Beer Poached Shrimp

With the coming of warm weather we're all watching our waist lines a little closer. I've also been breaking out a few cool make ahead meals too. Boiled shrimp is just the ticket!

I have a few issues with boiling shrimp. I'm never quite sure how much to salt the water! Some shrimp is really salty and others are really bland. Then of course there's the fact that a lot of it gets over cooked just waiting for it to "come back to a boil." Oh and if you have to go help a screaming child you know it's going to over cook in about 30 seconds! Who likes shrimp jerky?

What about a kinder and gentler cooking method? I was watching Alton Brown poach some fish and started to wonder . . . about shrimp.

These packets of goodness have been on sale a LOT lately. Thank you Lenten Season! I like them because they make a cut down the back and clean out the digestive track for you. Ick!

We need a flavorful poaching liquid! So let's start out with these lemon wedges I had in the fridge! Since I'm using a nice big 12 inch skillet I would normally slice a lemon thinly for this but the wedges will do since I cut them up last night for dinner. I threw in a couple of bay leaves too!

Some peppercorns too! Red pepper flakes would be delicious in addition but I was feeding a few friends . . .

I thought I was done so I threw my shrimp in! They're bigger ones 26-30's. Did you know that means there's 26-30 per pound? Helps to know if you're making shrimp cocktails!

Ooops! I forgot shrimp's best friend, garlic! Throw a couple of those in there too. If you don't want to peel them just rinse them off and give them a bang with a knife so the poaching liquid can mingle with the garlicky goodness.

Some thyme leaves too! Don't forget the thyme! Normally, I'd throw in some fresh thyme still on the stems but mine is just coming up and isn't quite ready for me to start harvesting it. :(  I am going to add my shrimp to another recipe and it needs to look nice so I'm wrapping my thyme up in some cheese cloth.

Now for some flavorful poaching liquid . . . you want a mild beer. My hubby and I call this "camping" beer. You can drink it all day while camping and don't have to supplement with water because its so weak! Okay that's OUR theory at least. Now if you want to substitute an actual flavorful craft beer I would recommend ,using a cup of beer and adding a half cup of water to it. I'm thinking a Boulevard Zon or a Pale Ale might be nice. This is a lovely application for any of your standard Budweiser, Miller, or Coors products too! You know if somebody leaves one at your house . . .

Pour it in and turn the heat on low! Yes, LOW! We want to avoid a boil for as long as possible. I unloaded the dishwasher, and did a Sudoku puzzle while this was warming. For those of you worried about bacteria and other organisms does it comfort you to know that 140 deg F for 5 minutes has killed just about everything dangerous in it?

Look it practically covers it! I do this with up to two lbs of shrimp. By the time the shrimp thaws it's all under the beer. Stir it periodically. You want to get the shrimp thawed out good before it starts to cook. Oh and salt! Add about half a teaspoon or even better add a teaspoon of Old Bay Seasoning. If a seasoning has been around for 60 years you know they're onto something!

It's all thawed! That only took 10 minutes or so.

Look! It's starting to get pink! If you can turn your heat any lower do it. Slow and steady wins the prize!

They're all pink and firm now so I fished them out with a strainer! At this point if you have no other plans you can just cover them with some plastic wrap and throw them in the fridge to chill.

They babies are sweet, juicy, shrimpy deliciousness! They taste of the salt and the sea. They're done all the way through yet they're tender because you didn't over cook them.

I'm going to use the poaching liquid and the shells to make a nice shrimp stock. These shrimp are actually headed to a shrimp salad today. They're perfect for it because they pack a punch of shrimpy flavor. Besides, how else can you economically feed four adults shrimp as an entree?

Beer Poached Shrimp

1-2 lbs frozen raw shrimp
1 light beer, 12 oz size (or 1 cup craft beer with 1/2 cup of water added)
1/2 a lemon, sliced
1-2 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme, or 1/2 tsp dried
3 cloves garlic, smooshed
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning or 1/2 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients together and cook over low heat until shrimp are pink and firm.  (It should never reach a boil!)

Shrimp Stock

Shrimp stock! What? That's not exciting to you? But it's delicious! Why throw away those shells when you can make something delicious to add to your next pasta salad or gumbo? Why pay for clam broth when you're half way to stock already?

Remember these shrimp? The beer poached ones? The delicious slow cooked ones?

I'm going to make a lovely shrimp stock from their shells!

This is what was left in the pan after we took the shrimp out. It's beer and spices and a few extraneous peppercorns. Usually there would be a few bits of onion in there too but I am adding green onion to this recipe further down the line.

Let's gather the lemons and garlic out of the shrimp . . .

. . . and put them back in your poaching broth! There's my thyme packet too! My fresh thyme is almost ready to go, I can't wait!

Now peel your shrimp and . . . taste one to make sure it's wonderful and briny and sweet and then stop yourself before you eat 10 of them.

Throw the shells in the broth too!

Now if you happen to be "serving" these shrimp as peel and eat shrimp I whole heartily recommend you put a nice clean bowl in the middle of the table and tell your guests to put their shells in the bowl. After they're done doing the work for you throw the shells in a bag with the broth, lemons, garlic, etc. freeze it and make your stock at a convenient time!

Throw them all in!

There was some juice in the bottom of the bowl! Waste not want not.

Now we're going to bring everything to a big hot boil! In 5-10 minutes you're going to be losing serious water here.

Eventually you have only a little liquid on the bottom of the pan so get a strainer and get all your solid stuff out of the pan. It'll make the pouring easier.

Now pour the broth threw the strainer.

Give the shells a squish. I gave them a flip and a squish too but that's not pictured. How would you photograph a flip squish?

Look at that stock! There's a half cup of it there and it's full of shrimp flavor. You can put it in the freezer and store it for some time when you're using frozen precooked shrimp in a recipe that could use a little extra shrimp flavor. You could put it in a soup. You could even make your own Clamato drink! But you'd have to call it shrimato . . . imagine the Bloody Marys!

Clam Linguine

Oh isn't it pretty!

Back when my husband and I were newlyweds I would make this for special occasions! We thought we were so elegant and blessed to have beautiful things to cook. We'd break out candles and napkins and everything.

Now I serve it on paper plates because the dishwasher is too full to handle the supper dishes. So be forewarned! Serving this dish may lead to six sets of dishes being used at most meals.

Wait! Wait! Come back!

This is a light oil based sauce not a heavy creamy one. So you can serve it to your girls for lunch or your man for dinner (just make sure he gets extra clams.)

Like all good recipes it starts out with a stick of butter!

Into the sauce pan it goes!

Now for some olive oil. It's so green it looks like it came from a tree doesn't it? Now if you like you can switch the proportions around and do twice as much olive oil and half as much butter.

Of course, back in the day butter was going to kill you so we had to use margarine because trans fat was so much healthier than saturated fat. Oh and they made us put all our babies to sleep on their bellies because it was safer and healthier too. Seriously! Do they test any of this stuff before they make these broad proclamations? Do you know how hard it is to flip a sleeping baby over and have him remain sleeping? Of course, nine years later I had my second child. He had colic and needed to sleep on his tummy. Which they assured me would lead to his certain death. I became a little unbalanced . . . it was the lack of sleep . . .

back to the linguine . . .

You can go ahead and turn the heat on to get the butter and oil melting together. They love each other and want to be together.

What would clam linguine be without garlic? This recipe's star is garlic! The clams give umami flavor. They really do play more of a cameo roll. The garlic adds heat and bitterness and POW!

You want the garlic minced up nice and fine so you get lots of garlicky notes from it!

You could use a Microplane, if you liked.
You can even mince it up with a chef's knife.
You could crush it with a mortar and pestle.
You could use a fork and salt and a little muscle.
You must mush it as much as you can!
Yes you must Sam I am!

Really, I'm only drinking hot tea, really!

Shake up your cans of clams and turn them over. Minced clams sometimes get stuck in the fridge at the bottom and who wants to waste clams? Who wants to spend time with a skewer trying to pick them out of there? Of course, these clams are chopped so they're in bigger pieces but waste not want not! If you use minced clams the children will think it's chopped up chicken in there. Chopped clams make them wonder why mom is serving them bits of rubber bands.

They're there, under the clam broth. DO NOT DRAIN IT! Clam broth is where most of the clam flavor is! They actually sell this in bottles! Why would you throw it away?

Here's can number one! Open the rest and throw them in too!

OREGANO! I told you this dish was about garlic didn't I? Well oregano is the beautiful starlet that flits in and out of the picture to tantalize!

Give it a good rub down with your nice clean fingers as you put it in. Helps it release all those beautiful oils into the butter and oil.

Basil is our big name co-star for the garlic. Yes, I'm using dried basil! It's super "basily" but without the vegetal notes. Fresh basil is great in most things but for this recipe I really love the flavor and depth of dried basil.

It smells so good! My mouth is watering!

Give it a good rub as it goes in! My hands smell so good now. The cat was momentarily interested in them. He would prefer I rub the clams though . . .

Pepper? Why yes please! As much as you like. A little red pepper flake would be lovely at this point too.

Now a little taste to check on salt.

Just a half teaspoon. It's going to cook down you see. These clams and their broth weren't very salty. We're going to be throwing salt in the linguine noodles and adding Parmesan at table so I'm really holding back.

Bring it to a boil and then simmer it for 30 minutes. You can make this ahead of time and refrigerate it till you need it later in the day.

You've got a big pot of boiling salted water going right? Throw the linguine in! Make sure to stir it at the one minute mark!

Cook it really, really, al dente. I like to start checking it two minutes before the lowest time recommended on the box. Plus, I start to time it from the minute I throw it in the water--NOT when it returns to boil! Reserve a cup of the pasta water for insurance! Drain your noodles and mix the sauce and noodles together. The brothiness will finish cooking the noodles so if you cooked them too far you'll end up with more of a delicious hearty pasta stew. Let it sit two minutes. If they're not tender yet and they've soaked up the sauce you can add some of the reserved pasta water and put them on the stove to finish for a few minutes. I LOVE cooking insurance.

You can add a 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan if it's looking a little soupy. It usually thickens it up a little.

I like to garnish with some beautiful parsley and Parmesan cheese of course!

This is so garlicky and herbaceous I just love it. The clams are meaty little nuggets of deliciousness. The noodles are at their best coated in butter and fruity olive oil! This is a lovely meal to have with a salad. Maybe a nice balsamic dressing to give that sweet acid balance to the salty bitter garlic and herbs? We actually had lovely sweet carrots. You could even mix in a bag of frozen peas to give the sweet balance.

Clam Linguine

4 cans of minced or chopped clams, undrained
1/2 cup of butter
1/4 cup olive oil
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves, crushed
1 Tbsp dried basil leaves, crushed
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 lb of dried linguine

garnish
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
chopped flat leaf parsley

Mix sauce ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Simmer 30 minutes. Boil pasta in hot salted water for 6-7 minutes, timing it from the time it enters the water. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water. When pasta is flexible yet still chewy drain. Put pasta and sauce in pot and allow pasta to finish cooking for 1-2 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper. Garnish and serve.

TO MAKE THIS FOR TWO JUST CUT ALL MEASUREMENTS IN HALF!!!
Wine recommendations? A nice rose would have a lovely crisp sweetness against the pasta sauce. If you don't care for pink wines I would recommend a Pinot Grigio. The white wine of your choice is fine too!

Fast Food-Salmon Style

So I spent most of the day working on a recipe for Irish Soda Bread. Notice the lovely picture of it?

What?

You've not seen Irish Soda Bread that looks quite like that before?

Well the truth is that none of my Irish Soda Bread turned out! I spent a good two hours on Irish Soda bread between the research, shopping, mixing, photographing and baking. I made it TWICE. We have enough lackluster soda bread to last us a week at this point so I had to stop.

Then it became time for supper . . . supper? . . . SUPPER!  We NEED supper. The children and menfolk get cranky without it! Occasionally they get cranky with it but that's a whole other issue.

Luckily, my man brought this home for me!

A gorgeous, GORGEOUS, fillet of salmon. I have heard that part of some ancient culture's marriage ceremonies involved the suitor bringing raw meat to his beloved. If she cooked it for him it was tantamount to "I do!"

I'd rather a side of beef than a diamond necklace! Same price! Better value! He has no idea what to do with me.

I was in a hurry. So I actually dumped some cheap soy sauce on the salmon right in it's little Styrofoam tray and let it sit for 10 minutes. This gave me time to line a cookie sheet with foil, preheat my oven, and start some water for rice. I flipped the fillet to make sure the soy got on both sides of course!

Salmon is incredibly meaty and rich. Lots of umami flavors in it. It cries out for balance and I'm willing to supply it. Pictures? I have no stinkin' pictures of this process! I was in a hurry remember? We've got soccer practice to get to!

Salmon loves a little sweetness and a little bit of brown sugar goes a long way towards that! It also makes a nice surface for the heat of the oven to interact with.

I actually just sprinkled a little on the salmon after I laid it on the pan and rubbed it in. It mixed with the soy still pooling on the surface.

Then I threw on a few sesame seeds for attractiveness insurance. I didn't know if the heat I was planning would caramelize the brown sugar or not. I throw sesame seeds on broiled meats quite often. They distract the eye. It makes the eye go "polka dots! I like polka dots!" Who doesn't like polka dots?

Then I threw it in the oven for 15 minutes. Then I shut my oven off and left it there because my man and daughter had ran to the store. I stayed 5-10 minutes. It came out beautiful. We were so hungry that . . .

This is all I've got for a final shot! Salmon is very forgiving. It sat in that hot oven and just finished cooking.
If you are in a super hurry just break into it with a knife and check on it after 15 min. As soon as it's not raw looking you're good to eat! We had some lemon at the table but everybody seemed pretty content with the fish as it was. A nice vinaigrette dressed salad would of been the perfect foil for this dish.

This fish was positively silky on the tongue. It tasted of the sea! There was a hint of sweet saltiness just on the outside before you hit the meaty center! The edges where the fish gets very thin will turn dark crusty brown during baking. They are WONDERFUL to eat. Think salmon jerky! Sweet, salty, meaty and crispy!

Good with a slightly "crisp" wine. I had Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc with it and was delighted! Probably was the reason I didn't dress my salmon with any lemon at the table! If you're a hard core red drinker salmon tolerates red's well too! May I suggest going with a Twisted Cabernet?

Soy-Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon

1 large salmon fillet
1/4 cup of soy
1-2 Tbsp of brown sugar
1 Tbsp sesame seeds (optional)

Sprinkle soy sauce on salmon and allow to sit 5-30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 deg F. Line cookie sheet with foil. Place salmon fillet on foil and sprinkle with sugar. Rub onto fish. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Bake 15 minutes and then turn heat off. Allow to sit in oven for 5-10 minutes more. Check and make sure fish is done before serving. (You CAN turn the oven back on again if its not done but I can't imagine what type of monstrous size fish you'd have if it wasn't done!) Good warm or cold!