Virtual Cooking with Chef Jojo Thomas

This post was written by guest contributor, Angela P. Shenk

Angela is an artist, attorney and devoted Penguins fan living Connecticut. One of her favorite and most inspiring hockey experiences is sharing her love of hockey with the Miller Elementary students at the 2019 BGHC meetup in P’burgh. Angela spreads the ‘gospel’ of BGHC wherever she goes and assists the organization with virtual meetups and blog posts.

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Dat Rona has all of us missing hockey and each other. However, Black Girl Hockey Club is helping fill the Hockey Void by organizing fun and inspiring BGHC virtual meetups. Sign up is as easy as clicking on our newsletter subscription and keeping an eye out for our emails. The next one will be in June, so make sure to join us, especially if you missed the last two virtual events. 

The best things in life include friends, hockey and food, so naturally Chef Jojo Thomas, is a favorite BGHC guest. His virtual cooking classes are a big hit and his flavorful recipes do not disappoint.

An Anaheim Ducks fan, Chef Jojo is the cofounder of KitchenCray and has been featured on in Washington City Paper, and dcist.com. He travels to schools with Martha’s Table educating students about healthy eating and food preparation. Jojo dreams of cooking healthy for one of his favorite hockey teams or players and sharing his recipes with the world.

At our first virtual BGHC meetup in April, with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Chef Jojo made us all very hungry as he demonstrated how to whip up some Shrimp Fajitas. Even though the debate over cilantro was not settled, Chef taught us how to make some fancy and delicious aioli and a banging “fajita mix”. 

At May’s meetup, we were all excited to see Chef Jojo and hear the sizzle of onions as he prepared his Blackened Salmon Afredo. Like his Shrimp Fajitas, this is a quick, but flavorful and nutritious meal enhanced with fresh veggies, herbs and citrus. We cannot wait for the next Chef Jojo cooking demo at our June meetup.

Thank you Chef Jojo for sharing your recipes with the BGHC fam. You can find all the ingredients and instructions you need to recreate these sublime meals in the recipes below. 

For more healthy foodie adventures, be sure to follow Chef Jojo on Instagram (@llcoolchef)!

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Chef Jojo’s Blackened Salmon Alfredo

Yield: 3-5 Servings 

Prep time: 15 minutes 

Cooking time: 20 minutes 

Ingredients 

(Salmon) 

6 oz salmon filets (skinless and boneless) 

5 tablespoons blackened seasoning (seasoning for salmon) 

1 tablespoon, olive oil 

(Noodles) 

½ box of fettuccine pasta 

(Alfredo Sauce) 

1 tablespoon olive oil 

½ yellow onion

diced 6 garlic cloves peeled and chopped fine 

1 pint heavy cream 

½ cup chicken stock 

½ cup grated parmesan 

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 

salt and pepper, to taste 

half lemon freshly squeezed 

(Additional Ingredients) 

1 ½ cups fresh baby spinach 

¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped fine 

(Cooking Tools Needed) 

Spatula (to turn fish)

Whisk

Tongs 

Cooking Directions 

Pasta

1. Add pasta to boiling salted water, stirring occasionally for 7-10 minutes. Cook the pasta “al dente”, which means it’s tender but still has some firmness. Drain pasta and run with cold water until cooled off. Add to a bowl, drizzling olive oil for seperation.

Alfredo Sauce

1. Heat a pot or large non-stick saucepan at medium/high. 
2. Once it’s hot, add olive oil then onions. Stir continuously until onions start to “caramelize” or brown. Add garlic and continue to stir 
3. Add heavy cream and chicken stock and bring to a boil. 
4. Turn heat down to medium and add parmesan, whisking all ingredients 
5. Continue to whisk and add flour, now simmering at low heat 
6. Mix in spinach, stirring with a pair of tongs 
7. Taste sauce and season with salt and pepper to your preference. Squeeze fresh lemon for added flavor. Turn off heat, leave sauce covered.

Salmon

1. Heat a large heavy-bottomed pan or cast-iron skillet over medium heat, and add the oil. If the oil begins to smoke, shut the heat off under the pan. Add the salmon, one at a time, in a single layer into the pan. 
2. Turn the heat back on under the pan and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Use a spatula to turn the salmon to the other side. 
3. Cook the salmon over medium heat, until the flesh becomes crispy, about 5 to 6 minutes. When the salmon flakes with a fork, it’s ready, with the internal temperature at 145 degrees. 

Plating- On a nice, white plate, using the tongs, carefully place your pasta as the base. Add your salmon on top and garnish with parsley and grated parmesan. 

Chef/Nutrition Tip: Feel free to add more vegetables to your pasta like peppers, broccoli, etc.

 

Chef Jojo’s Shrimp Fajitas

Serving size: (4-6 people) 

Prep time: 15 minutes 

Cooking time: 6-8 minutes 

Ingredients 

(For Fajitas) 

1 tablespoon, olive oil (for cooking)

2 teaspoons olive oil for marinating shrimp

 ½ tablespoon of olive oil for onions and peppers 

2 tablespoons blackened seasoning 

2 cloves garlic, chopped fine 

1 ½ lbs uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined 

½ red onion (thin “julienne” sliced) 

½ red bell pepper (thin “julienne” sliced) 

flour or corn tortillas 

2 fresh lime wedges to taste

fresh cilantro, rinsed (1/2 bunch) for cooking and garnish 

Can of non-stick spray or PAM 

(Cilantro Lime Aioli Ingredients & Instructions) 

Mayo (1 tablespoon) 

Cilantro (1 teaspoon, chopped) 

Pinch of ground cumin

1 garlic clove, minced 

1-3 drops of hot pepper sauce, based on preference 

1/2 lime freshly squeezed 

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Taste for preference. 

Chef Tip: Mayo can be substituted for sour cream or nonfat greet yogurt. 

Cooking Directions

1. In a small/medium bowl, carefully mix shrimp with 2 teaspoons of olive oil, blackened seasoning, and garlic, set aside. 
2. Heat a non-stick pan at medium/high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add shrimp cooking in one layer, they will begin to sizzle. Do not overcrowd the pan with shrimp. Stir shrimp for 3-4 minutes or until fully pink. Set aside on a separate plate to cool off. 
3. After washing out and cooling off your pan, reheat it to medium high heat and add a ½ tablespoon of olive oil. Add onions and peppers and sauté for 2-3 minutes until they caramelize and slightly wilt. Make sure you pay attention to the heat control so nothing burns. Feel free to sprinkle (eyeball) some blackened seasoning, chopped cilantro, and fresh lime squeeze for added flavor. Once finished, turn off heat and let it cool off. 
4. Heat pan to medium low heat and spray with PAM or nonstick spray. Place your tortilla(s) inside and heat for roughly 30 seconds on each side. 
5. Assemble your tortilla with the aioli as the base, then fajita mix, and shrimp. Feel free to squeeze extra lime for added flavor and/or add cilantro.