Spiced Shrimp with Orzo

This is a recipe that nicely blends spicy, salty, briny, and creamy all in one. Orzo is the great pasta base which absorbs some of the competing flavors. Spicy shrimp makes a nice contrast to the briny capers and the tart lemon juice. Parmesan and Mascarpone cheeses finish out the creaminess. 

For the spicy shrimp, the original recipe called for Calabrian chili paste. I tend to favor harissa as the best substitute. One could also use Sriracha, Sambal Oelek, or Gochujang.

Ingredients:

• Shrimp - 20 oz., tails off and deveined 
• Garlic - 2-3 cloves, minced
• Chili paste - 1 Tbsp.
• Orzo - 1 cup
• Capers - 4 Tbsp. rinsed
• Parmesan - 3/4 cup, grated
• Zucchini - 2, sliced
• Lemon - 1, juiced
• Mascarpone - 1/4 cup

Directions:

1. Fill medium pot 3/4 way up with salted water. Turn on high heat and bring to a boil.
2. Grate the Parmesan.
3. Halve the zucchini lengthwise then thinly slice crosswise.
4. Quarter and deseed the lemon. Squeeze all sections into a small bowl removing any seeds. 
5. Dry the defrosted shrimp with paper towels and place them in a large bowl. Mince the garlic into the bowl and add the chili paste. Drizzle with olive oil (about 1 Tbsp) and stir to mix. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside
6. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook 9 minutes. When done, drain pasta in a colander.
7. 
   In a 12" skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil over medium high heat. Add the sliced zucchini in a single layer and cook, without stirring, for 3 minutes (until lightly browned). Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for another 3 minutes. Transfer cooked zucchini to a bowl and cover with foil.
8. Wipe the skillet with a paper towel. Reheat the skillet with olive oil. Add the spiced shrimp and cook, without stirring, 3 minutes per side. 
   
9. While shrimp cook, return orzo to the pot and stir to mix. Add the mascarpone, capers, Parmesan cheese, and lemon juice. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Turn on a low heat to help melt the mascarpone and get it to mix with the pasta. 
10. Serve the pasta mixture in a pasta bowl and top with the finished shrimp. Sprinkle some dried parsley on top for color. 

Spaghetti al Limone

The backyard lemons continue to be in full bloom. As in the last post, I am always looking for ways to use up the backyard bounty of lemons.

I got this recipe via email from my Milk Street subscription. What appealed to me were the simple ingredients, quick preparation time (hello weeknight meal!), bright flavors, and the use of a lemon.

With this recipe, I also appreciated the use of starchy pasta water along with a generous bit of butter to thicken the sauce instead of some recipes which call for cream. This leads to a cleaner, lighter, and brighter finish.

This Italian-based recipe comes from the Campania region of Italy where there is an abundance of lemon trees along the Amalfi Coast.

Spaghetti al Limone (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 5 tablespoons salted butter, divided
• 6-8 cloves of garlic, minced
• red pepper flakes, to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon to start then adjust accordingly)
• 10-12 ounces spaghetti or linguini
• 3/4 cup dry white wine (plus extra for the chef!)
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 4-6 tablespoons lemon juice (start with 4 to judge your personal tolerance for lemon)
• 3/4 - 1 cup of chopped parsley (or basil leaves)
• finely grated Parmesan cheese
• Ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

• Prep lemon zest, herbs, and mince garlic. Preheat 2 quarts of salted water for pasta.
• In a large skillet, melt 3 tablespoons butter (I also added some olive oil to the mixture). Add the minced garlic and cook stirring for about 30 seconds.
• Add the red pepper flakes and cook for one more minute
• Add the white wine and simmer until reduced, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Bring pasta water to a boil. Cook the pasta until 2-3 minutes short of the directions (pasta will continue to cook later in the skillet).
• As pasta nears time, ladle off 1 1/2 cup of pasta water then drain pasta
• Return the skillet to medium high heat, stir in the reserved pasta water, and bring to a simmer. Add the drained pasta and stir to mix. 
• Lower the heat until gently simmering.
• Add 2 remaining tablespoons of butter,  a very generous grind of black pepper, the lemon juice and zest, and the parsley.
• Continue to simmer until the sauce has thickened and the extra water has evaporated. This is a key step. You don't want a watery sauce so simmer until the pasta glistens with starch and fat and the sauce has thickened. This can take 5 to 10 minutes depending on the heat level. Be patient and wait until all water is evaporated.
• Transfer to serving dishes and serve with some finely grated Parmesan cheese
• Garnish with a lemon slice or a sprig of fresh parsley or basil

Delicata Squash with Quinoa Pasta

This evening's weeknight meal was a mix of trying to make a decent meal and trying to clear out the fridge with its mix of post-holiday ingredients. Not only that, it's illustrative of how I sometimes cobble together a weeknight meal.

It started with that Delicata squash that's been staring at me every time I come into the kitchen from last week's box. OK, you are the main ingredient tonight. How about sauteed squash over pasta, I thought. A quick check of the pantry confirmed that there were lots of pasta choices, including our favorite quinoa pasta. A plan was unfolding.

Cutting and cleaning the squash got me thinking that there needs to be a counterpoint. Going through the fridge, I noted a few jars of sun dried tomatoes. Nearby were the remains of some oldish goat cheese that can add that creaminess. And there's that bunch of spinach from last week and we're getting another bunch tomorrow. Now we're getting somewhere.

How to tie all these disparate ingredients together? There's the last of some remaining pesto from another holiday meal. Perfect.

While the pasta water heated up...

1. Saute cubed squash in olive oil
2. Add roughly chopped sun-dried tomatoes and stir
3. Add some roughly chopped parsley and stir
4. Add cleaned spinach leaves and stir
5. Add most of the pesto and stir. Reserve some pesto for the pasta
6. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes
7. Drain pasta and return to pan. Add some oil and pesto and stir to mix well
8. Plate pasta and top with squash mixture
9. Top with crumbles of goat cheese

A bottle of 2008 Beringer Alluvium Blanc Knights Valley complements it all.

Addendum

More Delicata Squash recipes:

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/delicata-squash-recipes-recipe.html

The Night Before Going Back to Work

It was Sunday night after a busy two weeks of family, friends, and food. Our refrigerator was full with a wonderful variety of leftovers from the holidays: Heavy cream and mushrooms from a tart I hope to post someday, smoked salmon slices from an appetizer for relatives for the day after Christmas, leftover yellow onions from the box recently. I looked around the fridge and came up with the following dinner for the Sunday night before going back to work. This also represents how I cook most weeknights after work. I just try to use up what's in the fridge and not follow any particular recipe. Most of the time it works out. The results here were delicious. I mixed in both cream and skim milk just so it wasn't a "heart attack" alfredo sauce. The salmon slices almost tasted like pancetta in the cream sauce. All of the measurements are approximate as I pretty much just winged it with the ingredients I had on hand. 

Creamy Smoked Salmon Pasta 

Ingredients:

• pasta; I used Cavatappi
• butter, about 1-2 tablespoons
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• mushrooms, about 2 cups, chopped
• garlic, 3 cloves minced
• smoked salmon, sliced thinly, about 2-3 cups
• heavy cream, probably 1/2 cup
• skim milk, probably 1/4 cup
• pepper: freshly ground black pepper if you like it mild; a generous pinch of red pepper flakes if you like it spicy

Instructions:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. As water boils, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion in butter until tender.
3. Add mushrooms and cook for a few more minutes.
4. Stir in cream and milk. Heat to just below boiling point and cook over low heat for 4 minutes.
5. Toss in smoked salmon, and cook for 2 more minutes. Serve over pasta.

Macaroni and Cheese (and 100th post!)

We hadn't had macaroni and cheese in a looooong time. So when we needed an easy, weeknight meal for a Monday night with a friend coming over this seemed like the logical choice. A little internet research brought me to my favorite Food Network star, Alton Brown. His baked mac and cheese recipe caught my eye because of the use of panko bread crumbs on top and the inclusion of seasoning you don't find in other recipes (mustard and paprika). Here's the recipe with a few of my modifications from the original:

Ingredients:
1/2 - 3/4 of a 1 pound box of elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
salt and black pepper

Topping:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta to al dente. OK, the recipe said 1/2 lb. which seemed a little skimpy to me. So I went 3/4 which was probably too much. Start with 1/2 and adjust up in the future.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Add the flour and mustard and stir constantly for a few minutes until well mixed and free of any lumps. Stir in the onions, milk (wow, seems like a lot of milk!), bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for around 10 minutes or until the mixture begins to thicken slightly. Season liberally with black pepper (red pepper flakes might do well here in the future). Find and discard the bay leaf.

"Temper in the egg" said the recipe. What does that mean?!? Did I do that? No, I just added a mixed egg ala egg drop soup. Later I learned more about what I should have done. Oh, well, next time.

Anyways, temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese (don't skimp on the cheese either). Add the drained macaroni into the mix and stir. Pour into a casserole dish (I didn't do this but in retrospect I can see why this step is important - more crispy topping!). Top with remaining cheese.

Melt butter in a pan (I just reused the pasta pan) and toss in bread crumbs. Stir to mix the butter and bread crumbs. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs.

Bake for 30 minutes uncovered until the top is slightly browned. Remove from the oven and let rest for five minutes before serving.

The reviews were that the panko bread and crispy cheese topping was the best part. Overall, a tasty recipe with lots of room for upgrades and experiments. More seasoning and spice would help, too. Be generous with the black pepper and maybe experiment with cayenne or red pepper flakes. More mustard? More onion, frozen peas, broccoli are all possibilities.

So this turns out to be my 100th posting on this blog. It started out as a chronicle of our remodeling project but I kept it alive as I explored cooking and gardening in our home. I hope you are enjoying it, too!

Heirloom Tomato Pasta Puttanesca

Our good friends and fellow FFTY'ers gave this recipe based on the excellent heirloom tomatoes in the box this week. It's great with regular tomatoes but "sublime with heirlooms."

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. heirloom tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp. chili flakes
• 3-4 anchovy fillets
• 1/2 cup oil-cured black olives
• 3 tsp. capers
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 small bunch of Italian parsley
• sea salt
• Romano cheese
• 1 lb. pasta (penne or spaghetti)
  

Preparation:

• Chop anchovies into a paste (Don't skip this ingredient. Get a small jar of anchovy fillets at Whole Foods. It's $1.29. I know what you're thinking).
• Pit and coarsely chop the olives (Joanne Weir gives a great tip on always buying your olives from the bulk section of the supermarket instead of canned. I used some Whole Foods black olives cured in Fines Herbes).
• Chop the parsley (I used backyard flat leaf parsley).
• Finely chop the garlic
• Coarsely chop the capers
  
• Core, seed, and cut the heirloom tomatoes into small dice (Given the high water content of the heirloom tomatoes I might have drained them in a colander for a bit first).
  

Combine all ingredients except pasta and let it rest for at least an hour. Cook the pasta in sea salted water until al dente. Toss with the sauce.

Serve with crusty bread and some good red wine.