Crock pot scampi....
Hey All,
OK, as promised, an inspired creation....I'm going to make the scampi in a crock.... The pasta, with bits of asparagus (I'll post Leigh's secret for this one tomorrow when we are prepping) won't be made until tomorrow. The lovely wanderingcherie will bring the bread.... And listen up bitches! (I think I'm channeling a neo-Anne Burel here...) Don't do your fucking shrimp until you are ready to serve.....and yes, properly cooked shrimp are priceless, but IF YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST!!!! OVER COOK THEM, don't undercook....shellfish is DEADLY like that!
So here goes:
5 Tblsp of butter.....in the crock, on high
add:
4 cloves garlic (or that stuff out of the jar equal to)
1 med. yellow onion cut in quarters and sliced....I'll try and explain if you ask
on top of that (my pinches are a scant 1/4 tsp)....1 small pinch thyme....3 big pinches oregano....1 real pinch (1/4 tsp) basil....1 pinch of whole fennel seed. I don't know about anyone else out there, but since I started cooking with whole fennel, anise, and star anise, I have taken my Italian cooking to a whole new level. SECRET NOTE: 1 or 2 star anise in marinara or bolegnese will kick it up as if you made it with sausage, even if you are using hamburger!
Now a bit more prep work:
If you are using frozen shrimp, prepare them for the thaw, I'm alwasy generous with my shrimp, a serving bowl with a couple stick above normal fill level of 26/30 shrimp).....I like to place them in a "severing bowl" (I think its 20 oz), with 1/3 cup rock salt (easy for you folks in the colder climes...but make sure it is rock salt, not the calcium and other treated salts!) I like to add the salt as the shrimp retain a lot of their flavor, for two reasons, it is their natural envrionment (OK, so Im' not doing NaSO4), and it slows the thawing and leaching process. This should be stored in the fridge overnight until you are ready to cook them shrimpis.
I added 1/4 of a golden bell pepper to the tomatos below. And then split and scooped (ask me about this one if you don't know how to do it) 2 avacados (I buy the smooth green skin ones as they are CHEAP here, but haas are equally revered in variations of this recipe). Scoop the avacados into a bowl (or capaccino cup, as I do) and put 1/4 cup of white wine (or see note below about using white wine vinegar)....I could kill myself, I have this trash reisling that I use to cook right now, and opened the fridge to realize I still had a good bottle of Blue Nun Pinot Grigio wanderingcherie Thank you! ; the the truth is, most wines you cant stand to drink or are opened and old as dirt will be pleasant to your pallette in cooking. Oddly, most wines you like to drink are worthless for cooking unless they have oxidized beyond desire, they tell me its the oxidation of tannins or some other such bullshit....let's not trigger my chemist senses, shall we....how's that for a beautiful paradox?
Ok, now that I've carried on about cooking wine.....
add 1 oz lemon juice (or half the juice of half a lemon) to the avacado wine mixture.
So at this point your Crock is probably pissing you off just like it has me at this point..... Patience is a virtue and worth it! If you really must prepare this as a quick and dirty (and yes, it can be done), do the whole melting sauteeing bit in a skilled or deep welled pan.
wait until the butter is bubbly, then sautee until the onions are JUST starting to turn clear (don't ask me how long, it just does....I'm not Betty Fucking Crocker!). You may want to add sugar if you want something sweeter or your wine is VERY dry.....or you can substitute white wine vingegar in 1/2 proportion and add 2 Tbls sugar.
Then on top:
1/4 container of frozen italian tomatoes....mine are still partially frozen, so I tried to break them up, but arranged them as best I could. (its basically garden garbage....nastly ol' dried out end of season green bell peppers, a bit of onion, a bit of garlic, and a few herbs thrown in, and it may have a slice or two of eggplant, with about 7/8 tomato intended for a marinara/bolegnese base). Seriously, folks, my canning/freezing adventures are kinda random, but semi-with-a-purpose....you never quite know what I'm up to, but it is always delicious!
And then 4 SUPER HUGE GINORMOUS MUSHROOMS, sliced, on top of the 'maters. Yes kids, I scored a major deal last week at NPS on these gorgeous mushrooms that are freaking huge! I think this would be 12+ normal mushooms! I know many are scared of their produce, but when it is good, it is GOOD!
LOL! I just had to hold myself to task...I thought my kitchen was all in order to start lecturing...and lo and behold, I had forgotten the mushrooms! I must be spanked, please :P
OK, shrooms on top, and then......the holy mother grail before bedtime! Gently mash the avacados and wine and vinegar until they are kinda a chunky blob. Pour this over the whole shitting match, throw them top on, and set it to warm (if you have one of these new fangled devils like I do), otherwise go to low for about 2 hours.
In the morning, cook the shrimp by steaming or in a skillet, and I'll share my extra secret extra special pasta surpise divine....OK, fine, ya'll busted me, its actually Leigh's, he learned this one from another Food Network show....much like the origination of this recipe :P
Mucha Luvo :)
Jacob
OK, as promised, an inspired creation....I'm going to make the scampi in a crock.... The pasta, with bits of asparagus (I'll post Leigh's secret for this one tomorrow when we are prepping) won't be made until tomorrow. The lovely wanderingcherie will bring the bread.... And listen up bitches! (I think I'm channeling a neo-Anne Burel here...) Don't do your fucking shrimp until you are ready to serve.....and yes, properly cooked shrimp are priceless, but IF YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST!!!! OVER COOK THEM, don't undercook....shellfish is DEADLY like that!
So here goes:
5 Tblsp of butter.....in the crock, on high
add:
4 cloves garlic (or that stuff out of the jar equal to)
1 med. yellow onion cut in quarters and sliced....I'll try and explain if you ask
on top of that (my pinches are a scant 1/4 tsp)....1 small pinch thyme....3 big pinches oregano....1 real pinch (1/4 tsp) basil....1 pinch of whole fennel seed. I don't know about anyone else out there, but since I started cooking with whole fennel, anise, and star anise, I have taken my Italian cooking to a whole new level. SECRET NOTE: 1 or 2 star anise in marinara or bolegnese will kick it up as if you made it with sausage, even if you are using hamburger!
Now a bit more prep work:
If you are using frozen shrimp, prepare them for the thaw, I'm alwasy generous with my shrimp, a serving bowl with a couple stick above normal fill level of 26/30 shrimp).....I like to place them in a "severing bowl" (I think its 20 oz), with 1/3 cup rock salt (easy for you folks in the colder climes...but make sure it is rock salt, not the calcium and other treated salts!) I like to add the salt as the shrimp retain a lot of their flavor, for two reasons, it is their natural envrionment (OK, so Im' not doing NaSO4), and it slows the thawing and leaching process. This should be stored in the fridge overnight until you are ready to cook them shrimpis.
I added 1/4 of a golden bell pepper to the tomatos below. And then split and scooped (ask me about this one if you don't know how to do it) 2 avacados (I buy the smooth green skin ones as they are CHEAP here, but haas are equally revered in variations of this recipe). Scoop the avacados into a bowl (or capaccino cup, as I do) and put 1/4 cup of white wine (or see note below about using white wine vinegar)....I could kill myself, I have this trash reisling that I use to cook right now, and opened the fridge to realize I still had a good bottle of Blue Nun Pinot Grigio wanderingcherie Thank you! ; the the truth is, most wines you cant stand to drink or are opened and old as dirt will be pleasant to your pallette in cooking. Oddly, most wines you like to drink are worthless for cooking unless they have oxidized beyond desire, they tell me its the oxidation of tannins or some other such bullshit....let's not trigger my chemist senses, shall we....how's that for a beautiful paradox?
Ok, now that I've carried on about cooking wine.....
add 1 oz lemon juice (or half the juice of half a lemon) to the avacado wine mixture.
So at this point your Crock is probably pissing you off just like it has me at this point..... Patience is a virtue and worth it! If you really must prepare this as a quick and dirty (and yes, it can be done), do the whole melting sauteeing bit in a skilled or deep welled pan.
wait until the butter is bubbly, then sautee until the onions are JUST starting to turn clear (don't ask me how long, it just does....I'm not Betty Fucking Crocker!). You may want to add sugar if you want something sweeter or your wine is VERY dry.....or you can substitute white wine vingegar in 1/2 proportion and add 2 Tbls sugar.
Then on top:
1/4 container of frozen italian tomatoes....mine are still partially frozen, so I tried to break them up, but arranged them as best I could. (its basically garden garbage....nastly ol' dried out end of season green bell peppers, a bit of onion, a bit of garlic, and a few herbs thrown in, and it may have a slice or two of eggplant, with about 7/8 tomato intended for a marinara/bolegnese base). Seriously, folks, my canning/freezing adventures are kinda random, but semi-with-a-purpose....you never quite know what I'm up to, but it is always delicious!
And then 4 SUPER HUGE GINORMOUS MUSHROOMS, sliced, on top of the 'maters. Yes kids, I scored a major deal last week at NPS on these gorgeous mushrooms that are freaking huge! I think this would be 12+ normal mushooms! I know many are scared of their produce, but when it is good, it is GOOD!
LOL! I just had to hold myself to task...I thought my kitchen was all in order to start lecturing...and lo and behold, I had forgotten the mushrooms! I must be spanked, please :P
OK, shrooms on top, and then......the holy mother grail before bedtime! Gently mash the avacados and wine and vinegar until they are kinda a chunky blob. Pour this over the whole shitting match, throw them top on, and set it to warm (if you have one of these new fangled devils like I do), otherwise go to low for about 2 hours.
In the morning, cook the shrimp by steaming or in a skillet, and I'll share my extra secret extra special pasta surpise divine....OK, fine, ya'll busted me, its actually Leigh's, he learned this one from another Food Network show....much like the origination of this recipe :P
Mucha Luvo :)
Jacob