Shrimp and Snow Pea Stir-Fry

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Shrimp and Snow Pea Stir-Fry

Another take-out favorite for you! I’ve been using shrimp as often as I can, as they’re less than $5 a pound for large heads-on. And without a doubt, stir-frying is one of my favorite things to do with them. I remembering my mom ordering shrimp with snow peas for “something different” at the local Chinese restaurant when I was a little girl. And, I guess it stuck with me – because it’s still one of my favorites.

There’s just something about the combination of sweet, succulent shrimp and crisp yet tender snow peas. I went ahead and added some broccoli, carrots, and water chestnuts to the mix as well just for a little more variety. I’ve found that if you can buy snow peas in bulk versus pre-packaged, they’re almost always way cheaper and better quality. Everything is tossed with plenty of garlic and scallions, and then you make a quick clear stir-fry sauce with simple ingredients found probably already lurking in your pantry. Another easy weeknight favorite!

Shrimp and Snow Pea Stir-Fry

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
8 ounces snow peas
1 cups broccoli florets
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup sliced water chestnuts
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 scallions, chopped

For the sauce:
1 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

Combine sauce ingredients in a liquid measuring cup and whisk to combine. Set aside.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of ice and 2 cups of water. Toss broccoli florets into the boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove, and place in the ice bath to set the color and stop the cooking process. Drain, and place florets on a clean kitchen towel to dry.

Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add 1 tsp vegetable oil. Add shrimp to the pan, stirring to cook evenly, until cooked on all sides. About 2 minutes. Remove from pan.

Add remaining teaspoon of oil, as well as the scallions and the garlic. Stir fry for 30 seconds before adding the snow peas, broccoli, and carrots. Cook for about 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until veggies are crisp-tender. Add water chestnuts and stir-fry for an additional minute. Return shrimp to the wok.

Reduce heat to medium, and slowly pour the sauce into the wok. Cook until sauce thickens, about 1 minute.

Serve immediately over rice.

Shrimp Saltimbocca

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Shrimp Saltimbocca

A couple of weeks ago we took Jon’s brother, who was in town visiting, to the airport up in Baltimore. I never miss an opportunity to visit a fancy grocery store, so we all went along for the ride. Had a nice dinner, hit up the sale racks at Antrho, and dragged Uncle Trevor through every aisle at Whole Foods before dropping him off at the airport. Then we stopped by the new Wegmans location in Crofton on the way home. I always love visiting their delicatessen, and I couldn’t resist having a few slices of the most gorgeous proscuitto I’ve ever seen sliced off to take home with me. And come home with me they did…along with some awesome peppered salami and sliced chorizo. I had to fend off Jon from eating all the “gabagool” in the fridge.

What he didn’t eat, I decided to use to do a fresh spin on one of my very favorite classic Italian dishes. Traditionally, this is made with a chicken breast. Which is awesome. But our local seafood joint happened to have some gorgeous, large shrimp in this weekend and the wheels in my head started turning.

It was a little bit more time consuming than chicken breasts, just because of wrapping shrimp individually in the prosciutto. But, your efforts are well rewarded. The salty richness of the proscuitto permeates the shrimp, rendering some of it’s fat and getting nice and crispy. Then a pan sauce is made from the browned bits, garlic, white wine, lemon juice, and butter. I served it over pasta, but I think it would be a wonderful appetizer or first course on it’s own. I’m so glad I remixed this one, because I think I like it better than the original!

Shrimp Saltimbocca

1 1/2 lbs large shrimp, peeled with tails left on
6 whole fresh sage leaves
6 thin slices of prosciutto, cut into 1×3 inch strips (4 strips per piece)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, smashed
2 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup dry vermouth or white wine
juice from 1/2 lemon
3 Tbsp. cold butter
1 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
salt and pepper

Wrap each shrimp with a piece of proscuitto and secure using a toothpick, or by placing 3 or 4 shrimp on a skewer at a time.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it begins to shimmer. Add sage leaves and the smashed clove of garlic. Cook until sage leaves begin to change color and are fragrant, about30 seconds. Remove the sage with a slotted spoon.

Add the shrimp to the pan, and cook until golden brown, 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook on other side until golden brown, about 3 more minutes. Remove the garlic clove and discard. Remove the shrimp and keep warm. Repeat with remaining shrimp.

If there is any excess fat in the skillet, pour it off. Add the chopped garlic, stir in the vermouth, scraping up the browned bits, and simmer until it’s reduced to about 3-4 Tbsp. Stir in lemon juice.

Turn heat down to low, and whisk in the butter. Off the heat, stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over shrimp, and crumble (or serve whole) the fried sage leaves on top before serving.

Source: adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, May 2008 via Elly Says Opa

Spaghetti with Clams

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Spaghetti with Clams

I’ve mentioned before that we live in a small town in a rural area, full of small towns just like ours. And in these small towns, it’s not uncommon for someone to have 2 professions. Like, the chief of police also owns the only extermination company for a 50-mile radius. Or the mayor of the town, who also owns an electric supply company. Or Jon’s boss at NASA, who farms cultured clams in his spare time…

We’ve been wanting to get a bag of “littlenecks”, the smallest and tenderest of clams, for quite some time now, but Jon would always forget to mention it to Scott for some reason or another. Finally last week, he remembered to remember, and a big bag of these guys were waiting for him in the office refrigerator on Monday morning. I knew I wanted to do a pasta with clam sauce, but all the other ones I had tried in the past were kind of lackluster. So, I turned to Giada. I’d found both of her cookbooks in the thrift shop for $1/piece (one man’s trash is another man’s comeup!) and there was a recipe that looked great, yet had a simple ingredient list – precisely what this dish should be.

And, I’m pleased to report that this recipe fully lived up to my expectations. A punch of garlic, a little bite from the addition of white wine, and then just an awesome brininess from the clams that rounds out all the flavors and brings everything together. So quick, too. Dinner is literally done in the time that it takes to boil the pasta! Winner, winner – clam and pasta dinner. Have a great weekend, kids!

Spaghetti With Clams

1 pound dried spaghetti
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 small red onion, finely diced
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 1/2 pounds (about 25) Manila or Littleneck clams, scrubbed clean
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons butter, diced into small cubes
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon, zested, for garnish

In a large pot, bring to a boil 6 quarts of salted water. Add pasta, stirring constantly in the beginning to prevent it from sticking together. Cook until al dente, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large saute pan. When almost smoking, add shallots and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the clams and wine. Cover and simmer for 6 to 8 minutes or until most clams have opened. Add 2 tablespoons chopped parsley. Whisk in butter to thicken sauce slightly.

Drain pasta in a colander. Do not rinse pasta with water. Place pasta into the clam saute pan and mix thoroughly. Season with to taste with salt and pepper.

Pour pasta into large serving bowl. Zest lemon over the dish. Garnish with remaining parsley. Serve immediately.

Source: adapted from Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis

Crab and Corn Chowder

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Crab and Corn Chowder

A couple of weeks ago we played tourist on our little island of Chincoteague, left the boys with my mom and dad, and walked down to Main Street…which, is just literally at the end of my parent’s street. There aren’t many shops – a small bakery, a little wine and cheese shop, some tacky beach t-shirt shops, and a few really fun and funky boutiques. We ventured in The Flying Fish Gallery, and amongst all the fun things they had in the store – my ceramics honing sense immediately zeroed in on these gorgeous oversized mugs. I thought how pretty would these be with a cream of crab soup or chowder in them? I couldn’t wait to get them home and fill them up with something!

Seems like everything is in season right now here on our beautiful Eastern Shore. Crabs are running great, thought they got a late start. Dad got a bushel in his 2 pots he has off the dock in just 4 days last week. That’s a lot of crabs for very little work, folks! We went and had steamed crabs for lunch, and he sent me home with the leftovers to pick.

Corn is in season everywhere right now, and this chowder really showcases the sweet, fresh flavor it lends. Let me just say that this soup was nothing short of phenomenal. All the flavors married so well, and I loved that you could taste the individual ingredients. The crab, the corn, the onion, the garlic, the potatoes…all off them working together in perfect harmony, but one not overpowering the other. Will be making this one again and again! The epitome of a Maryland Eastern Shore summer.

Crab and Fresh Corn Chowder

2 Tbsp butter
olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
6 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups heavy cream
2 starchy potatoes (like Russet), peeled and diced
6 fresh ears corn, shucked and rinsed
1 lb crabmeat, picked clean of shells
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 Tbsp butter

Heat the butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and thyme and cook until the vegetables are good and soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle with flour and stir to coat everything well, cook for 2 additional minutes. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the heavy cream and the potatoes, return to a boil, cover, and cook on medium heat for about 7 minutes until potatoes are tender.

Cut the corn kernels off the cob and add to the soup, along with the crab meat. Season with salt and pepper and simmer until the corn is soft, about 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the parsley, and stir in the butter until melted. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

Source: adapted from Tyler Florence