Can't get much easier or tastier

Just back from a quick vacation in NYC, and back at the office today, I started pondering the dinner opportunities while on a long conference call. There was the broccoli that's been in the fridge for over a week. Some TJs frozen shrimp that has proven itself to be very tasty in the past, and some very tasty chorizo (not too spicy, but packed with flavor) picked up a few weeks ago at Russos. That was a good base to start with, together with some braised pasta.

I got the pasta water started, and while I was at it reconstituted some shitake mushrooms. I took 7 medium frozen shrimp out of the freezer and defrosted under a thin stream of cold running water.

Once the pasta water boiled, I plunged the cut-up broccoli in for a minute or two and set it aside. In the skillet, sauteed two cloves of minced garlic and a couple of tablespoons of shallots in a few glugs of olive oil for a couple of minutes, till softened. Added a single, small, diced chorizo sausage (maybe three tablespoons worth), and let those mix together for a couple of minutes, watching the oil turn a luscious shade of chorizo red/orange. Then, in with the brocolli and mushrooms, followed quickly by the shrimp, until the shrimp went from the gray to translucent. Some salt and pepper, adding in the drained pasta with a tablespoon or two of the pasta water, topped with a few tablespoons of chopped parsley in need of a mission and I was ready to eat. I added some fresh grated parmesan (though I know the purists turn their nose up at cheese on seafood, but I don't care, I like it).

Start to finish, probably 20 minutes. Hard to beat for a weeknight, and cleanup was quick too.

New Foods

Friday night was a night of food experiments, inspired by my friends on the food blogs. Sometimes you get in a rut (I'd been doing a lot of roasted vegetables lately...but hey...it's winter!), and sometimes you just need to break out. Friday night was breakout night.

Kimchee
First I had some kimchee. I had seen Aaron from Tea and Food blog about kimchee pancakes, and I thought -- I should try some kimchee. Had it in Korean restaurants many times, but have never had it at home. In the restaurants, it'd always seemed like little cubes of heavily spiced pickled cabbage. In the jar I bought of Sunja's Medium Spicy Kimchee from Whole Foods, it was more like Korean cole slaw. A stimulating first course. Pungent, bracing in its acidity and spiciness, and somewhat addictive. And it's hard to argue with healthy cabbage being a jar away in the fridge.

The main course was miso soup. Now...I've had miso soup loads of times in Japanese restaurants. A few little cubes of tofu and a few green seaweedy things floating around. Fine enough to take the edge off of hunger, but I was looking for something more. I hadn't actually cooked with miso for over 25 years. Heidi in 101 Cookbooks had a post not long ago about miso soup, which got it on the trusty shopping list, so that next time I was at the grocery, I picked some up and had some in the fridge, ready for when inspiration struck. That was a little while ago.

When I went shopping on Friday, I had in mind a simple sauteed shrimp with garlic, baby bok choy and scallions dish, to be cooked quickly. I had some frozen shrimp from Trader Joes already, and they were wanting to be eaten. As I started prepping though, I saw that miso in the fridge, switched gears, and made it into a miso soup:

Miso Soup
About 3 cups water
2 TBSP Red Miso
10 Medium Shrimp
2 stalks scallion, sliced/chopped
3 stalks baby bok choy, sliced/shredded
2-3 "stalks" of Dulce

Defrost the shrimp in cold water, and while your doing that, get the water boiling. Add the scallions and bok choy, and when they start to wilt, add the shrimp and dulce, and finally the miso paste.

The shrimp was succulent and tender. And as the soup cooled, the whole dish just exploded with flavor. This is definitely served best not searing hot, but allowed to cool a bit. The veggies were pleasantly tender too.

Seaweed and grape tomato salad
Notice that I put some dulce, seaweed in my miso soup. Pretty standard. Heidi from 101 had also posted recently about seaweed, which got me inspired again. Now...I didn't do anything like what she did, but I did have some seaweed in the pantry, and thought I'd use some Laver in a little salad of

grape tomatoes, halved,
lemon juice,
olive oil,
frozen cilantro -- a couple of cubes...you can get these at Trader Joes
laver

Let sit for a little bit so that the Laver softens, and eat. I'd had the frozen cilantro for ages, not knowing what to do with it...this was a good application. Tastes about how you would expect...very easy, very tasty.

Meyer Lemons
I first heard about Meyer Lemons when I heard about preserved lemon...the secret ingredient to give dishes an air of mystery. More on that soon. But, I'd heard about them again lately, I don't remember where, and then saw a big display of them at Whole Foods, and I figured I'd grab one to see what I could do with it. A little bit of browsing after the miso soup turned up this recent LA Times article, 100 things to do with a meyer lemon

The thing about Meyer lemons is that they're sweeter than typical lemons...not as sweet as an orange, or even a grapefruit...but sweeter. And their smell is intoxicating. I could've been happy just sniffing the meyer lemon for desert.

Well...I didn't do any of those things in the article yet, but did enjoy some Chinese Breakfast Tea with a little agave nectar and some Meyer lemon squeezed in. Perfect dessert. Just a little sweet, nice and tart.

I did buy a few more on my next trip, so stay tuned.

Freeze it in

I grew up with the phrase "freeze it in". These three words represented a simple philosophy of shopping, cooking and kitchen management, that meant....cook way more than you need when you can get something, and put the extra in meal-size packages in the freezer for another day. Growing up, the goods that were frozen were typically a variant on pot roast -- either brisket, or veal breast. Now, in my own kitchen, it can mean anything. The bean/squash mole from the other day? Now frozen in, to be extracted when I'm in the mood.

At the end of this summer, Susan and I found ourselves with a bumper crop of basil, meaning it was time for pesto making. There are many ways to make pesto, pick your favorite, but we had way more than we could use in a few days, so we froze it in. In ice cube trays, with one cube about enough for a dinner. (Do not mix Parmesan cheese in with the pesto cubes...you can add that when you serve). Pictured up there, next to that frozen, cooked shrimp (Trader Joes takes the frozen in thing to the next level).

The problem with the freezer is remembering whats in there, but when you do, you're in for some fun surprises. So, I had two remembrances of late summer in the last few days when I extracted the pesto. The first was a little unusual, but surprisingly good. The second, a bit more traditional.


Potatoes, Kale, Chicken - and Pesto
In the spirit of "what I have lying around", this was a solution to using up the Kale that had been leftover after a few other meals. The red potatoes had been patiently waiting in the cupboard for an appropriate opportunity, the frozen chicken pieces had been in the freezer for months, needing to be used up...and the big bag of pesto cubes was begging for a chance at something besides pasta.

This was a straightforward preparation, sauteed onions, thinly sliced potatoes over medium high heat. I had hoped that the potatoes would cook quickly when cut so thin, but the took their time, so I turned the heat to low, covered the cast iron skillet, and let them steam a bit in the moisture from the cooking vegetables. About 10 minutes later, I was able to add the cubed chicken meat, then the kale, cooking until the kale shrunk a bit. When the chicken was cooked through and the potatoes tender, I removed it all from heat and added the defrosted pesto. With some shredded Parmesan on top, it had a savory, flavor and succulent texture that was a pleasant surprise.


Pesto, Pasta, Shrimp
The next dish was more straightforward. Whole wheat pasta served with defrosted pesto and defrosted cooked shrimp from Trader Joes. And some shredded Parmesan with a dose of freshly ground black pepper completed the preparation. Hard to beat for a quick meal, but all made possible from the little bit of effort at the end of the summer.