Shrimp Pasta Biscayne Parke and an Award!!!

Last year when I lived in Chicago, I was fortunate to live just 2 blocks from one of the best Italian restaurants in the city. While I didn't eat there often, LaDonna was a favorite for DS and me, and my fabulous friend Gwendolyn and I had our Christmas celebration there. They have a create-your-own-pasta section of the menu and I was always fascinated by, but never tried, the Mona Lisa sauce, drescribed on the menu as saffron cream with shrimp.

I made Reeni's wonderful Cajun Shrimp Alfredo last week, and have been dying to try my hand at creating my own shrimp pasta ever since. (The whole family was crazy about Reeni's SPICY shrimp pasta dish-- I'm telling you, Reeni is a genius!)

Having the idea "saffron cream sauce" in my head, I decided to see what I could come up with. It was so good, we could not stop eating it!!!


I don't talk much about work, seeing as I'm all about the food here, but I have so much to be thankful for. I just finished a job for a wonderful library that I have been working with for many months now. They are a fantastic group of people and I am really going miss them. My clients are the greatest-- they all represent the best ideals of library service. They are all dedicated, and they all inspire me. Especially this very special group of people from Florida. So, this recipe is for you: you know who you are!! I named it in honor of all of you.

Here is my original recipe.

Shrimp Pasta Biscayne Parke
by DomesticMuse

Ingredients:

1 lb. shrimp, peeled, shells reserved
1 t. saffron threads
1 t. red pepper flakes
3 T unsalted butter
1 onion
2 T vodka
1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
1 t. best-quality curry powder
1/2 c. white wine
2 T. tomato paste
1 t. sugar
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. whole milk
1/3 c. sundried tomato strips
1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained and patted dry with paper towel
3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 lb. spaghettini, cooked al dente

Preparation:

Spray a large skillet with non-stick spray and heat over medium heat. Add the butter.

Add the shrimp and red pepper flakes, and saute the shrimp until pink. Remove the shrimp with a slotted spoon and place on a plate; reserve.

Meanwhile, place the shrimp shells in a saucepan and cover with water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil and boil uncovered until the shells turn pink.

Remove the shells from the broth and continue to boil until the liquid is reduced to about 1/2 c. or less. Add the saffron threads to the hot shrimp broth and remove from the heat. Allow to steep at least 10 minutes.


Without wiping out the skillet the shrimp was cooked in, add the onions and more butter if needed. Cook the onions over medium-low heat until soft and sweet. Increase the heat, add the vodka, and cook, stirring, until the vodka is mostly evaporated and reduced to a thick liquid.


Add the sliced mushrooms and cook, stirring, about 5-7 minutes, or until the mushrooms have released their liquid and it has mostly evaporated. Add the curry powder and cook 2-3 minutes, stirring, to take the raw edge off the curry spices.



Add the saffron broth and the white wine to the mushroom mixture and cook, stirring, until most of the liquid is evaporated.
Whisk in the tomato paste and sugar. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the heavy cream and milk, and the sun-dried tomato strips. Bring the mixture to gentle boil, and simmer until reduced by half. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.


Remove from the heat and stir in the crushed garlic. Add the shrimp and the artichokes and stir gently to combine.


Serve over the cooked spaghettini. Garnish with chopped flat-leaf parsley.


!Buen provecho!!

I am so, so excited to tell you that I have just received a real honor, a blog award called the Premio de Oro (Gold Medal) from my best pan pal, Nathan at La Cocina de Nathan.

Nathan received this beautiful prize from Cuban cooking star Marilyn and is passing it along to me! I am really, truly thrilled, honored, and humbled-- without Nathan, I would have given up on my blog long ago. Thanks for the award, the encouragement, and the friendship, Nathan!! Of course, as with any good award, it's meant to be passed along-- which I will do, once I've had a chance to collect my thoughts! This award also asks you to list 7 things about yourself, so don't miss Nathan's list!

Nathan's blog is just amazing, for anyone interested in authentic Latin American foodways and cooking. He makes a lot of heritage recipes honoring his Spanish, Cuban, and Mexican roots. Not only does his blog serve to preserve and promote his cultural heritage, it is some seriously good eats! We are addicted to many of Nathan's recipes in our home, in particular his porkchops, meatballs and his grandma's rice pudding! Please check out La Cocina de Nathan-- a fabulous, fabulous blog! I've learned so much from reading Nathan and Marilyn's blogs that I can make Cuban food at home that is 10 times better than anything we can get in a Cuban restaurant around here.

Muchisimas gracias, Nathan, por este premio y por su amistad.

Dad's Meatloaf and Potatoes Au Gratin, plus AWARDS!

This has been a very stressful week at work, and I'm also trying to get back into my fitness routine, so I am very behind on posts! Dad's Meatloaf with Tomato Relish and Potatoes Au Gratin were for Tyler Florence Fridays last week, LOL!

DC has requested meatloaf several times and this is the first time I have got around to making it, because DS "hates" meatloaf. I can't get DS to understand that not all meatloaf is the same! Since it was just the 2 of us, I only made half a recipe, which gave nice dinner servings with some leftovers for meatloaf sandwiches. I'm giving the amounts for the full amount below.

These dishes were very easy to prepare, and really delicious. Tyler uses both ground pork as well as ground beef in his meatloaf, so it is very flavorful. The tomato relish adds a nice twist to plain old ketchup topping for the meatloaf, as well as helping to keep the meatloaf moist. And the smell is heavenly once it's in the oven with its little jacket of bacon.

Here are the ingredients:

Dad's Meatloaf with Tomato Relish

For the Tomato Relish:
Extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely minced (I used 2 for my half-recipe)
2 bayleaves
2 red peppers, finely diced
2 tomatoes, halved, seeded and finely diced (I used 1/2 can Rotel for my 1/2 recipe)
1/4 c. flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 12 oz. bottle ketchup
1 T worcestershire sauce
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Meatloaf:
3 slices white bread, crusts removed,torn into chunks by hand
1/4 c. whole milk
1 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground pork
2 eggs
leaves from 2 sprigs fresh thyme
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3-4 bacon slices

First, we make the tomato relish, because it goes into as well as on top of the meatloaf. It is very quick to prepare.
We heat our skillet with oil, and saute the onion and garlic and bayleaves together. Toss the chopped peppers in next, cooking until softened and fragrant.
I bet this is great with fresh summer tomatoes, but since I had half a can of Rotel sitting in the fridge that I wanted to use up, I substituted it for the fresh tomatoes. At this point you add the seasonings too, parsley, ketchup, worcestershire, salt and pepper. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.

This is my relish, after all the ingredients have been added. I love the bright colors!


Now on to the meatloaf!

Here are my ground sirloin and ground pork


Next you add the eggs, bread/milk, thyme leaves, salt and pepper, and 1 1/2 c. of the tomato relish. My relish was still pretty hot, so I used an ice water bath to cook it down before adding it to the bowl. Tyler says to squeeze the excess milk out of the bread, but there really wasn't any! Guess it all soaked in to the bread.

My meatloaf mixture:


Tyler next instructs you to make a free-form loaf on a greased cookie sheet.
I prefer to make meatloaf this way, rather than in a loaf pan. You get a higher ration of topping-covered crust to soft interior, plus it cooks faster.



We coat the top generously with the tomato relish. Tyler says use 1/2 c.
Now for the best part: bacon!! Lay the bacon slices lengthwise on the top pf the loaf.


It goes in a 350F oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. I forgot to take a picture of the finished loaf, because we were very ready to eat! You can serve the meatloaf with more relish on it.

I made Tyler's Potatoes Gratin to go with the meatloaf. My friend Donna at My Tasty Treasures posted them a while ago and I have been dying to try them. This has to be the easiest-to-make scalloped potato type dish out there, and it's so good! You just mix everything up in the baking pan together. I used my food processor to slice the potatoes, so they came out nice and even, as well as much thinner than I could ever get them with a knife.

Potatoes Gratin

Ingredients:
2 lbs. baking potatoes, peeled and sliced paper thin
2 c. heavy cream (I only had 1 c. of cream and 1 of whole milk)
2 garlic cloves, split
leaves from 4 sprigs fresh thyme
3 T. chopped chives
1 c. grated parmigiano reggiano
salt and freshly ground pepper

Toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl, then into the casserole dish. Flatten everything with a spatula. Now, you are supposed to bake the potatoes at 375 for 40 minutes, but my meatloaf was about 20 minutes away from being done, so I put them in the oven for the first 10 minutes, then microwaved them for 10 minutes, until the potatoes were tender. Then I popped them back into the oven hoping they would brown a little.

A little is about it! They are not so pretty, but extremely tasty. Using some milk in place of the cream did not seem to have an adverse effect on either the flavor or texture of the finished dish.


Wondering what to serve with these two glorious dishes, I rummaged around in the freezer and found some baby peas. The perfect retro-cool meal!


Now for some fun bloggy business! As mentioned in the title of this post, Kendra over at Homegrown Housewife received both the Friends Award

and the Excellent Blog award!


And I am really thrilled, honored, and excited she has passed them on to me! These awards mean a lot to me because Kendra is one of my best blogging buddies and her blog not only inspires me, I learn so many interesting things from reading it! Kendra is one of the people in our little corner of blogland that has welcomed me and encouraged me with my relatively new blog. Thank you, Kendra! You totally made my week!

Please do check out Kendra's blog if you haven't had a chance to visit. You are sure to find something delicious, funny, and uplifting there! Her other blog, Screams from My Front Porch, about life with her "three reckless children" is also sure to bring a smile to your face, so check it out too.

Both of these awards are supposed to be passed on-- There are so many wonderful blogs and bloggers I have met, it's hard to know who to pick! I will share the names of my co-awardees and partners in crime soon!

Black Pepper, Lemon, and Walnut Biscotti, and, AWARDS!!

What a week it's been! I have been hard at work at my Royal Foodie Joust entry for March. I'm not quite finished with my whole recipe for the Joust, but thought I would unveil part of it. AND I am so thrilled, I received 2 more awards for my blog, from the ever-gracious Gloria Chadwick at Cookbook Cuisine, which I will tell you about below.

The ingredients for this month's Joust are oranges, edible flowers, and shallots. This has been a challenging combination to work with! I developed these Black Pepper, Lemon, and Walnut Biscotti to go with the Main Event, which I will post about either on Friday or Saturday.

People's reactions to biscotti remind me of a conversation I had once with my college roommate, who, like me, hailed not only from South of the Mason-Dixon, but from Appalachia (Chris was from Bluefield, W VA, while I grew up in Asheville, NC). There we were, in our tiny little snow-covered studio apartment in the middle of the frigid NH winter, eating what was for us a novelty food: bagels. (This was the 80's, and not a lot of people back home were accustomed to eating those bad boys.)

I loved the bagels, and even went so far as to attempt making my own. But Chris was never that fond of them. Her comment was, "If I wanted to eat a hard donut, I'd get a hard donut." And I know the texture of biscotti is off-putting for some. They are intended for dunking, usually in espresso, which is why they are so crunchy. In fact, biscotti means "cooked twice." As you will see, these are indeed baked twice.

I've had so much fun making my biscotti! If you've never tried making them, they are pretty easy to do. My Black Pepper Lemon and Walnut Biscotti are bit different because they are intended to be a mostly savory accompaniment to my (secret) dish. I know that not everyone enjoys biscotti, but I think these would be perfect with a glass of wine. (Couldn't you just about enjoy anything with a glass of wine? "Would you like some cardboard with that Albarino, madam?")

I wanted to give my biscotti some punch and so I added black pepper as well as a generous amount of lemon zest. I think I succeeded: you may wish to add less black pepper to taste to yours :D ! I also tossed in some yellow cornmeal to give them a nice, sandy bite. My guys loved them, and I hope you will enjoy them, too!

So here's what you will need to make my

Karen's Black Pepper, Lemon and Walnut Biscotti

2 t. whole black peppercorns
1 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2. t. salt
1/2 t. baking powder
2 T grated lemon zest (from 2 large lemons)
2 t. chopped fresh thyme
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. shredded Robusto cheese (you can substitute parmesan)
1/3 c. yellow cornmeal
3 T chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1/2 c. whole milk
1 egg, preferably extra large
1 T walnut oil (or extra virgin olive oil)
Egg wash: 1 egg, beaten

First, preheat your oven to 350F. Then spread the walnuts out on a baking sheet and toast for 10 minutes. Set them aside to cool. Put the peppercorns in a spice grinder and process until coarsely ground.


Mix the dry ingredients, flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder, 1 1/2 t. black pepper, lemon zest, shredded cheese, and thyme. Blend well.



Next, add the butter and cut it into the mixture with a pastry blender, 2 knives, or your fingertips, until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the walnuts.


Mix the wet ingredients together in a small glass measure. Beat the milk and egg together, then add the walnut oil.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix to form a soft dough.


Turn it out onto a floured surface and shape into a flattened log about 14 in. long x 2 in. wide by 3/4 in. high. Place the log on a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 t. coarse ground pepper, 1/4 t. coarse salt and 1/4 t. sugar. (I was thinking, if only I had some coarse crystal sugar, that would be really neat!)


Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until pale golden and firm. Remove from the oven. Reduce the oven heat to 300F.Cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, until warm.


Carefully place on a cutting board and with a sharp, serrated knife slice the log diagonally into 1/2 in. slices.
Place the slices cut side down back on the baking sheet and bake at 300 for 35-40 min., or until crisp and golden. Turn slices over after 2o min.


Remove from the oven and cool completely in the pan on a rack before storing.

I'm hoping these will be just the thing to complement my new dish!

>
Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of recognizing Gloria Chadwick's contributions to our little corner of the blogosphere by giving her the Sisterhood Award for her blog Cookbook Cuisine. This award is for those bloggers who show gratitude or great attitude-- and by sharing the secrets to her success as a successful cookbook writer, Gloria certainly fits the bill!

She turned the tables and recognized all the members of our cookbook writing class (sisters in crime :) ) with the Sisterhood Award. So it boomeranged right back to me!! Thank you, Gloria!!

Gloria also passed along the Lemonade Stand award to me! I am so humbled and honored by this kind and thoughtful gesture! Thank you so very much, Gloria!

This award is for those whose blog is refreshing, like lemonade on a hot summer day.
I would like to pass the Lemonade Stand award along to:

Donna of My Tasty Treasures, because she is too fun, her irreverent posts ALWAYS make me laugh and also because her food is gorgeous, and her musical taste (had a Bad Day, anyone?) is impeccable :)

Grace of A Southern Grace, for her wonderful sense of whimsy (you gotta love anyone who calls her blog comments "noogies"!), her cinnamon obsession, and her willingness to admit she can't stand curry. :)

Elle of Elle's New England Kitchen, because she is celebrating her 1 Year Blog-i-versary! Congratulations, Elle! You're an inspiration! :)

PsychGrad and Giz at Equal Opportunity Kitchen, because not only is their blog Tried, Tested and True, they give back by participating in the Adopt a Blogger program.

Tiersa at ChefBliss for baking 6+ of the most inventive birthday cakes you've ever seen in the past 2 weeks, for supporting the Oregon FoodBank through her blog, and for extending a friendly hand to all us newbies!

Kat at A Good Appetite for her lovely, original, and inspiring cupcakes, and for introducing me to the idea of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), which I am looking forward to trying this year! Kat and Matt's inventive use of fresh, seasonal and local food in their weekly menu is an inspiration! :)

Nuria at Spanish Recipes for her joie-de-vivre, for helping us to celebrate the distinctive flavors of Catalan cooking, and for giving us a whole new look at, er, organically-produced poultry!

Congratulations, ladies! Thanks for the kind words, encouragement, and laughter. :)