Pages

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Garden Pasta with Crispy Shrimp and Catch-Up

I made a delicious, garden-fresh dish last night. No, it didn't include Ketchup, because anyone who knows me, knows that I do not like that condiment. But since it was clever, I thought I would also include a catch-up in this post. One of the many things I learned from my dad, who is a fantastic chef, is that in the kitchen, timing is crucial. Because of that, I have put these steps in order, and I just couldn't pick up my camera during some of the steps.

I started with these...




Cut them up like this...



Sauteed them in EVOO and a pinch of kosher salt, then I added these...

And about half a can of this...




Then, while that was simmering, I mixed up some flour, medium ground corn meal, parmesan cheese, Walter's shake, and a pinch of Kosher salt.





Then I tossed about a pound of deveined, peeled and cleaned shrimp in the mixture and coated them well.
Before cooking the shrimp, I put a large pot of water on to boil on the back burner. Then I got a large skillet really hot with EVOO and a pat of butter. You want it hot enough to get the shrimp crispy, but not too hot to burn the oil and butter.
Now before you cook your shrimp, add your basil, asparagus and the juice from a whole lemon to your pepper and tomato sauce. And add your pasta to your boiling water.
wow. I forgot to tell you that I don't measure. I never have, I just wing it- got that from my daddy, too.

Now, get your shrimp cooking. Place them in the hot oil and turn them once. You don't want to overcook them, but you want them done... A good way to tell that they are done is when they turn light pink and curl up a bit. When they are done, put them on a paper towel to drain off excess oil.






Drain your pasta. I added a teaspoon of the flour mixture to the pepper sauce to thicken it a bit and then bring the heat up to cook off any potential raw shrimp juice.
Plate it up, baby! Pasta, Sauce and a few shrimp with a basil embellishment and a dash of shredded parmesan.


Then, instead of sitting down and eating, clean up the millions of pieces of shredded tissue paper that they tore up while you were cooking-



So you can save her from 30 minutes of boredom in the exersaucer and put her on the floor to crawl around and eat leftover tissue paper.

Serve with Catch-Up. Which for us, looks like this-

Our new favorite game is called Camera Tag. Basically, I chase the kids around the yard and tag them by taking pictures. When I show them the digital pic, then they are "unfrozen." See?


Photobucket

We spent another fun weekend in College Station celebrating a plethora of birthdays. Beth turned 30!!! We also celebrated Rachel's birthday and my niece, Jaycee's birthday. Happy Birthday- we love y'all!


Photobucket

Photobucket

10 comments:

LeeAnn said...

Mmmmmm! When are you going to come up here and cook for us?

I am saving that game to play some day, looks like you guys were having a blast :)

Love you,
Leelo

Jenn said...

Thanks for the blog comment!! This sounds YUMMY!!! And I can totally relate to the hectic life it seems you are in...but I wouldn't have it any other way (most days! ha!) How about you? :)

Jenny Smucker said...

That meal looks scrumptious! Wish I was eating that tonight instead of the stew that I've been smelling as it cooks for the past 6hours. I'm just about full of soup, and haven't even had a bite yet!

Unknown said...

hey! thanks for stopping by! yes...the 3rd boy is almost here ;-) love your post below this one btw!

Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? said...

Oh, the shrimp looks delicious!

And, love the catching up!

Anti-Supermom said...

Looks yummy...

and so do your kiddos!

I can't believe you cook without measuring, you are so brave. I'm a chicken about that and a really bad cook ;)

A Musing Mother said...

Wow. That looks way too pretty to eat.

I don't measure, either. One blogger asked me for my roll recipe because I was boasting about my rolls. Commentary went something like this: Between 1/2 T and 1 T yeast, some sugar, depending on how sweet you like it, how many rolls do you want? Let's say 15. Okay. Add 2 cups-ish of warm water...

Believe it or not, my rolls are entirely out of this world. They just can't be duplicated.

Patois42 said...

The food sounds divine. And that game of tag? Pure brilliance. Hope you come up with a way to trademark it.

Katie W said...

Oh my goodness, that shrimp looks delicious! I plan on making this immediately! Thanks so much for your hopeful words on my blog and continued efforts to post on John's site. I felt very encouraged, and I know every word John reads makes him feel the power of prayer.

McKay said...

That dish sounds yummy! I still wow people with your tomato pie recipe! Thanks!!