Baked shrimp with feta, tomatoes, and spinach

3 large shallots, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 T olive oil

Heat oil over medium heat then cook shallots and garlic until they are soft.  Mixture should resemble a coarse paste.

2 pounds sweet Campari tomatoes, cut into small wedges.  Original recipe said blanche and peel tomatoes, I don't bother.

Add tomatoes to onion mixture and cook over low heat til you have a chunky sauce.

Add salt, pepper, and about a 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes.

Stir in two large handfuls of spinach and cook for a couple minutes to  wilt the spinach into the sauce.

Pour into large, shallow casserole dish.  I used a 13 x 9.

1 1/2 pounds large shrimp with veins and tails removed.  Cooked or uncooked, I'll address this later.

Layer over sauce.  Season with salt and pepper.

1/2 to 3/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled

Layer over shrimp.

If you use raw shrimp bake in 400°F oven until cheese starts to brown and sauce is bubbly.  Original recipe says 12 minutes but that wasn't enough for mine.

If you use cooked shrimp, broil on high until cheese starts to brown and sauce is bubbly.  I baked mine and the cooked shrimp was a bit tough.  I bought the cooked, however, because I didn't want to deal with the de-veining part.   Next time I will broil instead.

Cooking times vs thermometers (spoiler alert: thermometer wins)

I am walking away from cooking times for my recipes.  You may notice that some of them say "cook to temperature" and then include a disclaimer of "about xx minutes".  I found that much of what I was cooking was either overcooked or undercooked when I went with the recipe recommendations.  I bought a really good oven thermometer which looks a lot like this one:

and I plug it in every time I cook meat.  Set to temp, alarm goes off when I get there, perfectly cooked meat every time so long as I know what temperature I like it.

Honey and Soy Glazed Chicken

From the NY Times: (disclaimer) I mostly started this so that I would have access to my recipes no matter where I was.  If you are reading this and thinking about making it, please go to the NY Times recipe site and subscribe or otherwise support them.

2 T vegetable oil
1 T minced garlic
1 T minced ginger
6 T soy sauce
5 T mild honey
3 T unsalted butter
S & P

3 pounds skin on chicken thighs (I used a mix of thighs and legs)

Heat 1 T oil over medium heat and then add garlic and ginger, cooking until they are softened.
Add soy and honey and simmer until slightly thickened .
Turn off heat and stir in butter, salt, and pepper.  Whisk until melted.

Season chicken with S&P and lay out on foil lined, rimmed baking dish or tray.  There should be space between the pieces.

Coat all over using about half the glaze, then bake at 425°F for about fifteen minutes.

Brush with 2 tablespoons of glaze, then bake another ten minutes or so (or until internal temperature is reached).  Chicken should be golden and cooked all the way through.

Drizzle with remaining glaze and serve.

Bock Stew

From Instapundit:

3 pounds beef chuck, cubed
1/4 c vegetable oil
4 large sweet onion
6 - 8 cloves garlic, crushed
1 stick butter, halved
1/4 c flour
14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 pound mushrooms
1 T sweet paprika
2 t salt
2 t fresh ground pepper
1 t thyme
1 t ancho chili powder
1/2 t sage
2 bay leaves
3 12 oz bottles beer

In a dutch over (I used my Instant Pot) brown beef in batches with vegetable oil.  Set aside and remove oil from pot.
In half stick butter, carmelize onions and garlic over low heat.

In small saucepan melt remaining butter until it starts to bubble, whisk in flour and cook over low heat until it turns brown (this is a roux).

Add roux and beef back to dutch oven or Instant Pot.  Add mushrooms, herbs, and spices.  Mix and then stir in beer.

Instant Pot: Set IP to pressure cook for 25 minutes, then natural release for 10.

Dutch oven: Bring to a simmer on stovetop, then put in 350°F oven for 2 hours.

Both, when cooked, remove lid, simmer until liquid reduces to saucelike consistency.

Mmmm.

I don't have a picture but it looks like a stew.

Rotisserie Boneless Leg of Lamb w/ Rosemary Garlic Marinade

Was given a Ronco Showtime Jr Rotisserie.  Slightly used but everything was there and it was in the original box (except without the user manual) so I can't complain too much.  Was told that if I didn't like it I could give it away.  Wiped it down a bit and went to work.

Ingredients:

1 boneless leg of lamb, butterflied (Costco has good quality lamb for VERY reasonable prices)

6 cloves garlic, minced
1 T chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
juice from one large lemon
2 t Kosher salt
1 t freshly ground black pepper
1 t fresh lemon zest

Whisk together marinade ingredients and put in a one gallon plastic ziplock bag.

Add leg of lamb and squish around to completely cover.

Marinate at room temperature for one hour.  Notice the spelling difference between "marinade - the noun" and "marinate - the verb".

Roll lamb as tightly as possible  and tie with butcher's twine.

Install into rotisserie and cook until internal temperature is 145°F (about 13 to 15 minutes per pound).  Now, having said that, I don't recommend that you cook it that much.  I did mine and it came out a bit well done.  I'd probably go no more than 125°F.

I also read something recently that recommended basting at 30 minute intervals.  Might be a good use for the leftover marinade so I'll try that next time.

This was delicious except for the whole "too well done" thing.  Next up, Jerusalem Lamb Shawarma, which I have roasted in the oven but not cooked on the rotisserie.  (Just checked and this recipe hasn't been added so I'll probably put both up at the same time).