Fideo Verde Seco - Cappelini in Green Herb Sauce with Shrimp

 

Having been a home cook for more than 30 years, there are very few recipes that look new to me - but this one was quite the eye-opener. Pan frying dry pasta and then adding a flavorful broth and cooking it in a skillet was a revelation!

So full of flavor, so easy to make, and the variations set my mind awhirl!

Apparently fideo is a type of very thin pasta but I have never seen it. Here I used cappelini, and gluten free brown rice at that, and it worked beautifully!

I garnished this with cotija cheese since it pairs well with shrimp, but don't tell the Italians since they traditional abhor cheese with seafood.

Garlic Shrimp Flatbread with Spinach and Cotija

If someone where to tell me that I could eat either pizza or shrimp everyday for the rest of my life, but not the other, it would be a very, very, very hard decision. 

My response would probably be this concoction: lots of garlic sauteed with lots of shrimp on top of a flatbread (pizza crust). I knew it needed some sort of base and while I do not completely subscribe to the idea of no cheese with shrimp as the Italian traditionalist do, I wanted something bring and green. Rather than using pesto I steamed some spinach and pureed it with only a little water to make a thick spread. It was perfect!

Using cotija cheese as a finishing touch was a no brainer, as that's typical of shrimp tacos but when I didn't have any lemon, lime juice really took this to a another level! It was remeniscent of this pizza which is another favorite.

Soy Honey Glazed Shrimp Stir Fry

Shrimp and broccoli stir fry has been a dinner staple for me for several decades, and yet I just discovered a way to make it even better: honey.

Yup, just adding honey and some red pepper flakes to my basic stir fry sauce takes this meal to a whole other level of deliciousness, and who doesn't love that!

Not being a huge fan of sweetness, I was skeptical about this much honey in the sauce, but boy did it surprise me! The soy sauce mellows the honey, keeps the sweetness and brings the complex minerality to the dish. Wow!

Trust me when I say to double this, you really want leftovers, and they are just as good the second day!

Spanish Prawns

Before arriving in California, jumbo shrimp is what I referred to the above deliciousness. But apparently, out west they are prawns! Either way, this is an amazing and fast dish that showcases their tender sweetness.

I love how looking at new cookbooks makes your imagination take flight! Pawing through Rustica: A Return to Spanish Home Cooking made my mouth water (and my fingers type in flights to Spain!) but what mostly came of it was a desire to make prawns with paprika.

If you can find Spanish paprika, lucky you! My version made do with what we had at the local co-op and it was still transportive!

This is a quick weeknight meal that usually ends up being served alongside a big salad and lots of crusty bread to sop up all of the great pan juices. If you have a bumper crop of parsley in your garden or brought home a huge bunch from the farmers' market, here's the perfect dish to use it in.

Prepare everything else so that when you start making the prawns, everything else is ready since these cook fast and you need to pay attention to them exclusively so they don't overcook.

Zarzuela de Mariscos - Spanish Seafood Stew

Fish stews don't usually sound that exciting unless they have names like Zarzuela de Mariscos. Wow! What a mouthful! And let me tell you, as a maker of and afficionado of many fish stews, this one is really spectacular!

Don't let the long list of ingredients daunt you, it is really a tomato based stew with a few key ingredients that make it really amazing - almond meal! fresh rosemary and thyme! Honestly, who knew that a simple combination like that could transform a dish!

This dish definitely goes in the "smack your mama" file, meaning I should whack her a good one for never telling/making this for me! Yeah, it's that good!

So start out the new year with a list of must-make recipes and put this one at the top!

Prawn and Veggie Tempura

Tempura is one of those dishes that you have probably assumed can only taste good at a restaurant. Guess again! This is nearly a fool-proof recipe from the God himself (that would be Mark Bittman in case you had forgotten!)

Simple, easy, quick and delicious! Yes, it does require a lot of oil. So it is not something that happens very often in my kitchen. But it sure is worth it!

The assortment of veggies listed below leaves out any of those that require a parboil before frying - carrot, sweet potato, yam - so feel free to add them in if you want to. I find easy is better.

I have tried beer battered tempura but find that Bittman is right on this recipe - light but crispy. It allows the flavor o the vegetables to shine.

Thai Seafood Curry with Noodles

For the seven years of my self-imposed banishment to small college towns, otherwise known as my graduate school years, Thai food was the holy grail of cuisine unavailable to my friends and me. Big cities had Thai food; we had pizza and tacos if we were lucky. So when I realized how easy it was to make a Thai curry with the help of store bought curry sauce it was a liberation moment for the ages.

Ahh, coconut curry with veggies and an assortment of seafood is still decadent, but now it's easy to make at home even though I once again live in a small college town - voluntarily! in bliss!

You can make this curry at home with just coconut milk and curry paste, but if you can find fresh lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves, snatch them up. The lime leaves freeze well and they add a more authentic taste.

Prawn Fried Rice

Fried rice was my guilty pleasure of choice in college; greasy, soy sauced deliciousness delivered to my door! It took me years to realize that this was a really simple dish to make at home, as long as you always used at least day old rice - it is a soggy mess if you use freshly cooked!

There are endless variations on this in terms of what veggies to add, but I always keep some frozen peas and corn on hand because they are often my favorite part of the dish, next to the prawns.  But it is also a great dish to clean out your vegetable drawers when things are starting to wane past their prime time. Just make sure to follow the firmness rule; if steaming a vegetable takes 15  plus minutes (broccoli, cauliflower, fennel) than it gets cooked first, and softer ones come later. Toss in the peas and corn with the softest ones (except greens, those always go in at the last second to keep their vibrant color!)

As with all wok meals, cook your proteins first and then make the veggies. This is pure comfort food for me and always brings back pleasant memories of guilty pleasures!

Pad Kee Mao with Prawns

How this spicy prawn and noodle dish with its enticing flavors of basil, soy sauce and onions made it way into my consciousness is completely lost to me, but what I do recall is how utterly delicious it is!

I had forgotten how delicious is the taste of fresh basil in soy sauce! if you haven't had that before, try it now! There was a dish that I always got at the only Chinese restaurant in the dismal Indiana town where I went to graduate school - three flavor prawns - and it was sliced ginger, garlic and basil stir fried with prawns. That's it! It was pure ecstasy in your mouth and it was always what was on my plate at The Great Wall. If you're ever in that area, make sure you ask for the Chinese menu! That's where all the good stuff is!

Cilantro Grilled Shrimp with Polenta

Shrimp or prawns as the large shrimpies are called, are a favorite on our table. I'm always searching for new ways to prepare them. This version is similar to something we ate last Christmas Eve at a seven fishes Sicilian dinner and I've been wanting to duplicate it ever since.

If you don't have preserved lemons, make some soon! If that fails, just use the juice of half a lemon and the zest of 1 and 1/2 lemons. It's the zest that is important.

All my life I have never referred to large shrimp as prawns, but for some reason here on the North Coast they are really particular about calling them prawns (the correct term for sure). So let's acquiesce and be agreeable!

Capellini in Herb Parmesan Broth with Seared Scallops

Broth soups are my favorite type of soups; light and delicate, but if done right, full of flavor. Recently a Savour Magazine recipe caught my eye - parmesan rind and fresh herb broth with capellini cooked in the broth to thicken it ever so slightly. This sounded like the perfect peasant food and I was really surprised I hadn't come across it before.

Of course you could eat this without the scallops and keep it vegetarian (and easier on your wallet). But we are loving scallops lately so I splurged. Other than making the broth ahead of time which takes an extra hour, this meal comes together really quickly. It feels decadent and yet its elegant simplicity at its best.

I usually don't serve bread with pasta, but you'll want to sop up all of the delicious broth, so don't leave it off the plate.

Homemade Sushi Rolls

Sushi is something that can seem exotic or everyday, depending on your approach. Once you know how to make the rice for sushi, it can be an everyday meal that makes the whole family happy, especially when everyone gets to make their own roll with the ingredients they want!

My beau and his daughter introduced me to a few new ingredients which have rocked my sushi world: cream cheese and umeboshi plum paste. Wow! Totally untraditional but super delicious is to had a few dabs of cream cheese and then spread a thin layer of umeboshi plum paste on it before adding other veggies or smoked salmon. The texture and flavor combination works supremely well.

In this version I do not mess around with raw fish; we just stuck to smoked salmon and marinated tofu. But if you want to venture into raw fish land, have at it!

While you don't have to have a sushi mat, it does make a firmer, more compact roll. I lived without it for years but since my home now has one, it's fun to make rolls with the mat.

Remember that this ingredient list is all optional, use whatever veggies you like!

Fish Tacos with Avocado and Cabbage Topping

Fish tacos can be boring, lackluster, and a waste of calories.

Or they can be like these pictured above: surprising, moan-inducing, mouth-watering morsels that make your taste buds dance ecstatically.

I've had both kinds in restaurants up and down the California coast. But I've got to say, that this version is one I have perfected, at least to my tastes (and my beau's too). We're enthralled and entranced. May they do the same for you!

Classic Nicoise Salad

Nicoise salad is one of those classic dishes that I usually trust from any decent restaurant. And most of the time I don't think to make it at home since it requires quite a bit of preparation - all of those different ingredients that make it such a fun dish to have someone else prepare! But a few brunches ago the beau and I were wanting a more green meal rather than potatoes and eggs, and since I had potatoes and green beans on hand, Nicoise it was!

This prep is made quicker if you boil the potatoes first and then in the last few minutes of cooking them add the beans and voila, both are done! Be sure to drop the green beans in cold water to stop the cooking process so that they don't go limp on you.

If you can, buy the highest quality canned tuna you can afford, it makes such a difference. I happened to have some leftover aioli in the fridge and we used that to dress the lettuce. This didn't seem too far fetched since a quick internet search of Nicoise dressing turned up three different ones, all of which claiming to be authentic. So use what you like! 

Caesar Salad with Aioli and Garlicky Prawns

Ahhh, homey, delicious, slightly decadent but actually really healthy. Does a meal get any better than that?

My man loves caesar salads, and he loves shrimp. So what better way to make his day when he's had an extra long one than to serve him a crisp caesar with homemade dressing and some garlic sauteed shrimp on top. I love it because it's relatively quick and easy. He's super appreciative of the homemade croutons and aioli. And the fact that it's mainly lettuce means that we eating a very healthy meal that is gourmet without any fancy sauces!

Making aioli (or homemade mayonnaise) is really easy once you follow these key steps:

1. Chill your metal bowl and whisk in the freezer for 30 minutes prior to using
2. Place a dish cloth on the counter and use it to rest the bowl when whisking
3. Drop the oil in the aioli using a tablespoon, at least for the first 1/4 cup of oil

Trust me, this is virtually a foolproof recipe and will make you and your diners so happy that you'll be thrilled to realize how easy it is to make, because they will be begging for more!

Homemade croutons are also simple, and with the salad as your main dish, really worth making. You can use the same pan to make the shrimp in after sauteing the croutons; so much less to clean up!

Mahi Mahi Piccata

The fish counter at our local co-op generally has a pretty good selection of wild caught fish, which I prefer. So when I spied some Mahi Mahi at a great price ($10/lb) I scooped some up and made Piccata!

Piccata is simple, tasty and perfect for any kind of fish that is a firm white fish like Mahi Mahi, which I usually use in fish tacos. It's flavor is pretty mild which is the perfect foil to the tanginess of the lemon, caper white wine sauce of piccata.

The other fun part of piccata is it looks fancy but is a quick dinner that makes any week night feel special. Here I added some steamed spinach and mashed potatoes for a total comfort food meal and everyone loved!

Thai Style Crab Soup

It is Dungeness Crab season here on the West Coast and apparently these are the end all be all of crab meat. So I mosied over to my local fish shop to see what they had to offer. Sure enough, they had cooked Dungeness Crab, and it was pricey, just as I suspected, so I only bought one. The lovely man behind the counter cracked it for me so that it would be easier to pick the meat out once I got home.

If you have no qualms about being a omnivore, feel free to skip this paragraph. But as for all of you pescatarians or vegetarians who indulge in seafood occasionally let me tell you that pulling the meat out of a dead crab made me realize that this was a creature, alive and vigorous, whose muscular cavities I was now mining for my meal. It was a bit of revelation for someone who never thought of fish or seafood as "meat," primarily because as a child I was allowed to eat it on Fridays during Lent when we couldn't eat meat.

Ethics aside, the meat was sweet and succulent as I had read and I proceeded to eat half of it standing up at the counter. But catching myself and remembering that I wanted to blog about it, some did make it into this delicious and simple Thai Style soup. 

Spicy Shrimp Salad from Bittman's Minimalist Video Series

Summertime is salad heaven, but even with scorching temperatures outside, cold salads can start to get boring. And while no one wants to heat up their kitchen, this salad is fast, easy, and so tasty!

The directions probably take longer than it does to actually cook up the shrimp! I always make sure to prepare more shrimp than I think I need, since I always want more! If you buy shrimp that needs to be deshelled and deveined, place them in cold water and work with your hands in the water; it helps prevent the mild irritation that shrimp shells can produce.

And if you get the chance, watch Bittman's video; he's such a hoot! Unfortunately, NYTimes.com wouldn't let me copy the video link, so just go to the Food and Wine page and search for spicy shrimp salad; it should pop up.

Four Spice Salmon from Mark Bittman

Are you a Mark Bittman fan? I am, roaringly so. He's one of the few people I would gush over, in person, or probably lose my voice and faint dead away. I really do kind of worship him. And his Minimalist is back! Well, sort of, but actually in a better format because he is revisiting recipes and doing them in video format on the New York Times website (I paid for a NYTimes subscription so that I can watch him, really. That was all it took to make me fork over money to read a website.)

This recipe was the first of his videos that I watched and it does not disappoint! Four spices - cumin, coriander, clove and nutmeg - and you have an amazing rub. Wild salmon, particularly Sockeye and King, are at their peak right now which means they are less expensive than usual. If you can find some pick it up and give it a rub, your stomach with thank you heartily!

Shrimp with Corn, Lime and Jalapeno over Orzo

Props to my sister for creating this Mexican inspired dish - succulent shrimp, pan-fried corn and zippy jalapeno with a squeeze of lime over it all and you have the perfect summer dish that cooks up in less than the amount of time it takes to cook the orzo!

I think this is the perfect dish to kick off summer right and an excellent one to remind you that I am the host of Presto Pasta Nights for this week. Since my entry doesn't have to travel far, let me take the time to remind you that if you want to participate, email me your entry - blog post and photo - by this Thursday, June 9 and check back for the round-up on Friday, June 10. Please send entries to kirstenmlindquist (at) gmail (dot) com and a cc to ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com. Hope you join in the fun!