This is a ridiculously easy way of cooking mouthwateringly tender beef brisket. Beef brisket is a cut of meat from the breast or lower chest of a cow. The brisket muscles support about 60% of the cow’s body weight, resulting in a lot of connective tissue. Hence, cooking the meat for several hours until the connective tissue is properly tenderized is a must!

All you really need is barbecue sauce and soy sauce for the marinade. I added garlic and lime to give the dish some additional kick. 3 to 4 lbs of beef is a lot of food, so I definitely recommend cooking this for a larger group (this recipe will serve about 6-8 people)! I originally made this for a winter potluck with friends, and the slices of beef went fast. Now I’m proud to include the recipe as part of Gojee‘s Potluck event.

Ingredients:

3 to 4 lbs beef brisket
3/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 cup of water
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lime

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit.

2) In a bowl, mix together the barbecue sauce, soy sauce, water, garlic, and juice from the lime.

3) Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil. This first layer of foil is to prevent potential sauce spillage from sticking to your pan and burning during the cooking process. Place the brisket on top of another large piece of aluminum foil. Spread the sauce mixture generously over the meat. Wrap the brisket in the foil and place it in the roasting pan.

4) Bake the brisket for 4-5 hours. As a general rule, bake one hour for every pound of meat. I kept mine in the oven for 5 hours to ensure maximum tenderness.

5) Remove from oven and let rest in the foil for 30 minutes before slicing and serving.

To round out the meal, I served the slices of brisket with some potatoes cooked in olive oil and salt/pepper. The brisket is also great for making sandwiches with the next day (if you even have any leftovers!)

Recipe inspired by Simply Recipes

Continuing along with the seafood theme of LJ Bistro #15, I wanted to create an unique entree that really brought forth the flavors of the sea without involving any fish. Fellow food bloggers spoke highly of the Maccheroni alla Chitarra with Sea Urchin and Crabmeat pasta dish at Esca. This was a Mario Batali specialty starring sea urchin (uni in Japanese) – I just had to make it.

Now uni isn’t for everyone. I had only tried it raw in the past served on beds of slightly warm sushi rice wrapped in nori seaweed. How to best describe this little sea creature? Sea urchins are small, round creatures with spiny shells to protect against predators. Imagine tiny round hedgehogs roaming the ocean beds. Go beyond the spiny exterior to reveal the sweet, buttery, orange tongue-like meat inside. The meat we eat is actually the sex organ harvested from these spiky sea creatures. Sounds delicious, no?

I found a great recipe on Zen Can Cook that combines pasta with sea urchin and langoustines a la Esca. For instructions on how to make the real home-made langoustine broth, check out the original recipe. I took the easy way out and used seafood broth instead. Lobster broth is also a great alternative! I also substituted shrimp for the crab meat/langoustines (couldn’t find those darn suckers anywhere in Chinatown that day!)

Ingredients:

10 large shrimp
1/2 lb linguine
1 tbsp butter
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Parsley (optional garnish)

For the pasta sauce:
4 oz fresh sea urchin (uni)
2 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup seafood or lobster broth
Salt

Instructions:

1) Wash, peel, and devein the shrimp. Season with a little salt and pepper.

2) Place the sea urchin, softened butter, and pinch of salt in a bowl. Mix this in a food processor until smooth. You can also mix by hand.

3) Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the linguine and cook to al dente based on the instructions on the box. Drain.

4) While the pasta is cooking, heat some olive oil in a large skillet. Add the shrimp in a single layer and cook about a minute. Flip the shrimp over and cook for another minute. The meat will be opaque throughout when done.

5) Bring the half cup of broth to a boil in a large pan. Turn the heat to low and whisk in the sea urchin mixture until smooth. This results in a very creamy sauce. You can use some of the pasta cooking water to adjust the thickness as desired.

6) Plate the pasta and add the cooked shrimp. Pour the sea urchin sauce over the pasta. Season with additional salt and pepper. I sprinkled some parsley on top to add additional color to the dish. Enjoy!

Serves 2

The incredibly smooth, creamy uni pasta sauce with just a hint of the sea went really well with the linguine. Trust me when I say we savored every last bite of that saucy goodness. Seafood night was a success!

I tried the actual pasta dish at Esca shortly after – such fantastic flavors coming together in my mouth! The creamy, rich sauce oozes perfectly into the coarse texture of the pasta alla chitarra. Must try my home-made version with crab meat next time!

Shame on me, it’s been a while since my last update. The hectic balancing act that was my life the past few months has now calmed down a bit, giving me additional reflection time on next steps. And of course, time to return to my food blog and take care of some neglected LJ Bistro dishes from the end of Summer & Fall.

I wanted to cook a seafood themed dinner for LJ Bistro #15, and some steamed mussels sounded like the perfect opening dish. I’ve always placed a high value on shellfish, with fantasies of one day eating unlimited lobsters dancing in my mind. Until then, I satisfy those shellfish cravings with $1 happy hour raw oysters and $2.50 seafood chigae from Woorijip. And on special binge sessions? Juicy king crab legs at Chinese buffets *drool*.

Mussels are definitely on the affordable end as well and surprisingly easy to cook! No longer are you limited to fancy French restaurants for your Moules Frites fix. Enjoy these fine moules delicacies from the comfort of your own home. And *ahem* according to Andrew, this dish is perfect for you male cooks out there looking to impress a special lady friend (sophisticated dish created with minimal effort).

On a final note before we dive into how to steam some delicious mussels, I want to invite you guys to join Lot18, a beautifully designed daily deals website that provides insider access to fine wines, specialty foods, and epicurean-themed excursions. I actually haven’t quite learned to fully appreciate a glass of full-bodied wine, so for me I love browsing the site for deals on cookware and utensils. I recently purchased a gorgeous Nero fondue set. Now I just need some people over to enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 lb mussels
1 cup chopped onions
6 cloves minced garlic
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 cup dry white wine
2 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp flour (optional, used to thicken broth)

Instructions:

1) Clean the mussels by placing them in a bowl of water for about 30 minutes until the mussels open up and disgorge any sand. Scrub the outside shells with a brush under running water, removing the “beard” from each with your fingers. Throw away any mussels whose shells are not tightly shut.

2) Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 3 minutes until the onions are translucent.

3) Add the tomatoes, white wine, parsley, thyme, flour, salt, and pepper to the pot. Bring everything to a boil.

4) Add the mussels, stir well, and cover the pot. Cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes until all the mussels are open. While steaming, shake the pot once or twice to distribute the broth over the mussels and to make sure they don’t burn on the bottom.

5) Discard any mussels that do not open. Mussels that do not open were dead already before being cooked, and you don’t want to risk getting food poisoning! Pour the mussels and broth into a large bowl and serve immediately.

Don’t forget a few thick chunks of bread to soak up all that delicious broth at the bottom! I went with a freshly baked demi baguette from Trader Joes. If you’re feeling very ambitious, fry up some frites to eat alongside your steamed mussels. Bon appetit!

Inspired by Ina Garten’s “Mussels in White Wine” recipe

Hello world! Tried and true, no matter how busy life gets, I will never abandon Ling Li Eats. Wearing many different caps has kept me running around the last few months, but believe me when I say I would never give up the invaluable opportunity to do what I actually enjoy. Priceless :)

The potato leek pizza, a la Pioneer Woman, is a tribute to my favorite food group on the food pyramid (though to be fair, it’s pretty much neck-to-neck with the meats). Forget the Atkins diet, carbs make such excellent comfort food. Add some crumbled dairy on top, some thinly sliced meats aka bacon, a few strands of vegetables, and voila! You have yourself a well balanced meal. I usually go for your standard marinara sauce pizza with mozzarella cheese and pepperoni/mushroom/sausage, so adding potatoes, leeks, and my goodness, goat cheese?? to my pizza was a fascinating new concept.

I cheated last time I made pizza from scratch, using Boboli pizza crust as a base. No shortcuts this time. I had serious concerns about the dough being too sticky, but setting the covered dough in a warm area fixed that right up. Watching the yeast work its magic on the dough was well, kinda magical!

Thin layers of sliced red potatoes.

Ingredients:

1/2 recipe for Pizza Crust (see below)
6 slices thick-cut bacon, 1-in pieces
3 Leeks, rinsed well to remove grit and thinly sliced
5 small red or Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced paper thin
1 lb fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced thin
4 oz goat cheese, crumbled
Grated Parmesan cheese
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Spread pizza crust in baking pan and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt.

2) Fry the bacon over medium heat until cooked but not crisp. Set aside.

3) Leave some of the bacon fat in which to saute the leeks. Cook the leeks until soft, about 3 minutes. Set aside.

4) Use a sharp knife or mandoline to thinly slice the potatoes. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer over the crust, slightly overlapping the edges. Sprinkle lightly with salt.

5) Lay the mozzarella slices in a single layer on top of the potatoes. Place the leeks on top of the cheese, then arrange the fried bacon pieces over the leeks.

6) Sprinkle more crumbled goat cheese, grated Parmesan, and pepper on top.

7) Bake the pie for 8-11 minutes, until the edges of the crust are golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbly. Slice and serve immediately.

How to make Pizza Crust:

Yield: 2 pizza crusts

Ingredients:

1 tsp or 1/2 packet active dry yeast
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, more for drizzling

Instructions:

1) In a mixing bowl, pour the yeast over 1 1/2 cups of warm water, stirring gently.

2) Combine the flour and salt in a separate bowl. Drizzle in the olive oil and mix well.

3) Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture, mixing until the dough forms a ball. (I used my hands)

4) Drizzle a little olive oil into a clean bowl. Toss the dough into the bowl and turn to coat. Cover the bowl with a moist kitchen towel and set in a warm place for 1-2 hours. You can also cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 2 days.

5) Once the dough has risen, divide it in half and stretch the dough to the desired shape, pressing it into an oiled 13×9 pan with your fingers. The thinner the better. The surface of the dough should be lumpy from finger marks so it receives and holds toppings better. The remaining dough be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerated up to 3 days before use, or frozen for up to 6 months.

Mmhmm…Delicious pizza, fresh out of the oven. With the pizza loaded with toppings, it was actually easier eating with forks and knives. Excellent flavors with the potato, leek, bacon, goat cheese combination.

Silly me overestimated the amount of dough necessary per square inch though, resulting in a thicker than desired pizza crust. If that happens to you, I recommend either sticking it back in the oven for a few more minutes or doing what I actually did. I placed a few pizza slices in a frying pan and crisped the bottoms over the stovetop. Yum.

To continue the story of my Florida adventure, which unfortunately already feels like a faint memory of the past, we roadtripped to Orlando that Friday after 2 nights of warm sunny Miami beaches. Amidst the mandatory BCG mingling and organized events, we were still able to scrap together an entire day of doing whatever we wanted. First choice without even the slightest doubt in our minds: HARRY POTTER WORLD, HERE WE COME!

Now getting off the Hogwarts Express!

This absolutely had to be my most favorite part of the trip. I was giddy with excitement the moment we stepped foot into Islands of Adventure. We started the day off right with a giant turkey leg for breakfast, and then it was off to Harry Potter World!

Town of Hogsmeade

Very cool architecture in the Harry Potter world

Poor car beat up by Whomping Willow

Beauxbatons Academy of Magic girls

Ferocious Monster Book of Monsters

What an awesome day, being able to indulge in what has to be my favorite book series of all time. (And yes, I did make time for the other park attractions). I left the park happy, filled with frothy Butterbeer in my belly and Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans in hand.

Yay! Me with my Butterbeer in front of Hogwarts Castle

Butterbeer…so good we got seconds

U-No-Poo :)

Great cookbooks are no longer limited to the commissioned writings of famous chefs or household TV personalities. The democratization of the cookbook (food52′s crowdsourced cookbook comes to mind) allows more people with a good story and recipe to get their works published.

I stumbled upon the Pioneer Woman’s blog while googling for Photoshop actions one afternoon, and I’ve been a devout fan since. Ree Drummond’s cookbook “The Pioneer Woman Cooks” was actually my first cookbook purchase in years. Worth it? I think so! Nothing like step-by-step photo tutorials of how to make some finger-licking, lip-smacking southern comfort cowboy food. Makes me want to take a trip down south to experience the real thing. Her food blog also offers countless recipes and gorgeous food photos to boot.

So I decided to try my hand at some of the dishes Pioneer Woman would serve to Marlboro Man and the kids. Nothing too heavy since I was still trying to get in shape for a Disney trip later in June (which, by the way, was fantastic fun. Didn’t actually go to any of the Disney parks but had a blast at Harry Potter World. More on that later).

Final choices? Huevos hyacinth for the appetizer and potato leek pizza for the main course. Can’t tear me away from the eggs or carbs :)

Ingredients:

2 thin slices ham or turkey
2 large eggs
2 tomato slices
Picante sauce (optional)
Butter
Salt
Black pepper
Crumbled goat cheese (or Monterey Jack)

Instructions:

1) Butter individual ramekins and place a piece of thinly sliced ham or turkey at the bottom. Add a tomato slice on top of the meat.

2) If you’re feeling spicy, use a couple tablespoons of picante sauce instead. I used both tomato slices and a few drops of Frank’s hot sauce.

3) Gently crack an egg over the top of each ramekin. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.

4) Top each ramekin with ¼ cup grated cheese. Monterey Jack works nicely, but I used some of the leftover goat cheese from the potato leek pizza.

5) Broil for 2 to 4 minutes, removing when the yellow of the egg is still soft but not overly runny.

Serves two.

The egg whites came out too runny after 4 minutes, so I stuck the ramekins back under the broiler for a few more minutes. While tasty, I’m sad to say I wasn’t an immediate convert. There was too much liquid in my ramekin, a combination of the hardly-solidified egg white and juice from the tomato slice. Great flavor from the goat cheese and deli meat though. (Goat cheese, my new cheese love…)

Had much better results with the potato leek pizza though..here’s a preview of what’s to come next post:

YUM. Carbs upon carbs galore. Hallelujah :D

And what of my Disney trip? Let’s just say there’s no place I’d rather be right now than on the warm Miami sands, sipping my mojito and enjoying the cool breeze from the water. Best mojitos I’ve ever had by the way. If you ever find yourself in Miami Beach, check out Ola! Delicious Cuban food, delicious drinks. Some photos of Miami…

First night – Laying by the infinity pool at The Delano Hotel.

Staying classy. Canned Coronas and mojitos on the beach.

Are they shooting a commercial or an adult film? (the guys like to imagine the latter)

No! Don’t wanna leave the beach yet :(

Remember that dashi broth concocted for the miso glazed salmon? Ling Li never wastes anything when she cooks :). To round out the Japanese-themed evening, I listened to my inner conscience and added some vegetables to the dinner lineup.

Daikon is a delicious white radish that can be eaten raw or cooked. There are many methods of preparation, ranging from thin pickled slices for Korean ban chan dishes to the Daikon & Pork Bone soup my parents make at home (luo bo tang). I also like simmering the vegetable in a light soy sauce mixture until soft (and then eating it with my soy sauce cornish hen!) My absolute absolute favorite? Turnip cake, aka luo bo gao. Get me a plate of that pan-fried any day at dim sum. Had some unbelievably delicious ones everywhere I went in Hong Kong.

In Japanese cuisine, daikon is often shredded and mixed into ponzu (soy sauce and citrus juice condiment) as a dip. This recipe takes the vegetable and simmers it in a dashi-soy sauce-mirin-sugar broth, finished with a pinch of salt.

Ingredients:
1 lb daikon radish
2 quarts of rice rinsing water
1 piece of kombu (kelp)
3 cups dashi stock
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Scallion (optional, garnish)

Dashi stock ingredients:

1 1/3 oz or 6 inch of kombu (kelp)
4 cups of water

Instructions:

1) Peel the daikon and cut into 1 1/2 inch thick round pieces. Make a shallow criss-cross in one side of each daikon slice.

2) I couldn’t serve a Japanese meal without rice, and I collected 2 quarts of the water used to wash the rice for this recipe (apparently the water from washed rice gives daikon radish a milder taste when cooked). Boil the water and add the daikon. Simmer for 35 minutes.

3) Drain the water. Mix the dashi stock, soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and salt in a bowl and add to the pot. Place a piece of kombu (kelp) at the bottom and the daikon on top (I used the kombu from the dashi stock).

4) Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes until soft. Arrange daikon slices in a dish and cover with remaining cooking liquid. Garnish with scallion.

How to make dashi stock:

1) Wipe kelp with a damp paper towel. Soak in 4 cups of water for an hour.

2) Bring the water and kelp to the boiling point, but remove the kelp before the water actually boils.

The dish was actually a bit too sweet for my tastes, but the boyfriend liked it. I prefer my vegetables savory and salty when cooked, but I trust that this is a pretty standard Japanese way of cooking daikon since it was included it in my handy dandy recipe book. Hope you enjoyed this series on Japanese cuisine!

Japanese yakitori is usually made from bite-sized pieces of chicken meat or offal, skewered on a bamboo skewer and grilled over charcoal. Diners usually have the choice of having it cooked with salt (shio) or tare sauce. This recipe uses the tare approach, a marinade that is usually made of mirin, sake, soy sauce, and sugar.

You are missing out if you’re one of the foodies out there still afraid of trying internal organs. I grew up with the mentality that food should never be wasted, and every part of the animal can and should be eaten. I have vivid memories of my dad sucking the juices from shrimp heads and my mom fighting to claim the eyeballs from the steamed fish. As a result, I have no fear (and even welcome) ear, tongue, feet, stomach, intestine, lung, liver, sweetbreads…you name it, and I will most likely eat it. That’s why one of the most exciting culinary trends to date is the increasing readiness of people to experiment with new foods and the restaurants out there ready to cater to the growing demand.

One of my personal favorites would have to be chicken gizzard. The meats have that irresistible crunchy, chewy texture, with a simple soy sauce marinade really bringing out the flavors. I purchased a 20oz package of Perdue chicken gizzard and heart at Gristedes for only $1.89! Good deal? I would say so.

But then again…what about the nutritional value? My curiousity led to a quick Google search. A cup of chicken gizzard has 212 calories and a whopping 179% of your daily cholesterol needs. Not something you want to be eating everyday, but hey, one large egg has 71% of your daily cholesterol needs, and I sure as hell am not giving up my eggs :)

This is a delightful appetizer to serve on a stick, and hopefully you’ll be expanding the taste palettes of all your dinner guests! (Maybe make some on the grill for this year’s Memorial Day weekend BBQ?)

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken gizzard & heart
4 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sugar
2 cloves garlic
Scallions

Instructions:

1) Wash chicken gizzards and hearts thoroughly. Cut into bite size pieces.

2) Mince the garlic. Combine soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and garlic in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes until sauce thickens.

3) Save 3 tbsp of the sauce for serving and pour remaining sauce over the chicken. Mix well, cover, and chill in the refrigerator for 1-3 hours.

4) Soak the bamboo skewers (toothpicks in my case) in water for an hour to minimize burning in the oven.

5) Wash and cut off the white part of the scallion. I added this piece to my yakitori and saved the green part for garnish. Thread the marinated chicken pieces onto the skewers, alternating with the scallion if desired.

6) Broil in the oven for 13 minutes. Serve skewers with reserved sauce brushed on top.

*) To make the scallion curl garnish, cut the vegetable into 3 inch pieces and make thin lengthwise cuts 2 inches in. Place in cold water and let stand 1 minute until edges curl. Remove from water – it is now ready to be used on your plate!

Inspiration? A quick and cheap Japanese entree that would balance out the Miso Glazed Salmon. Complexity? Possibly one of the simplest dishes I’ve ever created. This particular recipe should be called an LJ shortcut. It features two very basic ingredients – chicken and marinade sauce :) Teriyaki sauce is usually a mixture of soy sauce, mirin, sake, and honey. (Variations include adding sugar, ginger, garlic, etc). However, I just happened to own an unused bottle of Kikkoman Teriyaki Sauce, and I decided to take the lazy route with the premade sauce. Super easy recipe to make, a welcome dish that slowly cooked in the oven as I worked on the homemade dashi stock for the other dishes.

Ingredients:

6 chicken drumsticks
Kikkoman teriyaki sauce.

Instructions:

1) Put drumsticks in a bowl and cover with teriyaki sauce. Cover and marinate overnight in the fridge.

2) Lay chicken on lined baking pan and bake covered at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 50 minutes, turning once. Make sure the meat is fully cooked before serving.

Yumm tender chicken meat! Simple is good =)

There’s more to Japanese food than sushi and ramen. Armed with my Quick & Easy Japanese Cuisine recipe book,  I was ready to explore the cooked side of this delicate cuisine. The book was filled with dozens of delicious, traditional Japanese recipes, making it very difficult to narrow down my choices. I finally settled on 4 dishes, making sure to line the page edges of future recipes.

Dashi stock forms the basis of many Japanese dishes. While instant mixes are available, I wanted to try my luck at making the soup stock from scratch. The version I made used only kombu (giant flat piece of kelp), but common dashi stock also uses dried bonito flakes or dried sardines. Leftover stock can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days or may be frozen.

Miso mixture, ready to be spread on the salmon!

I halved the following recipe for two (had to leave some room in our bellies for the teriyaki chicken drumsticks and chicken gizzard yakitori!)

Ingredients:

4 salmon steaks or fillet (about 1 inch thick)
2 oz shiro miso
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp dashi stock
1 egg yolk

Dashi stock ingredients:

1 1/3 oz or 6 inch of kombu (kelp)
4 cups of water

Instructions:

1) Follow the instructions below to make the dashi stock. Mix the shiro miso, mirin, and dashi stock in a small bowl.

2) Add the egg yolk and mix thoroughly until the sauce is smooth and glossy.

3) Brush miso mixture over the salmon.

4) Broil for 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily (test with a fork). I like my fish tender and closer to medium rare, so 10 minutes was perfect for me.

How to make dashi stock:

1) Wipe kelp with a damp paper towel. Soak in 4 cups of water for an hour.

2) Bring the water and kelp to the boiling point, but remove the kelp before the water actually boils.

The miso mixture is very versatile and can also be used on other fish filets and scallops. Mmhmhmm miso glazed cod…

The weather had yet to turn warm, and my immediate thought was to make a heavy, hearty dish to counteract the lingering winter chills. French food came to mind. Perhaps some Red Wine Braised Short Ribs or Boeuf Bourguignon? I could already taste the succulent pieces of meat and potatoes drenched in rich, full-bodied, wine-based sauce. Dishes cooked with wine always sound so fancy too.

Ultimately, my fattie inner thoughts lost out in the battle, and I decided to go with a dish that was lighter in flavor to complement the already fattening bacon wrapped scallops appetizer. I stayed true to the fancy “cooking with wine” idea though in designing the Seafood Linguine dish. While pasta is no friend to the carb-conscious, the white wine sauce, shrimp, squid, and clams medley were healthy sources of protein and flavor. Make sure to retain the clam juices – it adds loads of flavor to the sauce!

This was also my first time zesting a lemon. I had to use a sharp knife to peel off the yellow rind since I didn’t have a lemon zester or peeler. Be careful not to peel off any of the white spongey flesh below the thin layer of yellow skin. The white part is bitter, while the actual lemon zest provides that lemon citrus aroma.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb linguine
6 shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/3 lb squid tubes, rinsed
10 oz minced clams, with juices
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flake
1 cup white wine
1/2 tsp lemon zest
Parsley
Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Black pepper

Instructions:

1) Cook linguine according to instructions on package, removing from pot and draining 1 minute before reaching al dente.

2) Heat olive oil in large pan and cook garlic and crushed red pepper until fragrant.

3) Melt the butter in the same pan and add the shrimp, squid, and minced clams. Pour the clam juices into the pan as well.

4) Add the white wine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for another 3-5 minutes until wine reduces.

5) Season the sauce with parsley, salt and pepper to taste.

6) Add the cooked linguini to the seafood sauce. Mix well and simmer for 1-2 minutes so the pasta absorbs some of the sauce. Add more salt and pepper if necessary.

There was actually a 3rd component to this meal. However, it seems like I’m not cut out to be a baker. =( The lemon meringue pie I made failed on the meringue. When they recommend you whip the egg whites well, they mean it…