Shrimp with tomato and garlic

The shrimp were on sale. The tomatoes came from the garden of a friend. I had a friend coming to dinner. It was a slam-dunk.

Sometimes I turn to recipes for ideas. This time I didn't need to. The ingredients practically formed a chorus and yelled "USE US TOGETHER!!" That's one of the nice things about being very busy. I spent a great deal of the day gardening. I raked and clipped and hauled 6 huge bags of yard waste. Back in the old days, I used to turn this into compost. I will do that again someday when I get my landscaping finished and have some space for a compost. Right now, I'm working towards clearing enough space for a tree trimmer to chop back this wild overgrowth of ficus and elm trees that have invaded my yard, swallowing up all the light as well as my canyon view.

But with company coming, I didn't have time to think about much other than the clock. Needed to finish the yard, the laundry and get something going for a meal. The beauty of being this busy is that you just keep moving, and things get done. The beauty of this dish is that it doesn't take much time. The only thing that took time was shelling the shrimp. The ones that were on sale had the shells on, so that meant a little more work. But that was basically it.

To make this, I used something like a pound of shrimp, shelled and deveined. I used a rounded teaspoon of chopped garlic out of a jar, threw it in a pan with some canola oil, added some chopped tomatoes, cooked them for about 3 minutes, then turned the flame off. I chopped a little basil from the garden and put a mixture of wild and basmati rice on to boil. When it was time to turn it down to a simmer, I tossed in whatever I had available in my herb collection, which was thyme. When the rice was done, I added some frozen peas, fluffed the whole thing with a fork and put the lid back on.

By then my friend had arrived, so I poured us a glass of wine, and we sat outside, sipping some cab and eating macadamia nuts. When it was time to serve the meal, I turned up the flame under the tomatoes, added the shrimp and the basil and cooked until the shrimp was pink - about 3-4 minutes. A clean yard, clean laundry, a gourmet meal and time with a friend. How good can it get?

An Ongoing Love of Shrimp

It's been cloudy off and on, with cool breezes blowing. Perfect weather for hiking! My friend Jeff has been dragging me off to Mission Trails Park for hikes lasting hours. He calls them "Death Marches". I confess I haven't been doing a whole lot of physical activity recently, so these hikes have been a Godsend. I'm usually the active type. As in...."Take a 6 hour hike up a mountain? No problem." But lately I've been working on my website, trying to tweak it so that it will work better and look just a little better. Since I've been busy growing my website, I thought it might be a good idea to go in now and fix what needs fixing, before it became an even more overwhelming task. (That's why I haven't been posting that much of late. Sorry!)

Anyway, too much sitting and not enough moving has been the order of my days, so when Jeff asked me if I wanted to go on a hike with him, I knew I had to do it. This winter "muffin top" was beginning to feel like an alien, and I'm not going to stop enjoying my food. So the only option is to chug up a mountain. Or two. Grumbling and complaining all the way, of course, but smiling, too. And asking Jeff to please get the car and bring it so that I wouldn't have to walk back.

Now, I may walk like I've got a Rotweiller chasing me, but when it comes to hiking into canyons or up mountains, I've never been particularly speedy. I remember taking a hike in Bandolier National Monument with a group of people ranging in age from about 25 to 65. We spent hours hiking down into this canyon and exploring the caves, and then we hiked back out towards the end of the day. I was one of the younger people in the group, and I was the next to last one out, preceded by all those in their 60s. I was huffing and puffing my way to the top, and they were all grinning and drinking deeply from their canteens by the time I got to the parking lot.

The main difference between then and now is the food waiting for me when I got home. Back in those days, Bob did the cooking, and I never grew tired of it. Now I'm the one in the kitchen, trying to come up with variations on a theme. And recently that theme seems to be fish. Any and all kinds, with or without a shell - halibut, shrimp, scallops, tuna - anything from the sea. I think it might have been my friend Kathye's birthday party that started it. She had ordered a shrimp cocktail as one of the hors d'oevres, and when I tasted one of those giant shrimp......well, as they say, the rest is history. But a shrimp cocktail can only take you so far. After a while, I started casting around for something else to do with shrimp. Somehow I decided to cast my eyes towards Africa for inspiration.

In northern Algeria as well as Tunisia and Morocco, every village and family makes it's own charmoula - a marinade used mostly to flavor fish (though it can be used for other things as well). It's made primarily of oil, lemon juice and herbs and spices - garlic, cumin, coriander, etc. In other words, it is to north African cuisine, what Masala is to Indian food.

I found the recipe for this particular version of charmoula in the February issue of Gourmet. It was perfect, as I had all of the ingredients except the shrimp and shallots, and Whole Foods is a mere 10 minute walk from my house - on pavement. Flat pavement, in fact!

Charmoula:

1 lb large shrimp in shell (21 to 25 per lb), peeled, leaving tail fan attached, and deveined
3 large shallots, finely chopped (1 cup)
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 small leek (white and pale green parts only), finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 fresh serrano chile (optional), seeded and finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons mild honey
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley or cilantro

Preparation:

Cook shrimp in a large pot of boiling water until just cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain and cool.

Cook shallots in 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy medium skillet over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until very tender, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, wash leek and pat dry.

Add leek, garlic, and chile (if using) to shallots and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add paprikas and turmeric and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest and juice, honey, parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 cup oil.

Toss shrimp with sauce in a glass or ceramic bowl and marinate, covered and chilled, at least 8 hours. Season with salt and serve in sauce. This will keep in the fridge for an extra day, especially if your shrimp is very fresh. You could serve this as is, with a side of salad or asparagus (another "must have" on my list these days). Or you could top a salad with this. In either case, you will have charmoula left over. I tossed mine into some rice along with a few frozen peas (and leftover asparagus, of course).

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Shrimp in Escabeche, and a refusal to let go of summer.

The weather may be saying "fall", but my senses are telling me "summer". How could it be otherwise, when I see mangoes and avocados in the store? Of course, I live in San Diego, where it's kinda hard to tell the seasons anyway. Well, I've gotten better at it, actually. There actually is a difference between summer and fall and winter here. We may not need down parkas in the winter, but we do get to enjoy a prolonged fall. Leaves haven't started turning yet (they won't until November), but the air has changed. But when you can still dine al fresco in the evening, can you truly succumb to fall's harvest foods? They still seem a little to heavy for our current weather. So I'm still eying the salads and seafood like someone who refuses to leave the cruise ship even after we've pulled into home port.

When I found this recipe on epicurious, I knew this was what I was hungering for. This simple recipe turned into a salad by the time I ate it. A salad with my mom's stamp on it, actually. My mom was the one who taught me to add mangoes to a salad to give it a little something extra. Every time I do this, people comment on what a cool idea it is. Thanks, Mom!

So here, without further ado, is a shrimp in escabeche salad.

In Spanish, escabeche refers to placing already cooked seafood into a marinade—a pickling of sorts—but this subtle shrimp salad is gentler than anything you might expect from the term pickled. Complemented by silky thin-sliced onions, the shrimp get their tender-firm texture from slow-poaching followed by marinating.

Ingredients:

1 small red onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 Turkish bay leaves or 1 California
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 pound large shrimp in shell (21 to 25 per pound), peeled, leaving tail intact, and deveined

Preparation:

Toss together onion, vinegar, oregano, and 1 teaspoon salt in a shallow glass or ceramic dish.

Simmer oil, bay leaves, garlic, and peppercorns in a small saucepan 10 minutes, then let stand until ready to use.

Add shrimp to a medium pot of boiling salted water (2 tablespoons salt for 4 quarts water), then remove from heat and let stand, uncovered, until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Drain well, then stir into onion mixture along with oil mixture.

Chill shrimp in escabeche, covered when cool, stirring occasionally, at least 12 hours. Discard bay leaves and serve shrimp cold or at room temperature.

Cooks' note: Shrimp in escabeche can be chilled up to 2 days.

My additions: I used a bag of baby spring mix lettuces, an avocado and a mango - both sliced. I served it with a dressing of olive oil, raspberry vinegar, salt and pepper.
Makes 8 servings

For health news, visit Mission Valley Acupuncture
For a place to share which natural remedies work for you and which don't, visit my other blog, Second Opinion

Risotto With Shrimp, Bay Scallops, Morels and Asparagus

It all started with the morels. I stood there in Whole Foods, and lifted one big, beautiful, lacy one to my nose and inhaled deeply. Suddenly I was in the country, and smelling the slightly damp earth on a summer day. I knew I needed a somewhat neutral palette as a background for this scent, as well as something I could pair with it that would contrast - in color, texture, scent, and yes, in taste. I turned the corner and spied a forest of young asparagus bunches, all standing at attention. Yes, this was what I needed as a counterpoint. But what was the background going to be? As I continued through the aisles, I spotted the bulk grains, and knew immediately that risotto's creamy texture would balance the earthiness of the mushrooms perfectly.

I would have stopped there, but I found myself walking by the seafood counter and spied these large white shrimp and tiny, tender looking bay scallops. Most people here in California ignore bay scallops, but where I grew up on the east coast, we used to incorporate them into lots of dishes - sometimes even in the starring role. I found myself asking for a handful of each.

Perfect.

I've made risotto before, and understood the principle of adding liquid in batches, stirring until it's absorbed, and repeating the process until the risotto reaches it's rich, creamy, perfect texture. So the only question I had was how to deal with the rest of the ingredients. I scored one hit and one miss, but learned something in the process. And fortunately, the final result turned out to be pretty good in spite of my bumbling. My final result would feed three people easily as a main course.

1 1/4C risotto
3 good sized morels, sliced crosswise
2 small shallots, diced
1 handful of asparagus - about 18 - washed, patted dry and cut into 2" pieces
1 handful of raw shrimp, rinsed, peeled and deveined
1 handful of bay scallops, rinsed.
1/2 C white wine
2C chicken broth, heated
Olive oil
butter
Kosher salt
pepper

Take about 1TBS of butter, add around 2tsp of olive oil and melt. Toss the sliced mushrooms and asparagus in this mixture, spread on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast in the oven until it's slightly toasted - about 15-20 minutes.

While the asparagus and mushrooms are roasting, dice the shallots. Put a chunk of butter into a heavy skillet, add shallots and saute over medium heat until tender. Add risotto and stir until all kernels are coated with butter. Add wine and stir until liquid is absorbed. Add heated chicken broth, about 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until all the liquid is absorbed. After the first 1/2 cup of chicken broth has been absorbed, add the shrimp and scallops. Continue adding liquid and stirring until risotto is creamy and soft. Turn off heat and add the asparagus and mushrooms.
Notes: If I did this again, I would add some lemon zest to the mixture. I would also cook the shrimp and scallops separately, as they took much longer to cook this way. My instincts would be to saute them in a little white wine and some truffle oil. In fact, I intended to use truffle oil for the asparagus and mushrooms, but when I opened my pantry I discovered I was out! (Gasp!)

Note to self: Buy some more truffle oil next time you're in Trader Joe's!

Have you ever cooked with morels? What did you do with them? Are they not the most decorative of mushrooms, especially when sliced across? Like lacy rings....

For health news, visit Mission Valley Acupuncture
For a place to discuss which natural remedies work for you and which don't, visit my other blog:
Second Opinion

Cioppino, the Italian New Mexican way

When I first moved to New Mexico, my husband did all the cooking. He was a great fan of chili, and used to put chilis in everything. I was from the east coast, however, and not really used to that much spice. One day he put some green chili in a fish dish that he made, and I rebelled. "Can't we have ANYTHING without chili in it?" He said "OK", and from that day he ceased to put chili in anything. After about 2 weeks, I went to him like an addict needing a fix. "Can we please have something with chilis in it?" I asked sheepishly. "Sure!" Chilis were back, and I've relied upon them as a source of comfort (and vitamin C) ever since.

And so I'm dedicating this week's recipe to Bob. Sure, I got some ideas from epicurious.com "Grandfather's Cioppino" but in the spirit of the kind of cooking he taught me, I tweaked it according to whim and what I had on hand. You were right, Bob. Fish with chili is not such a bad idea after all.

2 TBS olive oil

1 large onion

3 celery stalks, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can crushed or diced tomatoes - I think mine was 14oz.

Fresh tomatoes, chunked. I had some grape tomatoes that needed using - about 1 1/2 C

1 C dry red wine

1 TBS red wine vinegar

1 bay leaf

a few vigorous shakes of dried oregano

a vigorous shake of ground cinnamon

1 TBS crushed red pepper flakes

1 whole red chili or jalapeno - kept whole.

2 C water

1 fish boullion cube (shhhhh! Don't tell the culinary cops!)

Fish: I used the following, approximately a big handful of each:

Albacore

Tilapia

Sea Bass

Shrimp

Bay Scallops

In a heavy stockpot over medium high heat, sautee onion, celery and garlic till the onion is translucent

Add the next 8 ingredients and stir, then reduce heat to medium

Cook for about 10 minutes.

Add water and boullion cube (or 2+ cups of homemade stock, if you have any and haven't run out as I did!) and cook for another 10 minutes.

Add fish, starting with the densest, heaviest fish first, and moving to the lightest fish last. In my case, I started with the tuna and sea bass and ended with the shrimp and scallops, as they only take about 3 minutes to cook.

This dish is great to make for parties. You can prepare everything but the fish ahead of time. The pot can be on the stove and kept warm until you sense your guests are ready for food. Turn the heat up under the pot, drop the fish in and voila! A spectacular meal, served with fresh sourdough or baguette slices.

This soup is my response to Alanna's Soup Month over at Veggie Venture. It seems that not all soups need be vegetarian for this event, so if you haven't yet "dished", please do!

For more health news, visit Mission Valley Acupuncture