Spaghetti with Lemon and Olive Oil
So…….
it’s been really hard to break the silence.
I’ve started and stopped and erased posts at least 5 times since we last spoke about absurdly excessive cookies, which was 2 whole months ago!!! And as more and more days passed, the more I felt that I had to present a worthy post to compensate for the length of silence… which at this point, would have required something made with several pounds of butter, deep-fried, covered in dark chocolate and gold leaf, with unicorns and rainbows shooting out of it.
But I didn’t want you all to think I was giving you the cold shoulder or that my kitchen had burned down, it’s just that as I’ve ramped up productivity and increased hours in the lab in hopes of being able to schedule a thesis defense date (WHICH I NOW HAVE!!!!), the rest of my life has suffered as a result. It’s not all Lab’s fault. I also have been attempting to plan a wedding of some sort. And have been house-hunting. And have been looking at cute puppy pictures. And trying to figure out what to do with my life post-Ph.D. (read: find a JOB). Which pretty much has left my kitchen devoid of ingredients for dinner and cookies, or even PIECES OF FRUIT!
I also reached that time of the year, as I do every year, when I get tired (so very very tired) of the painful elusiveness of spring/summer and consecutive days over 70 degrees F. Apparently it wasn’t enough that we suffered through record amounts of snow in all of January, we were also tortured by snow on April Fool’s and had to endure a soul-sucking, rainy, gloomy, gray May, which in addition to extended hours in lab, only succeeded in making me more cranky and restless, unable to focus on updating tumblrs with non-depressing posts.
But now we’ve FINALLY had a week of consecutive days of over 70 degree weather and sunshine (well, except that freak tornado-induced thunderstorm on Wednesday, what WAS that?!), and my mood has lifted considerably. I want to spend every minute I can outside, thawing out, ridding my body of any memory of the last 6 months, and soaking up the sun’s Vitamin D-filled rays to replenish the severe deficit from winter. And warmer weather means spring/summer produce- some of my favorites: berries berries berries, peaches, apricots, rhubarb, and barbeque. Yes, I know that barbeque is not a produce, but I just want to grill everything in sight and eat it IN or WITH a salad.. which kind of makes it produce, right?
Anyway, because the weather has changed and my demanding stomach no longer craves heavily sauced pastas, braised meats and mashed potatoes, we have been slowly transitioning to lighter dinner fare, such as this lemon olive oil spaghetti with shrimp. It’s still satisfyingly carby and just creamy enough, but made lighter from an ample amount of fresh lemon zest and juice.
I went on a real lemon kick, as you’ll see in the next few lemon-centric posts as I work my way from a backlog of April and May recipes, since the bright zing of lemon citrus can really brighten any uncharacteristically gloomy and cold in-between-winter-and-spring/summer day!
Shrimp and Grits
I used to hate Bobby Flay.
Back in the day before Food Network’s Iron Chef America, PBS aired Japan’s Iron Chef (in Japanese with subtitles!) and a brash young red-haired chef from NYC traveled to Japan to challenge Chef Masaharu Morimoto, an emerging master of innovative Japanese cuisine. At the end of the battle, the American chef jumped onto his cutting board and cockily raised his arms in victory… offending Chef Morimoto and the Japanese (who hold knives and cutting boards in high esteem) with his perceived disrespect for the kitchen and his competitor.
That young red-haired chef was Bobby Flay.
Fast forward 13 or so years later and Bobby Flay is now a brand name in the food world: successful restauranteur, Iron Chef on the American show (and now, friends with fellow Iron Chef Morimoto), and host of a slew of entertaining food shows- including Throwdown with Bobby Flay. What intrigues me about this show is that Bobby Flay goes up against chefs and cooks who are masters of their particular dish by popular demand. In other words, he pretty much walks into FAILURE and though I have definitely seen WAY more episodes where he has lost, he does so graciously and sincerely commends his competition each time. I am most impressed with his general likability on this show- gone is the annoying bravado of the past, despite the fact that he is at a point in his career where he would be well entitled to that type of behavior. Instead he is genuine: he laughs off his own mistakes in the test kitchen, takes the critique and smartass comments from his cooking assistants, and happily befriends and jokes with the competition and their families and friends.
One of the Throwdown episodes featured the classic Southern dish, shrimp and grits. As a native Westerner and current Yankee, I have never actually EATEN shrimp and grits. But I just KNEW it would be something I would like. Like the way I KNEW these shoes would become one of my favorites before I even bought them. Like the way I KNEW Lady GaGa would be huge the first time I heard “Just Dance” on the radio. Yup, like that.
Soft and Creamy and super cheese-y cornmeal topped with shrimp that had been sauteed until browned and almost crisp in bacon fat with garlic, green onions, parsley, and a squeeze of lemon? YES PLEASE.
And it was everything I thought it would be and more. Comforting. Simple. Somewhat indulgent. Awesome.
I guess you could say I am now a Bobby Flay fan.
Shrimp and Grits
adapted from Bobby Flay’s Throwdown with Bobby Flay
Grits:
2 cups grits (I used stone-ground cornmeal)
4-5 cups of water (I started with four, and at the end added more water until it reached a consistency I liked- about 1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
- Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Slowly pour in cornmeal in a constant stream, whisking as you add the cornmeal, to prevent lumps from forming. Reduce heat to medium and allow the cornmeal to cook for about 20-25 minutes, whisking occasionally, until the cornmeal grains have softened.
- Add butter and cheese, stirring to mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. If needed, add more water to reach your desired consistency.
Shrimp Topping
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined, rinsed and patted dry (I used 1/2 pound shrimp and 1/2 pound of scallops because I have a slight shrimp allergy)
4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely minced
1 shallot, chopped
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped finely
1/4 cup green onions, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Heat a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until fat is rendered and bacon is crispy. Transfer bacon to a towel-lined plate and set aside.
- Without cleaning the skillet of the bacon fat, add shrimp and cook over medium high heat, until the shrimp begin to turn pink, about 2-4 minutes depending on the size of your shrimp. Add bacon, garlic, shallot, green onions, parsley, and lemon juice. Cook for an additional 3 minutes.
- Spoon grits into a bowl and top with the cooked shrimp mixture. Serve immediately.
Moqueca- Brazilian Fish Stew
It’s raining here. Like, really raining. Like, raining so hard that you constantly hear it, beating down on the roof, against the windows, as a steady hum in the background of the tv or itunes. The type of rain that makes a mockery of your umbrella, turning it inside-out one minute, then inside-in (or outside-out?) the next, rendering it completely useless. The rain has transformed each street to a river of rain; each street corner is a shoe-deep lake to be navigated around. The type of rain that soaks you even if you are just running across the street to get ingredients for tonight’s dinner.
Now this rain is also dripping loudly, drop by drop, into 5 gallon buckets in our living room, since the ever-innovative maintenance crew of our building’s management company decided to cut a hole through our ceiling on Friday in order to find the leak from two weeks ago. They patched up the hole with a plastic garbage bag secured with tape to our ceiling, and left a note reassuring us they found the leak and would be back on Monday to begin repairs. Of course, the Monday after a severe rainstorm was forecast for the weekend, flood warnings and all. Overnight, we had completely filled one of the three 5 gallon buckets, and the dripping and rain has not lessened at all this entire day.
I usually enjoy this type of rainy day (once I am inside my warm, comfortable apartment). The weather becomes a great excuse to curl up inside with a movie, good book, or mind-numbing tv, eating lots of warm, comforting foods like soups or stews and tea. The incessant drip-drop-ing and temperature drop (from the HOLE in our CEILING) in our living room has impinged upon my ability to fully appreciate being separated from the torrential downpour outside, and I’m just a bit bitter.
But one bowl of this brilliantly comforting Brazilian fish stew has made the rain inside my living room much quieter. I’ve had this dish once before from Muqueca, a Brazilian restaurant here in Cambridge, many months ago, but never gave a second thought about re-creating it at home. My good friend Tracy posted this the day I saw it on Simply Recipes, and since we were having such nice weather earlier this week (I miss you dearly 50 degrees and warm sunshine!), I had mentally put it aside for next winter- yes, I had foolishly thought winter was over, though I have certainly lived here long enough to know better! I was excited to cook this since we love fish stews, like this one, and it did not disappoint. The coconut milk is soothing to me, creamy and satisfying, and the addition of the bright cilantro and a bit of lime juice provides slightly tropical flavoring to a warm and comforting stew- perfect for a dreary rainy day. I used cod and shrimp and served the stew with cilantro and lime flavored rice. I will certainly be cooking this again, and not waiting for the next rain-filled weekend!
Moqueca (Brazilian Fish Stew)
adapted from Simply Recipes
makes about 4 servings
1 1/2-2 pounds fresh white-fleshed fish fillets (I used cod, but any white fish, even salmon, could be used)
1/2 pound shrimp, de-veined and tails removed (optional)
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
salt
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeded, de-stemmed, and sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded, de-stemmed, and sliced
1/4 cup green onions, chopped (the green parts)
2 medium sized chopped plum tomatoes
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons cumin (optional)
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 large bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 14 ounce can coconut milk
additional lime juice
- Marinate fish and shrimp with lime juice and garlic, make sure pieces are well coated. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Keep chilled while preparing the rest of the dish.
- In a large covered pan (such as a Dutch oven), coat the bottom with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and heat on medium heat. Add the onions and bell peppers and cook a few minutes until softened.
- Add paprika, red pepper flakes, cumin, and a teaspoon (or 2) of salt. Cook for a few minutes until the bell peppers and onions have begun to soften.
- Stir in the chopped tomatoes and green onions. Bring to a simmer and cook 5 minutes, uncovered.
- Add in fish and shrimp, pushing the pieces gently into the vegetables, scooping some of the veggies on top of the fish and shrimp if needed. Add 1/2 chopped cilantro and pour the coconut milk over the fish and vegetables.
- Bring the soup to a simmer, reduce the heat, then cover and allow to simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. I added the rest of the cilantro and some more paprika and cumin, salt, pepper, and lime juice at this point.
- Serve with rice or crusty bread.
Cilantro-Lime Rice
2 cups long-grain white rice
1/2 small onion, diced small
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1-2 tablespoons lime juice (depending on your taste)
1-2 teaspoons salt
- In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil on medium high heat. Add onions and garlic and stir and cook for a few minutes until onions are a little softened and the garlic is fragrant. Sprinkle onions with a pinch of salt.
- Add 2 cups of rice, and stir to coat the rice with oil and mix in the onions and garlic.
- Add the water and turn up the heat to high, bringing the rice to a boil. Then lower to a simmer and cover and cook for 20 minutes.
- After the rice is cooked, fluff with a fork or spoon and stir in cilantro and lime, and add salt to your taste.
