Shrimp Scampi (My refrigerator broke III)

I do have to admit that our new addition is a good looking refrigerator, though we took it down a peg with the Batman magnets and various papers and artwork that we hung on it.  Now it looks less like a handsome stranger and more like a member of the family.

When the old one went down one of the things that I had to use was the half a bag of shell on shrimp.  I have been beating myself up for not buying them deveined to begin with.  So I left the bag of them in the back of the freezer until it turned into a refrigerator when I was cleaning that out I just couldn't bring myself to throw shrimp away like I did the Tater Tots or freezer burned pita bread.  These guys ended up being Shrimp Scampi with Garlic Basil Linguini. 

The Pasta
2 cups Semolina Flour
2 Large Eggs
2 TBS Olive Oil
1 Package of fresh Basil
3 Cloves of garlic
2 TBS water
Kosher Salt

Mince Garlic and fresh Basil together, add a little Kosher salt and smash into a paste.  Put Semolina Flour into a mixing bowl, add eggs and olive oil then add the garlic, basil paste and mix together.  This mixture will  most likely be kind of dry so add your water to this to get the consistency that you want.  I don't think there is a better way to tell if it is OK than "psychic feel"  When it is all mixed together kneed for about 5 minutes on a lightly flowered surface then tightly wrap in plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator for about an hour.

When you are ready put it through the pasta press, pressing to be a little bit thinner each time through until it is where you want it then cut into fettuccine sized noodles and hang until you are ready.

The Shrimp
1/2 pound raw shrimp (more or less) cleaned
4 TBS butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 TBS chopped fresh parsley

Peel and devein a whole mess of shrimp, this was a little bit less than a half pound, or you could just buy them deveined then you don't have to mess with this annoying process.  Melt butter in a skillet then add garlic and saute until tender.  Add shrimp and cook until almost done (just starting to turn pink) then add wine, red pepper and fresh parsley and cook until done just a minute or two more, salt and pepper to taste.  Pull shrimp out with a slotted spoon and set aside, covered so it stays warm keep the juices for the pasta.

For the pasta bring a quart of water to a boil then add fresh pasta and a little salt.  Boil until tender, about 5 minutes.  I have to admit that I am having some trouble getting fresh pasta cooked just right, it seems that there is only about 1.2 seconds between half cooked and mush.  I am getting closeer though, but not ready to take the fresh pasta on the road yet.  When it is done (or as close as you can get it) drain then add to the juices and butter from the shrimp and saute over high heat for a few minutes.  Dump the pasta onto your serving plates then add the shrimp to serve.

The Dangers of Letting Your Kids Help in the Kitchen

Making a mad dash

So there are some drawbacks to having your kids help out in the Kitchen.  I was doing the dishes a couple of days ago and Mr. Man came in, distracted me then started this...

Are you trying to hide something from me!?! where are the lasagna noodles?

Ok I think that we have it here; the way boys think... none of the three girls ever came up with this game...

I have staged a couple of pictures in the past the only thing that I can say is these are all actual pictures of what Mr. Man came up with on his own.  A mad dash from the kitchen and a couple of cars and we have the perfect race track.

Ravioli

A few day ago I received it in the mail... My new pasta Maker! YES!  I have made a couple of attempts to make scratch pasta before using rolling pins and white flour mostly, I have ended up with either a starchy mess stuck to the bottom of a pot or something with the look of chewing gum and the texture of leather.  There is a lot of recipe here so I won't mess around with prose too much...  This was actually a three day venture, it didn't have to be, but I have one of those pesky food service jobs and didn't have the days off spend time on this.  The sauce could as easily been one from a jar or your favorite marinara.  The filling I wanted to make ahead so I could work with cold ingredients.

Sunday, The Sauce:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1  onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
Two 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat Olive oil in a saute pan then sweat the onion and garlic until tender.  Add the thyme and tomatoes and cook together for a few minutes then add oregano and basil.  Cook for about half an hour then put sauce into a blender and puree until smooth (we like it smooth here, I also strained it you don't have to) .  Put it back into your pan and taste, add oregano, basil, salt and pepper and if it is a little tart some sugar.  Cook until you get the consistency that you like (about another half an hour for me) then put into a non-reactive container and refrigerate

Monday, The filling
1 TBS Olive oil
1/2 medium onion diced
3 coves garlic minced
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground veal
1/2 cup fresh spinach leaf chopped fine
2 TBS fresh basil chopped fine
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup ricotta cheese

Heat the olive oil then add the onions and garlic, cook until tender then add the meat and brown.  Add the spinach basil, salt and Parmesan cheese and cook until blended, turn off the heat and add the ricotta cheese and mix well.  When it is all mixed let cool for a few minutes then put the whole mess into a food processor and chop until you get the consistency that you like, mine was well mixed but still crumbly, not completely smooth.  Cover and refrigerate.

Tuesday, the Pasta:
2 cups semolina flour
2 eggs
2 TBS olive oil
2 TBS water (you may need a little more later)
Mix the ingredients together, if you need a little more water add it a few drops at a time.  When it forms into a ball put it on a lightly floured surface and kneed for about 5 minutes then wrap tightly and let it rest for about an hour.

When it is time to go cut the ball of dough into 5 pieces and start rolling... I had help.

Obviously I don't have the process completely down but I did manage to make about 12 disk shaped ravioli.  Heat up the sauce that you choose, while that is going put your ravioli in boiling water.  These took about 5 minutes to heat through.

Ok it looks like a lot went on here but over all it was pretty easy to make ravioli considering it was my first go at it. As for a verdict... we all pretty much agreed that the filling rocked it out!  The pasta was a little thick at the edges.  No problem though, next time I will roll it out a little thinner.

Lemon Basil Gnocchi

The grocery store that I usually shop at usually has ten pound bags of russet potatoes for $1.29 when I was there last week they also had 5 pound bags of reds for $ .79 so we were making potatoes every which way in our house. One of them Gnocchi, this is something I have never tried before turns out it was way easier than I expected.  Because I am nuts I added a whole mess of stuff to it on my first try.  Actually it turned out well,  there are a lot of steps, but really this was easy.

Ingredients

2 large potatoes (enough to make about 2 cups when smashed)

1 cup flour

1 egg

Juice from 1 lemon

1 TBS chopped fresh basil

Salt (a good sprinkle)

Start by cutting the potatoes into quarters and boiling them until done (about 20-25 minutes, but you knew that).  Set them aside until they are cool enough to handle once they are coolish get them ready to mash. I did one russet and one large red potato I peeled the russet and left the skin on the other, I like red potatoes with the skin on.  After I peeled/trimmed the potatoes I mashed them pretty coarsely with a fork then put them into a large bowl.  Then add most of a cup of flour, egg, lemon juice and basil, mix this all up and kneed it until you have a doughy mass, add more flour if you need to it should roll out pretty easily and hold that round shape.

Once you have your doughy potato snake thingies cut them every 3/4 inch or so.  Take the nuggets roll in a little bit of flour then smoosh them lightly on a fork.  Why?  everything I found said it is to hold sauce in place, I don't know it that is so, but it looks more traditional... just do it.

Take these guys and drop them into boiling water, when they go in they sink to the bottom, about 3-4 minutes after they float to the top take the Gnocchi out with a slotted spoon and set aside.  I tossed mine in pesto sauce and served with some chicken.  These really turned out great!  They were light but filling, the texture was great, the flavor was nice, a little different but comforting.  I tossed them with Pesto sauce and served it with chicken.