A little tomato, a little wine, a little seafood.  That’s really all it takes to make me happy, at least in this instance.  The fact that my oldest son helped me devour the dish shown above is nothing short or a five-star bonus.  I would have eaten it myself had he not enjoyed it.

(I may have secretly hoped that he didn’t…)

All I can really say about this is that it was sublime.  I’ve spent days staring at the screen trying to find a way to describe it, but words have failed me this time, so I’m just going to get straight to the recipe before I waste any more time.  You guys deserve to have this in your card index, database or PDA.  It’s good.

Really good.

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The weather has been unseasonably warm in our neck of the woods lately. Temperatures have stayed in the 70’s for over two weeks and I’ve actually been having to run the air conditioner for short periods during the afternoon to keep the house cool.  With the warmer weather comes lighter foods and brighter flavors, sort of a fond farewell to winter, which seems to have left us alone for now.

This dish is a direct reflection of the weather. I made it at the end of a nice warm day with crisp blue skies and the slightest of breezes. A storm had passed to the north of us and the wind carried the scent of water.  The conditions were perfect, and as the sun started sinking over the plains it almost felt like we were near the ocean, not 300 miles away from it. It made me want shrimp and a good margarita.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough tequila in the house to make more than one drink and it would have been rude to have one without my wife.  Facing this truth, i decided to simply combine the flavors.  I marinated the shrimp in the margarita.  A little Spanish rice made from my wife’s grandmother’s family recipe and all was good with the world.  I couldn’t go to the ocean, but the flavors of the ocean came to us.  Perfect.

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This Halloween dish may not be as whimsical as some I’ve made, but what it lacks in cuteness, it more than makes up for in flavor. The black beans are the star of the show in this one, the chorizo and shrimp merely sing harmony.  Black beans are a flavor explosion, while the chorizo tickles the taste buds and the shrimp play the finale, leaving just a hint of their passing on the back of the palate. The orange isn’t just shelf dressing, either.  As you delve down into the dish, the citrus flavor becomes more pronounced until finally it comes into its own on the very last bite.  A perfect concert of flavors that I really didn’t expect when I started.

I just loved the idea and I hope you will as well.

While the bowls in the photos are done up “Halloween” style, this would be just as wonderful in orange bowls that are sliced straight across, and it would be a lot easier to make. These took a little practice, and two oranges gave their lives needlessly in the filming of this production.  We believe it’s a Halloween curse, but there is no proof of that at this time.  Our lawyers won’t let us say any more about the matter than that.

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Seafood and noodles is something that I just love together. The combination is simple, tasty, filling and has more than enough flavor to satisfy any seafood lover. Add in some lime, a bit of cilantro and a touch of heat and you have what I consider to be one of the best summertime lunch dishes I can think up, especially when the thermometer reads over 100 degrees.

I usually make shrimp when my wife is going to have to stay at the office during lunch, since it’s not her idea of a mid afternoon meal on most occasions.  The plus side is that I can have the shrimp working in the marinade while I’m feeding our son and getting him down for his nap.  That way Dad gets to eat as soon as clean up is completed and we’ve finished the ritual of “I just want a cookie!”.  A little peace, a little Bourdain and a great bowl of flavor makes for a much nicer afternoon.  Don’t you think?
(Note: When mom is home for lunch, we all eat together.)

If you’re not a huge fan of ramen noodles (though I don’t know why you wouldn’t be!), somen or soba noodles work just fine for this as well.  If you’re not fond of cilantro, use parsley, mint or Thai basil.  You won’t break my heart.  Not a fan of chili paste?  A good roasted pepper puree with a bit of garlic added would work just as well.  Have fun with it!

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If you think that food bloggers, even those who generally cook by the seat of their pants, live in a complete vacuum when it comes to recipe inspiration you would be completely mistaken.  When in need of a new concept or glimmer of an idea I turn to the most talented group of recipe wranglers I have ever had the pleasure of associating myself with;  Other food bloggers!  And without a doubt, one of the bloggers who tops the list as a great source of inspiration is Elise Bauer of Simply Recipes.

This recipe is a revamped version of Elise’ Shrimp and Avocado Salad, which was posted on Simply Recipes several years ago and even though it might be an older recipe, it’s still absolutely with the times, full of flavor and could be served at the trendiest foodie get together without feeling out of place.  Of course I made a few modifications to her original recipe, but it’s the nature of any cook to adapt a concept to fit his or her tastes or the tastes of those being served.  In all I’ll give this one a 10, but I still have to blame elise for tempting me with the idea in the first place.

As a temptress, she’s a great muse.  Just don’t blame her for the low quality of this photo.  I was starving!

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What do you do with a few pounds of leftover brisket? That depends. If you’re cooing for several people there alre a lot of things you could do with it, from noodle toppings to sammiches. When you’re cooking for one grumpy foodie with a sinus infection coming on… Well, you do whatever makes him happy, and that’s exactly what I did.

To be honest, I didn’t know I was ill at the time. I knew that I had a craving for surf and turf, but that I had a slight headache and not much of an appetite. I did a quick search for shrimp recipes, came across a whole bunch for bacon wrapped shrimp and since I didn’t happen to have any bacon on hand, the inspiration for this dish was born.

My reasoning? Well, bacon is smoked, salted and cured. The brisket I had made two days before was smoked and well spiced, it was refrigerated and so could be cut paper thin if desired and it had the basic shape I was after… It all sounded right somehow.

And it was… Oh, It Was!

I’m not saying that this requires a barbecued brisket. I think this recipe would work just as well with a marinated flank steak, a skirt steak or even a New York strip. Because this is a sauteed shrimp, just be sure that whatever beef you choose has already been cooked, and preferably refrigerated well before you get started or you’ll risk rubbery shrimp… Not something I look forward to.

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My love affair with shrimp is legendary. It began when I was just a kid and ordered something called “prawns” at the local A&W. (these were not, in fact, prawns; just jumbo shrimp. We Americans seem to have an issue with the distinction.) At that time in my life, it was something new, exotic, and completely different from anything I’d previously experienced. It was before I’d had crayfish, or salmon, or lobster. I was a seafood virgin then, but one taste of those little breaded and fried crustaceans was enough. I was hooked, and there was no turning back.

I have since learned that shrimp is far more versatile than I ever could have imagined at the time. It’s flavor can go from savory to sweet, it plays well with others, and it’s a breeze to prepare, especially if bought frozen and peeled. Simply take the number of shrimp you want, placein a bowl and run under cold water for three to five minutes and they’re ready to go. No fuss, no muss, just pat dry and get to cooking!

This dish was created in true Seat of my Pants style. All I knew for certain when I started was the I wanted to use cellophane noodles, and that I wanted a stir fry. The rest I just came up with as I went along. The result… Spicy, sweet and satisfying. The shrimp could be used as an appetizer by themselves if you wish, I just really wanned those noodles!

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If you’re looking for a quick, light lunch for those warm summer days, look no further than your freezer and pantry to deliver something insanely satisfying in just a few minutes time.

Here on the Texas/Oklahoma border, summer has been late arriving. We finally got one of the first really “summery” days about a week ago, and the thought of noshing something heavy in 90°F weather was more than I could bear. The heat of the day called for something on the lighter side, but a quick check of the cupboards wasn’t revealing much in the way of “light”, and we hadn’t been doing too many salads when the wind was blowing and torrential rains were falling.

The answer to my culinary dilemma presented itself in the form of a partial bag of frozen shrimp, a bit of cilantro I had from a previous entrée and a half-lemon I had left over from a vinaigrette I’d made the night before. Just add some noodles and you’ve got yourself a light-refreshing lunch with all the flavor you could ask for. In this case I turned to my old standby of Ramen noodles, but this would work equally as well with linguine or angel hair pasta.

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Summer has finally rolled into our part of Texas, hopefully leaving the thunderstorms and driving rain that have been our constant companions since March behind us for a while. With the mercury rising rapidly, it was a perfect excuse to fire up the grill and go with a side dish that was on the cool side, perfect for a lazy 90 degree summer evening.

In this edition of Your Pantry or Mine, I’m highlighting the contents of tommiea’s pantry and what a list it was! I sat and thought for quite a while about this entry, both because dietary needs have shifted on my part, and because I wanted to give tommiea, who is also a military spouse, something inspiring and a bit special for the first of my forays into her larder.

This dish is perfect for a summertime get together or a warm night for two. The salad is made without any mayonnaise, so it travels well, and is best served slightly chilled or at room temperature. The shrimp take just moments to cook and can be prepped and waiting up to five hours in advance, so prep can be spread out over the course of two days if desired, and if you’re going to take them along for a BBQ or other outdoor event, they can easily travel for several hours inside a zip top bag placed inside another zip top filled with ice. Just be sure that the inner bag is sealed very well or the marinade will dilute.

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