sauce--recipe follows
Cocktail Sauce--recipe follows



In a 3-quart saucepan, bring 1 quart water to a full boil.  Add the shrimp, cover, and remove the pan from the heat.  Let the shrimp steep for 4 minutes, then drain.  Put the shrimp in a large bowl and cover them with ice to cool.  When the shrimp is cool enough to handle, peel and devein them, then roughly chop them.

In another bowl, mix the shrimp, celery, green onion, parsley, and lemon zest.  Stir in the breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, and egg. Take a wooden spoon and beat the mixture until all the ingredients are well blended.  Season with salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce to taste, and stir once more to incorporate throughout the mixture.

From the mixture, make six 3-inch patties.  If you wet your hands with water, this process will be a little easier.  Heat the oil in a nonstick saute pan until hot and shimmering.  Cook the patties, three at a time, for about 3 minutes per side, or until they are golden.  Drain them on paper towels.

Serve each patty on a hamburger bun with lettuce, tomato, and tartar or cocktail sauce, if desired.

Tartar Sauce

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup finely chopped dill pickles or sweet pickles
1/4 cup minced onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon dill or sweet pickle juice

Mix all the ingredients together in a medium bowl.  Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

Cocktail Sauce

Makes about 1/2 cup

1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish, drained, or more if desired
1/4 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce

In a small bowl, combine the ketchup, horseradish, and Worchestershire sauce and stir until well combined.  Let it sit for 30 minutes before serving.  This will keep in the refrigerator, covered, for about 1 week.  Let it come to room temperature before using.


Source:  The Big Book of Fish and Shellfish by Fred Thompson

Truffle Mac and Cheese

Here is an easy pasta dish that surely is everyone's favorite.  I think now that the cool nights have returned, I'd be making this again.  We're Oregonians so we love the Tillamook product brands, in fact this recipe was found at their website by my son.  So naturally he asked me to make this for supper.  Super easy, super creamy, and earthy from the truffle.  I only have truffle butter, not the oil, and I think it can be substituted easily.  Use sharp and medium Cheedar to get a good balance of mild and tangy flavors, but Tillamook also sells triple cheddar combo cheese that's pre-shredded, which is also good and convenient.

Truffle Mac and Cheese

Yields 4 servings

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sharp Cheddar
1 cup medium Cheddar
2 tablespoons truffle butter (or more if you really like truffle)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups dry elbow or any small shape pasta


Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  In a medium pot, melt the butter.  Add flour and stir continuously over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Gradually whisk in milk and cream until incorporated.  Stirring often, bring to simmer.  Mixture should thicken as it heats.  Allow to simmer for about 5 minutes, continuing to stir often.

A little at a time, stir in grated cheese, until completely melted.  Take off heat.  Stir in truffle butter and season with salt and pepper.

While sauce is being made, cook pasta until al dente.  Add drained, hot pasta directly to sauce.  Stir and check seasoning.  Serve immediately.


Source:  adapted heavily from Tillamook's website

Salmon, Vegetable and Cheese Chowder

Every now and then, even in summer, we love to eat comfort food like soup or chowder.  This chowder satisfies the need of eating something wholesome and relatively easy to prepare.  Not too mention a way to use fresh corn that is in season.

I served this with slices of sourdough bread along with butter and considered dinner accomplished :)

Salmon, Vegetable and Cheese Chowder

Serves 4 to 6


1 cup chopped yellow onion
2 medium russet potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and cubed
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, sliced
1/4 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
4 cups chicken stock or broth
1 cup half-and-half or milk
1 cup flaked cooked salmon
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese or a combo of Cheddar and Monterey Jack
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Freshly ground pepper to taste

In a large soup pot over high heat, bring vegetables, garlic, rice and 3 cups of the stock to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until vegetables and rice are tender, about 20 minutes.

Transfer to a food processor and blend in batches until slightly chunky.  Return to soup pot.  Stir in remaining 1 cup stock, half-and-half, salmon, cheese, salt, thyme, and pepper.  Simmer, uncovered, until cheese melts and flavors are blended, about 10 minutes.


Source:  The Big Book of Soups and Stews by Maryana Vollstedt

Soy-Ginger Pot Roast

Leaves are falling fast in my backyard and we basically have two choices, one is to rake them into piles; the other one is to let them sit for a while and pray that somehow they'll turn to compost magically.  The joy of leaving next to a park is that we always have lots of trees to shade us from the heat of summer, but, comes fall, we complain miserably about the leaves those trees dump on the yard.  Sigh.  

I know what will cheer up my family after a hard weekend chore is this soy-ginger pot roast.  It's a hearty dish with tons of flavor like ginger, soy sauce, onion, garlic, and mushrooms.  I like to buy a good quality of chuck roast for a dish like this because the beef stays moist and fork-tender.  Now, we don't have a tradition like Sunday roast supper, but this surely qualifies it for when the weather starts to get cooler.

Maybe if I cook something like this every weekend, my family would not be so grumpy of doing yard work for hours :)

Soy-Ginger Pot Roast

Serves 4

3 pounds beef chuck pot roast

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ cups coarsely chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
16 ounces button mushrooms
1 (14-½ ounce) can reduced sodium beef broth
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup snipped fresh cilantro
2 red sweet peppers, cut into 2-inch pieces
Snipped fresh cilantro
Hot cooked egg noodles

Preheat oven to 325F.  Trim fat from meat; season with salt and pepper.  In a large Dutch oven, brown roast on all sides in hot oil over medium-high heat.  Transfer to a plate.

Add onion, garlic and ginger to Dutch oven.  Cook and stir for 5 minutes, or until onion is softened.  Add mushrooms, broth, soy sauce, and the ¼ cup of cilantro.  Return roast to Dutch oven.  Bring to boil, cover, transfer to oven.  Bake for 2 hours.  Add sweet peppers.  Cover; bake for 30 minutes more or until meat and vegetables are tender.

Transfer meat and vegetables to a platter; cover to keep warm.  Bring liquid in Dutch oven to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer, uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until slightly thickened.  Serve sauce with meat and vegetables.  Sprinkle with additional cilantro and cooked noodles.


Source:  Better Homes and Gardens

Chile and Cheese Quiche

Is everyone enjoying the summer weather?  I am.  Everytime I drive with my windows open, I'm reminded how happy I am to be able to feel the warmth of the sun.  Yes, there're days with scorching heat even in Oregon, but thanks to a window AC, those are bearable :)  The only thing I despise to do when it's too hot is to water my yard.  Last Sunday when we had a thunderstorm, I felt relieved, literally!

This recipe that I'm writing is one that I think is yummy for a summer meal.  It's a quiche with Southwestern flavor, and the main proteins are cheese and eggs.  Really, you can make a wonderful meal with great tasting cheese and good quality eggs, I don't think my family ever gets bored by those two.  Yes, there's pastry crust that needs to be done first but it's not that hard to make one.  Pair this quiche with whatever vegetables in season or even chips and salsa, you'll have a complete meal for the day.  

Chile and Cheese Quiche

Serves 6 to 8

1 recipe Flaky Pastry (recipe follows), refrigerated for 30 minutes

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon chili powder

1 ½ cups hal-and-half

1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chiles

½ cup sliced ripe black olives

2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions (white and green parts)

Guacamole for serving

Sour cream for serving

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Roll out the chilled pastry into a 12-inch circle and transfer to a 9-inch pie pan.  Flute the edges.

Mix the cheeses together and spread over the bottom of the pastry.  In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, salt, chili powder, half-and-half, chiles, olives, and green onion.  Pour the mixture over the cheeses in the pie pan.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center of the filling comes out clean.  Serve each piece with a dollop of guacamole and sour cream.

Flaky Pastry

Makes one 8- or 9-inch piecrust

¾ cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

2 to 4 tablespoons ice water

In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt.  Using a pastry blender, two knives, or a pastry fork, cut in the butter until the fat is the size of dried peas.  Alternately, combine the ingredients in a food processor with the steel blade in place, and pulse.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, lemon juice, and 2 to 3 tablespoons of the ice water.  Drizzle the egg mixture over the flour mixture.  With a fork or spatula, mix until the pastry holds together in a ball, adding more ice water if necessary.

Turn out onto a work surface and knead lightly once or twice to shape the dough into a ball.  Wrap in aluminum foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes, before rolling out the dough.  Proceed as directed in the recipe you are using.

Source:  The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever by Beatrice Ojakangas