Shrimp Pasta in a White Wine reduction sauce

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Shrimp Pasta in a White Wine reduction sauce

When I need a quick meal, I turn to my pantry and freezer, looking for what can be defrosted quickly.

Shrimp is a sure bet for a quick nights meal. I lay mine out on parchment on top of my granite. The stone pulls the cold out of the shrimp and defrosts it lickity split.

While your shrimp is defrosting, start the water in your stock pot over high heat and get your sauce going:

Chop a couple of large shallots in to a fine dice,

Melt a couple tbsp of butter in a saucepan and add the shallots, cooking until they are translucent. Add a good generous glug of white wine (about a cup). I used a chardonnay. It should be a wine you would drink, since you will be reducing it and icky/off flavors will only get amplified.

Reduce the wine by more than half, until it starts to look more golden in color and all the alcohol has been burned off. If you start with 1 cup, reduce to 1/3ish. I eye-ball it based on the starting level in the pan.

Add 1-1.5 cups of seafood stock, fish stock, lobster or shrimp stock; or in a pinch, chicken stock. Reduce this by half again.

Your water should be boiling by now, generously salt the water and cook the pasta according to package directions. If you are using Gluten Free Pasta, you will drain and rinse the pasta in hot water. You must generously salt the water or your pasta will taste flat. I use the palm of my hand for about 6 quarts of water.

Back to the stock, while it is reducing, prep your veggies. In this dish I used some leftover baby spinach, part of a leftover heirloom tomato, defrosted green peas, and a little finely diced red pepper. I put these in a large serving bowl with some fresh finely chopped parsley.

When the shrimp are defrosted (you can use a colander and running cold water to defrost, but be sure to pat dry), toss with a generous amount of fresh minced (or put through a press) garlic, salt, pepper (I used Szchewuan) and a good squeeze of lemon. Cook in a sauté pan over medium-high heat with a good dollop of olive oil. Don’t waste extra virgin oil, just use regular. They should be done in about 2 mins top. Set aside and keep warm.

When your sauce is done reducing, add a squeeze of lemon, some crushed tarragon, remove from heat and swirl in a couple tablespoons of unsalted COLD butter. Swirl until the sauce looks thick and glossy.

When the pasta is al dente (meaning it has a bit of bite to it, not super soft), then use your tongs and straight from the pot, to add the pasta directly to the sauce. You want some of that starchy pasta water to help thicken the sauce and add flavor. (If you are cooking GF, save a small amount of water, drain, rinse and then add the noodles. Add water if you need to loosen it up in the sauce) The heat of the sauce will continue to cook the pasta. Do not overload the sauce with pasta, you most likely will not use a whole package of pasta, eyeball it. Pour the entire thing over the top of the veggies and toss till the spinach wilts.

Serve with the shrimp on top, a glass of the white wine, and a nice salad on the side.

*See recipe modifications to make with GF noodles.

A Tabletop of Memories

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A Tabletop of Memories

This afternoon the last remnants of Christmas were boxed up and put away.

I love setting up the tree every year and enjoying the ornaments all season long. Some people like their tree to match their decorations. Some people have concerns about little children, or pets. Some like a live tree, some an artificial. Some are attracted to tall spindly trees, some like them squat and fat. I enjoy them all, since each tree reflects the personality and character of both the individual, family and business.

In our home, we have a ‘family’ tree. (see Christmas Past) A few ornaments from my childhood, a few from my parents, one or two from a great grandmother, and a myriad collection from every year of our marriage and parenthood. It is part of a tradition I started on the first year of our marriage, an ornament to reflect the passing year.

One year we took the family on a Disney Cruise (highly recommended), so the ornament was a medallion from the ship. One year was a gold 3D City of Portland cityscape, in remembrance of my hometown which we had moved from that year. One of my favorites is the Christopher Radko ‘baby’ I found with my mother (top center) when were celebrating the birth of my oldest. One year, we had a giant ornament making part for my daughters and their friends. (the ’09 cinnamon ornament you see) A more recent collection included a clay miniature Army hat for my college freshman who had enrolled in ROTC, an angel for my youngest ‘angel’, a mini cigar box for hubby and a roll of sushi for me. This year, to honor our trip to the Hawaiian Islands, you see the snorkel gear and fins in the foreground.

Grandpa Bill adds to the collection, sending an ornament to the girls every single year. And every year, I pack away the ornaments for the girls to a special box designated ‘Girls Ornaments’. That way, when my daughters finally fledge the nest, they will have a Tree of Memories all their own.

This is just one of our family traditions. What traditions do you have? Ones that you will pass on to your kids? Try to find ones that last beyond the moment, ones that are part of an annual event. Ones that will hopefully cause your own children, and grandchildren, to pause and think about family and the memories you have created along the road of life.

 

Kauai. From the Birds’ Eye

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Things have settled down here in this iceberg we call Minnesota. The bags are unpacked and put away. The laundry finally waded through. The last bit of sand knocked out of my sandals and back in to the ‘winter storage’ bins. It makes for a melancholy feeling.

So, to perk me up, I thought I would share one of the highlights from the island of Kauai: A helicopter tour.

When we got to Kauai, I gave my family an ultimatum, either we spend a day driving around the island, seeing some of its’ unique island beauty, or do a 1 hour helicopter tour. Faced with the decision to give up nearly a whole day laying on the beach getting tan, or a total of 2 hours to see the entire island (and appease MOM), they chose the latter.

I waited with childish anticipation. To see this gorgeous island from the eye of a bird had me standing on the helicopter pad, literally hopping on my toes with anticipation and excitement. I can’t recall any recent event  where I felt so much excitement! For my family however, there was more than just a little hesitation and actual trepidation. You see, my dear sweet MANLY hubby is just more than a little terrified of heights. (I can be sympathetic as I have a bad case of arachnophobia myself. I am lucky to have my valiant prince to ‘rescue’ me when those terrifying moments present themselves) Secondly, my youngest daughter was diagnosed in the late fall with inner ear damage. How? We have no idea. A fall from her horse, a hit on the head from a LaCrosse stick? Who knows. What we do know is that it makes her dizzy and she has been going through therapy to re-train her brain to ignore it. Since there was real queasiness and distress from the Catamaran ride to Molokini, she had good reason to be a little anxious. My oldest offspring was just pacifying mom so she could get back to her tanning regimen. With all three of them having trouble with the motion sickness on the boat, I insisted that everyone take a non-drowsy motion sickness pill, two for them, one for me.  Just in case.

We arrived at Safari Helicopters, which is located very close to the airport in Lihue. We were guided to this particular company by a very sweet and very helpful car rental agent at the airport when we arrived. She recommended this company because the craft had floor to ceiling glass which allowed for the best viewing, they accomplished the entire island in 55 minutes (which she felt was MORE than enough time), and it was the best value out there. The office was clean, the personnel and pilot were friendly, helpful, safety conscious, and made us feel like guests rather than tourists. They had a goofy, knowledgable, and sweet ‘ice-breaker’ guide who took us to the ‘copter and back, instructing us on safety, minus the freakout factor. He was entertaining and you could tell he LOVED what he did, as did all those we met there.

Here’s the meat and potatoes: DO THIS! If you have the spirit of adventure, it is absolutely worth every single penny.

I saw the ‘copters from the other companies, and ours had the BEST viewing of them all. Literally floor to ceiling viewing, which allows you to see things as if you were in a glass cube. The ‘copter holds 6 and another couple was included in our tour. Take the advice they give you, one of which: Don’t sweat it taking pictures, enjoy the ride. They tape your flight and you can buy the DVD. Everything you see, they record. TRUST ME…..you will want to do this, because if you spend any, and I mean ANY time looking through your camera viewfinder, YOU-WILL-GET-NAUSEOUS. The pilot warned the woman in the back, she didn’t listen, and I didn’t think she would make it back in time. She made a bee-line to the port-a-potty upon landing. I started off taking a couple pics with hubby’s iPhone, and even I got a little disoriented. Take my advice, don’t bother with your camera, just enjoy.

The pilot will give you a history of the island along with fun facts, such as movies that were filmed on the island. One valley we went through was where South Pacific was filmed. He turned to my daughter next to me and said “I don’t suppose you know what I’m talking about”.

She turned to him and said : “Oh yes, I’ve seen South Pacific”.

He replied “Really?”

“Yeah, when I was young, my mom had us watch a lot of old black and whites”

I followed up with “Oh yes I did, at least I could trust they weren’t full of garbage!”

He got a chuckle out of that!

(And I did do that. The stuff the entertainment industry puts out now makes ME blush, let alone what I would want to expose young kids to)

I was beyond overjoyed that I got the front window seat (my oldest was between me and the pilot, hubby to the inside back left and youngest on the back left window) and I loved the panoramic view I had. We flew the island in a clockwise circle, so as we passed, the pilot would accommodate the passengers on the left by ‘spinning’ the helicopter around on its nose, with it ‘tipping’ so that they could get a full view of the hundreds of waterfalls, canyons, circular rainbows, beaches, reefs, cliff, volcano crater, ect. While I was grinning ear to ear, the look on the faces of my husband and youngest were far less ‘enthusiastic’. I think she would have preferred the pilot not be QUITE so accommodating with the desire to let her see how far up from the ground we were!

Wear comfortable clothing and be aware they do not allow anything on the craft. You will be given a locker to lock up your purse, backpack or camera case. You are allowed a camera, but they recommend against it. No phones, or they have to be on ‘flight’ mode. They do not want anything rolling around that cabin, so leave it behind. The aircraft is perfectly comfortable. It wasn’t too cold, nor hot. Bring your enthusiasm, and be prepared to be awed by the beauty of this island.

When we landed, my husband turned to me and smiled. “That was really awesome”, he said with a rather whitish tone to his otherwise tan skin.

“Really? You really liked it? I thought you’d hate it because of the heights.”

“Oh, I was scared speechless” he said smiling, “But I’m glad I did it. That was really beautiful”.

So, even if you are a little hesitant about being in a whirly bird, take the leap of faith. Do it. You live one life, and this is something you will NOT want to miss.

Add another check mark on the bucket list.