Month: May 2014

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Spaghetti. With Shrimp. In just a few minutes.

Shrimp Pasta

Shrimp Pasta

Okay, I used linguine. But you get the idea. When I was in my twenties in my first NY apartment (studio, 4 floor walk-up) I used to soothe myself from the barrage of NY (a barrage I loved) with sautéed shrimp and angel hair pasta mixed with butter. It sealed up the insanity and made me feel whole again.

That was a long time ago (yet very crystal clear).  But these days I don’t stray too far from that brand of comfort food. Still with the shrimp. Still with the pasta. But minus the butter (olive oil instead). And a couple of added goodies.

Here goes:

First off, I cut the shrimp in half lengthwise it makes a nice shape when cooked and gives you more shrimp to the mouthful. Figure about 1 pound of shrimp to almost a pound of pasta (two-thirds?).

Shrimp

Shrimp

Then I heat some olive oil in a large sauté pan. When hot I sauté the shrimp until opaque, then take them out.

Shrimp on pan

Shrimp in pan

Now add some diced onion and minced garlic to the pan. Let them cook and soften (add some more olive oil if needed). Then add diced up fresh tomato and diced up lemon — including the peel…gives you a nice surprise bite of lemon. Let that sauté till hot.

Onions, Garlic, Tomato, Lemon

Onions, Garlic, Tomato, Lemon

Add about a half-cup of dry white wine…

Add wine

Add wine

Let wine evaporate by half and let the mixture sauté nicely while you start boiling the pasta…

pasta water

pasta water

And making the breadcrumbs. I heat a little oil in a small sauté pan, add about a cup of panko crumbs, season with salt & pepper, and sauté until breadcrumbs brown to deep golden.

browning the breadcrumbs

browning the breadcrumbs

Add the shrimp back to the pan w the onion-garlic-tomato-lemon mixture just as the pasta is almost done. Drain pasta, reserve some cooking liquid, add pasta to pan with shrimp. Toss to coat and to let pasta absorb some of the tasty juices. Add some pasta water if too dry and another drizzle of olive oil. Season to your liking with salt & pepper and a little hot pepper. Add a good dusting of breadcrumbs.

Shrimp w Lingiune

Shrimp w Linguine

I promise you the cares of your day will melt away. This is especially fun eating quietly while watching a favorite, also comforting, TV show. Not the news. A comforting TV show. That makes you giggle. Or draws you into the story and characters. An old movie is perfect. Preferable something from the 1930’s or 40′ or 50’s or early 60’s.

See that? It can be easy to feel good.

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Quail Eggs. Too delightful…too delicate not to like.

 

quail eggs

quail eggs

I’ve been a giddy bird watcher for years.

Actually I started watching birds in perhaps an unlikely place. Not the mountains, or the shoreline, or at lakes or in woodlands, but in NYC. You’d be surprised. Central Park–that huge piece of greenery in the middle of uptown separating the West from the East (or the East from the West deepening on which side of town you live)–held an oasis of a party during migrating seasons. In spring and fall an Audubon-like atrium popped up in Central park and us bird watchers were enthralled.

At the boathouse (where you can rent a row boat and paddle on the park’s friendly duck-filled lake) a large, thick book was stored. Birdwatchers would note what they’d seen that day in the park. When you first arrived you’d check the book to see what you might want to look for and where (the rambles, the reservoir, near the carousel). Best part was when you had a new species to add to the list.

I never saw quail there. They have other habitats to haunt. But I do see quail eggs often at the K & S markets in Nashville. And I do harvest them from the refrigerated counter to carry home.

In addition to bird guides that tell you the size, feathers, call, mating habits, nest-shapes of every bird species, are also bird-egg guides. So if you come upon a nest with blue speckled eggs you’ll know Robins are percolating there. Quail eggs would make the “Top Ten Beautiful Bird Eggs” list. Ecru, sepia, tan eggs with spots of black and brown and amoeba-like designs. Inside the hard shell is a tiny replica of the hen’s egg.

My favorite way to cook them is sunny-side up. You get a tiny sunny-side up egg that tastes delicate and light. A little salt. And that’s it. I think of them as garnish. My favorite place to place the garnish is on asparagus.

roasted asparagus with sunny side up quail eggs

roasted asparagus with sunny-side up quail eggs

First: Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with foil. Lightly oil foil. Cut off woody ends of asparagus. Rinse under cool water. Lay them out on the sheet pan. Drizzle some olive oil. Season with salt & pepper. Roast until crisp-tender or your desired doneness. Just before serving sprinkle some grated parmigiano on top.

Meanwhile, get out a medium mixing bowl. If it has a lip for pouring all the better. But if not, no prob. Gently break each quail egg and gently drop the egg into the bowl. The pack I get at K & S has 10 eggs. Use them all. Now, I say “gently break” but it’s a combination of gently and earnestly. Quail egg shells tend to be harder than hen egg shells. Sometimes I even use a serrated knife to get the cut going then break the shell.

Heat a little olive oil in a large sauté pan. Then gently pour each egg yolk into the pan (it will naturally be accompanied by some egg white). You’ll see the little perfect sunny-side up eggs form quickly. Sprinkle with salt and spatula them out to top the asparagus. Hmmm-mmm!