what to cook???

[Gibson486]

My g/f will probably come over today and i want to cook her dinner. SHould i cook a shrimp dish or a spagehtti dish? Suggestions?

 

[Azraele]

Spaghetti.

 

[ggavinmoss]

Last weekend I had baby squid stuffed with seafood over spaghetti. Granted, I didn't make it, but it was delicious.

-geoff

 

[Reliant]

Shrimp!!!!

 

[amoeba]

if you are a good cook, shrimp. If you aren't, spaghetti.

 

[Schadenfreude]

Originally posted by: Reliant
Shrimp!!!!

 

[DarkNephree]

Those are both boring. Why don't you make something different? Just a suggestion

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: DarkNephree
Those are both boring. Why don't you make something different? Just a suggestion

give me the recipe and i will TRY to makes it.

 

[beatle]

Lemon Quick Chick:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced thin or diced
2 Tb. butter
1/2 tsp. yellow curry powder
1 Tb. flour
3/4 c. chicken broth
1/2 lemon sliced thin (or juice from lemon)
rice, couscous or mashed potatoes (if you're like my gf)

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium high heat, saute chicken until no longer pink. Add flour and curry and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add chicken stock and lemon, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and cook another 5 minutes. Sauce will thicken slightly after it is removed from heat. Serve over rice, couscous or mashed potatoes.

I grew up eating this (no, I'm not Indian) and I loved it. I cooked it for my gf on our first date and she can't get enough of it. The curry doesn't make it spicy, but adds a nice flavor.

 

[ArmenK]

spaghetti with shrimp

 

[amoeba]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: DarkNephree
Those are both boring. Why don't you make something different? Just a suggestion

give me the recipe and i will TRY to makes it.

With shimp, if the shrimp are adequate size, you can wrap them in bacon maybe bacon and basil leaf. Heat up some olive oil, throw in some garlic, and saute the shrimp in there. Take out of pan when bacon are crisp. deglaze the pan with white wine, finish with butter and use as a sauce to pour/dip shrimp.

if shrimp are not large enough, the previous recipe will make the shrimp too tough. You can try cooking spaghetti normally. Then, saute the shrimp in a sauce pan with garlic/pepper/salt. Add your favorite bottled spageghtti sauce if you don't have time and serve over spaghetti.

or if you want to cook sauce from scratch. Take out shrimp when 80% done ( translusent). add 2 minced shallots to hot pan. deglaze with white wine. once sauce reduced to 1/2 to 1/3 original volume, add heavy cream and some chopped tomatoes. Reduce further. To thicken, add butter/flour mix ( roux). finish by putting shrimp back in, salt and pepper to taste. Pour over spaghetti.

 

[Gibson486]

Anyone know how to make shrimp scampi, and where do you get whote wine and waht are shallots?

 

[amoeba]

if you want an asian style dish.

cook spaghetti normally. cook shrimp in seperate pan. saute with garlic/pepper/salt like before. then when shrimp is 80% done, add cooked spaghetti to the pan. turn down heat. In a seperate bowl, mix soy sauce, peanut butter, sesame oil, green onions, some chile paste if you want. Pour smooth mixture in to pan.

turn heat up. Mix well. top with green onions for garnish if you wish.

 

[amoeba]

Originally posted by: Gibson486
Anyone know how to make shrimp scampi, and where do you get whote wine and waht are shallots?

shrimp scampi is just shrimp cooked in lots of butter, garlic, some white wine/ lemon juice if you want.

basically you saute in olive oil like I said before. then when shrimp is 70 -80% done, add butter/ white wine/parsley.

shallots are a small onion that looks like a clove of garlic.

you can get white wine anywhere

don't need anything too expensive but needs to be drinkable ( not cooking wine).

go to supermarket and pick up cheapest sherry. ( not cooking sherry).

 

[Fausto]

How about making cassoulet? Damn tasty and not too difficult since it's basically a stew. The following recipe is fairly involved, but can be made relatively quickly if you used canned beans. Feel free to use chicken legs if you can't find duck.

CASSOULET


Active time: 1 1/4 hr Start to finish: 12 hr (includes soaking beans)
1 lb dried white beans (preferably Great Northern)
8 1/4 cups cold water
2 cups beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups chopped onion (3/4 lb)
3 tablespoons finely chopped garlic (6 large cloves)
1 (3-inch) piece celery, cut into thirds
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
3 whole cloves
3 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs plus 1/2 cup chopped leaves
1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 (14-oz) can stewed tomatoes, puréed or finely chopped with juice
4 confit duck legs* (1 3/4 lb total)
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil (if necessary)
1 lb cooked garlic pork sausage* or smoked pork kielbasa, cut crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices
2 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs (preferably from a baguette)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Special equipment: an 8-inch square of cheesecloth; kitchen string; a 4 1/2- to 5-quart casserole dish (3 to 4 inches deep)

Soak and cook beans:
Cover beans with cold water by 2 inches in a large bowl and soak 8 to 12 hours. Drain in a colander.

Transfer beans to a 6- to 8-quart pot and bring to a boil with 8 cups cold water, broth, tomato paste, onion, and 2 tablespoons garlic. Put celery, thyme, bay leaf, cloves, parsley sprigs, and peppercorns in cheesecloth and tie into a bundle with string to make a bouquet garni. Add bouquet garni to beans, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until beans are almost tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Stir in tomatoes with juice and simmer until beans are just tender, about 15 minutes more.

Prepare duck and sausage while beans simmer:
Remove all skin and fat from duck legs and cut skin and fat into 1/2-inch pieces. Separate duck meat from bones, leaving it in large pieces, and transfer meat to a bowl. Add bones to bean pot.

Cook duck skin and fat with remaining 1/4 cup cold water in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until water is evaporated and fat is rendered, about 5 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until skin is crisp, 3 to 6 minutes more. Transfer cracklings with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain, leaving fat in skillet. (You should have about 1/4 cup fat; if not, add olive oil.)

Brown sausage in batches in fat in skillet, then transfer to bowl with duck meat, reserving skillet.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Make bread crumb topping:
Add remaining tablespoon garlic to fat in skillet and cook over moderate heat, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in bread crumbs and cook, stirring, until pale golden, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in chopped parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cracklings.

Assemble casserole:
Remove bouquet garni and duck bones from beans and discard, then stir in kielbasa, duck meat, remaining teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Ladle cassoulet into casserole dish, distributing meat and beans evenly. (Meat and beans should be level with liquid; if they are submerged, ladle excess liquid back into pot and boil until reduced, then pour back into casserole dish.) Spread bread crumb topping evenly over cassoulet and bake, uncovered, in lower third of oven, until bubbling and crust is golden, about 1 hour.

Cooks' note:
? Cassoulet can be assembled (but not baked) 1 day ahead. Cool casserole before adding topping, then top and chill, loosely covered. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before baking.

* Available at some butcher shops and D'Artagnan (800-327-8246).

Makes 6 to 8 servings.


Gourmet
December 2002