LME™ Five S's

This combines my five basic food groups. Big, tender, succulent shrimp. Baby scallops, so lovely sweet. Crispy, spicy chorizo sausage. Spinach for some color and texture. Spaghetti for substance.

The key - as always - is not to overcook the shrimp and scallops. If you think they're undercooked then that means they're done. A good scallop is actually raw in the middle but warmed through. It can be a bit mentally tough to get there if you're not into raw fish, but you gotta grow up and get there.

Serve this for a group of people: you can plate it all in a large serving dish and bring to the table. It presents well and is very aromatic.

So much so, everyone asked for seconds...and Becky was snarfing up the left over sausage bits left in the pan. Food hoarder she is....

8 large shrimp peeled, deveined, and butterflied
About 20 baby scallops
2 big handful's of spinach, large stems removed, torn to pieces
2" link spicy chorizo sausage, sliced thin.
Three large cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ pound of spaghetti
Sea salt
Extra virgin olive oil
Grated Parmesan.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. Meanwhile....

In a skillet add about ¼ cup of olive oil and heat to medium-high'ish. Add the chorizo and cook like it was bacon, getting it to near crispy. The oil should start to take on a red tinge. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute, being careful it's not browning.

Add your spaghetti to the boiling water. Set your timer for one minute less than what it takes to cook the pasta al dente. You now have that many minutes left....

Add the shrimp and cook each side for about 45 seconds. Remove the shrimp to a bowl; add in the scallops to the pan and cook for about 30 seconds. Remove the scallops but keep the pan on. Add an additional ¼ cup of olive oil to the sausage:garlic mixture and keep on.

The following is going to happen within one minute. Read up, prepare, and focus.

Pasta should be nearly done. When timer goes off add the spinach to the pot. Count down from one minute. While that's going....

Crank up the olive oil to medium high and add back in the shrimp and scallops. Get it sizzling.

Drain the pasta:spinach in a colander after one minute. Right after you pour it return it to the pot. You want it wet. Don't burn yourself.....

Add in about ½ of the olive oil from the pan to the pasta, toss to mix, and then plate into a large bowl. Top the pasta with the shrimp/scallops/oil/sausage.

Serve immediately and top with Parmesan.

Lou's Most Excellent Shrimp n' Spinach Omelet

It’s not a frittata. It’s an omelet. The goal was a frittata but my shit-for-nuthin’ oven doesn’t allow me to fit a typical pan inside it. And I didn’t have a frittata pan. And, most importantly, I didn’t really know what the hell a frittata was to start with.

The vision for the frittata was there but my technique wasn’t. So what turned out here is really just a giant, fluffy, slightly crispy omelet that’s actually quite satisfying. Telling my friend Silvia about the frittata-come-omelet, she explained to me my problem, which is one of those “mother-to-daughter” things that happens in the kitchen on how to flip a frittata. Take the lid of the pan – preferably flat on the inside I guess – and flip the frittata onto that and then slide back into the pan. A plate could work too.

The simplicity is still beyond me and I’m kicking myself for it. But I’m certain in execution it’s a mess, until you’ve done it a few dozen times.

I cannot emphasize the importance of a really good non-stick pan here. If you’re a non-non-stick pan type, you’ll need a lot of oil.


6 large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and butterflied in half
¼ yellow onion, thinly sliced and minced
2 whole green onions, finely chopped
3 BIG handfuls of baby spinach leaves
2 whole eggs
3 egg whites
½ cup of milk
A nice extra-virgin olive oil for cooking
Truffle salt (or truffle oil)
Pepper
Tzatziki sauce


In a large (10”) non-stick pan, add about 2 TBS of oil and heat till near shimmer. Add the shrimp and cook on each side until they turn pink; you don’t want to cook any longer (about 30 seconds per side, pending size of the shrimp). Remove shrimp from pan.

Add in the onions and sauté over medium heat until the yellow onions are translucent (about 2 minutes). While this is ongoing, furiously whip up the eggs and milk along with 1½ TSP of truffle salt or 1 tsp truffle oil. The eggs should foam up a little.

Add in another 2 TBS of olive oil to the pan and then the spinach leaves. Toss the leaves for about 1 minute, just to where they’re about to start to wilt (it will look like A LOT of spinach in the pan but this is OK – it shrinks). Pour the eggs into the pan and mix in the spinach. Place the shrimp on top.

Once the omelet has set on the outside you’ll need to “drain” it. See the photo on how to. Lift the omelet on one side and tilt the pan so that the uncooked egg runs underneath it.
Do this for the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock positions. Add about 1 TBS more oil around the perimeter of the pan where the egg meets the edge; the oil should bubble some.

Cover the pan with a lid for about a minute. Check to see that the inside has set and then flip the omelet over using your preferred method. Serve with cold tzatziki sauce.

Lou's Most Excellent Curry II

This is remarkably good for you and remarkably tasty..... I forgot to take a picture when it was completed so here you see a half eaten version. And the picture sucks since the lighting was off and I wanted to hurry back to eat. Sorry.

I made this with hesitation: another oh-boy-something-healthy-it's-gonna-lack-everything. Turns out...it does lack but only because it ain't the real full-fat deal. But if you're watching things, you're gonna be very happy with it.

The addition of saffron probably contributes absolutely nothing to the dish except a visual: it looks nice. The scallops cook lightly - in fact they still are a bit raw in the middle but that's a good scallop. Cook longer if you wish...to ruin your scallops.

12 large scallops
6 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Black sesame salt
1 14oz can light coconut milk
½ cup chicken broth
2 TBS Thai green curry paste
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 stick lemon grass, cut into quarters
5 - 7 dried Thai chili peppers
2 TBS minced ginger
4 shaved (or minced) garlic cloves
2 TSP cumin
Saffron sprigs
1 green onion, green ends cut into 2" pieces, whites finely chopped
Sea salt
¼ cup of chopped macadamia nuts
½ cup dried Chinese black rice (prepared to mfr's directions)
Peanut, olive, sesame, and chili oils

2 baby bok choi heads
8 oz choy sum (sometimes called yu choy)*
½ cup chicken broth
2 minced garlic cloves

*If you can't find this, add two more baby bok choi heads.

In a 3 quart pot add 2 TBS of olive oil and a dash each of the sesame and chili oils. Heat to medium then add the yellow onions with a big pinch of sea salt. Sweat the onions for about 10 minutes - you want them highly translucent. At this point, add the chili peppers (whole), ginger, and shaved garlic. Saute for about one minute, then stir in the cumin. Add the chili paste, stir to mix, then stir in the chicken broth until the chili paste has been dissolved. Pour in the coconut milk and add in the lemon grass along with a big pinch of saffron sprigs. Reduce heat to simmer and let sit for 30 minutes.

Take about 3 TBS of the black sesame salt and put into a little dish. Dip one end of each scallop into this, heavily coating it. Sprinkle the remaining salt over the shrimp. Set aside.

Cut the bottom inch off the bok choi, peel the leaves, and wash in a colander. They will be dirty. Do the same for the choy sum and save the flowers. In a 5 quart pan bring the other ½ cup of chicken broth to a simmer. Add the garlic, a big pinch of sea salt, and all the leaves at once. Continually turn to braise the leaves for about 10 minutes. Set aside.

In a non-stick saute pan add about 1 TBS of peanut oil, just enough to cover the bottom. Heat over medium high heat to shimmer. Sear the uncoated side of the scallops first for about 1 minute, then the coated sides for an additional minute. Remove from the pan - you will need a good spatula to do this as even in the non-stick pan they still stick a little. Set on a plate, cover, then cook the shrimp till done.

Add the green onion sprigs to the curry.

Drain the bok choi and place a small mound on a plate. Pour a large laddlefull of curry over the bok choi; in the center of the bok choi add about ¼ cup of the cooked rice. Arrange scallops around the plate and place two shrimp each on top of the rice. Sprinkle with macadamia nuts and the whites of the green onions. Don't eat the lemon grass nor the red chili peppers.

Lou's Most Excellent Shrimp Boats

Delish. Really. And good for ya'.

I'm trying to watch it a little - don't worry, there'll be plenty of sin still published here - but for the most part I try to watch what I'm eating.

I've started taking in the principles of the South Beach Diet (UGH!) to reduce some poundage and eat a little better. It's been tough, esp. since I'm a carbo head.

[Remember, there will still be sin....]

I came up with these after some inspiration from my buddy John. He did this with some rice, chopped up meat (pork, I think) and voila. Here's my take. It's a great app, or if you make a lot, a somewhat filling dinner only because you get to eat a lot of it. Each wrap is only 34 calories, according to Wolfram|Alpha.

10 large shrimp, peeled and deveined, cut in half
½ cup of Egg Beaters
1 TBS sugar substitute, such as Organic Zero
1 sprig green onion, finely diced, whites and green parts separated
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ green bell pepper, cut into thin strips
¼ yellow onion, cut into thin half-rings
2 TBS soy sauce
1 TSP black sesame sea salt
Sesame oil
4 TBS chopped, salted cashews
Chili oil
Macadamia nut oil
Kimche
Butter lettuce leaves
Cooking spray

Dissolve the sugar substitute in ¼ cup warm water. Add 2 TBS of soy sauce, and 1 TSP each of the sesame, chili, and macadamia oils. Mix vigorously then add the garlic and the white parts of the green onion. Sprinkle the shrimp with some of the sesame salt and place them in the bowl. Marinate for 30 minutes.

Preheat an omelet pan to medium and lightly spray with the cooking spray. Add the onions and bell peppers and saute for 4 - 5 minutes. Add the green onions, gently mix, and give a dash of salt. Cover the pan and let sit undisturbed for a few minutes (you're making a pseudo fritata). Remove the lid, loosen the omelet, and flip the whole thing over. One way to do this is to slide the omelet onto a plate, flip the pan on top, and using oven mitts so you don't burn your hands, flip back into the pan. Cook until you feel the eggs are done. Set aside.

In another pan over medium heat lightly spray with cooking spray and add in the shrimp and marinade. Saute the shrimp until cooked through.

Cut the omlete into 1" thick long strips using a pizza cutter, then cut each strip in half.

Prepare tacos in real time. Set all the fixings on the table. One lettuce leaf, a strip of egg, a couple of shrimp pieces, a sprinkling of cashews, and top with a little kimche.

Lou's Most Excellent ItalAsia Pasta

What to say about this? All I know is that it's a) good and b) good for you. I was going to make just a basic pasta and shrimp but the better got a hold of me. The flavor combo is great - how can it not be? And it's quite satisfying.

You gotta boil a lot of water for this - about 4 quarts each - twice. Sorry. It should go without saying that if you have two pots of good size you can boil two pots at the same time....

[Recipe is for two persons]

12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Sesame oil
Chili oil
Brandy
1 head escarole
4 oz whole wheat fettucini
3 cloves garlic, minced
Red pepper flakes
2 TBS finely minced yellow onion
Extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese block
Sea salt & pepper

Bring 4 quarts of cold, salted water to a boil. While doing that.....

Clean and rinse the shrimp, pat dry. Place in a large bowl and sprinkle with about ½ TSP sea salt, toss, then add about 2 TSP of chili oil, 1 TSP sesame oil and 1 TBS of brandy. Toss together and set aside.

Cut the bottom off the escarole and discard; proceed to cut the escarole head into thirds. Clean the leaves in a colander under cold water. You have to clean escarole - it's always full of dirt.

When the water is boiling, add the escarole all at once, pushing it down with something other than your hand. [wooden spoon, perhaps?] Let it return to boil then quickly drain in the colander and rinse under cold water. Leave be for now.

Bring another 4 quarts of salted water to a boil, unless the second one already is.

In a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, add about 1 TBS of olive oil along with the garlic, onion, and red pepper flakes to desire and cook until the garlic becomes aromatic - about 1 minute. Squeeze the escarole dry and sprinkle it into the pan, tossing to keep it mixed. Push the escarole to the outter rim of the pan and add the shrimp to the middle, saving the residual juices in the bowl, and cook until tender. Pour the residual shrimp juice over the escarole and toss all together. Tip: you just want to warm the escarole up - not cook it anymore. Also, for faster cooking shrimp, move them to the outside as well.

Add the pasta and begin cooking. If fresh pasta, only cook for 1.5 minutes.

Before draining the pasta, add two laddles of pasta water to the shrimp-escarole mix and toss together. Drain the pasta and mix together with the shrimp-escarole. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with shaved Parmesan.

Lou's Most Excellent Kabob Tagliatelle

What started out as an idea for grilled spaghetti turned into this. "This" turned out to be quite good but I'm still going to work on the grilled spaghetti concept too.

On Sunday I made some killer kabobs at my folks' place. Tenderloin, shrimp, scallop, onion, bell pepper, mushroom, and squash. For four people - with an Italian sausage and calamari starter - it was way too much but that's how we do it. Fittingly, mom gave me a bunch of the left overs.

Reheating kabobs is flat-out lousy. The veggies get mushy, the meat over cooks, and it's never as satisfying as them coming right off the grill. Who in their right mind really likes reheated kabobs? Thus: do not look at left over kabobs as left over kabobs but rather the base ingredients for something else.

After four days of not having pasta, I wanted pasta. Friends' comments regarding grilling spaghetti revealed that this wasn't going to work on my grill. My grill basket was pretty rusted out and I was guessing a non-stick surface was more than somewhat necessary. Too much oil would have caused a lot of flare-ups so I decided to just pan fry.

1 pound tagliatelle pasta
Kabob leftovers
Other additions in your fridge (I used salt cured olives and grilled asparagus)
Extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
Parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper

Boil the pasta as per directions on the package, minus two minutes. Drain, run under cool water, and then set aside in cool water.

Separate the meat from the veggies in the kabobs. Cut each piece in half, if not quarters, so that each piece is now about the size of a quarter.

Drain the pasta in a colander and set aside.

Heat a very large skillet to medium-high heat. Add about 3 TBS of olive oil and the garlic all at once, sizzle for about 15 seconds, then dumb the veggies and other add-ins in. Continually toss for about 3 minutes, move to one side of the skillet, and then add the meats to the other side. Saute for about 3 - 5 more minutes to warm up the meats. Combine all and then remove to a clean plate.

Add about 3 TBS of olive oil to the pan and wait for the oil to "shimmer." Once this happens, add the drained pasta all at once, quickly toss, and let sit undisturbed for about 2 minutes. Toss quickly and sit another 2 minutes. Repeat this for 5 cycles; the pasta should start to brown.

Add in the veggies and toss to mix, cook an additional 3 - 4 minutes. Plate immediately and garnish with shaved Parmesan. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Lou's Most Excellent Tagliatelle Primavera

This was originally going to be entitled LME Everything But The Kitchen Sink. What started as just shrimp + garlic + oil + pasta turned into this when I started rummaging through the fridge.

Notice the absence of onion from the tomato sauce. The reason for this is quite simple:

I didn’t have one.

1 pound 16-count shrimp, peeled & deveined
1 pound tagliatelle pasta
1 small head radicchio
4 oz Italian marinated artichoke hearts, quartered
¼ cup dry red wine
1 bunch spinach (about 8 oz.)
15 – 18 dry cured olives, pitted and halved
1 10 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, minced
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt & pepper
Herbs de Provence

Clean and wash the spinach. Cut the radicchio head in half and remove the wilted outer leaves; cut out the core from the radicchio and peel off the leaves, tearing large leaves in half.

Drain the artichokes and reserve the oil.

In a small saucepan (1.5 quart) add the artichoke oil over medium heat. Add the garlic all at once and remove from heat. Open the tomatoes and using a sharp knife coarsely cut them up in the can. Add the tomatoes to the saucepan along with 1 TSP of herbs. Add about 1 TSP of salt and 5 – 8 cranks of fresh pepper. Add the wine and artichokes into the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 30 minutes, covered.

Bring 4 quarts of salted water to boil for the pasta. When boiling, begin cooking the pasta while proceeding on below.

In a large skillet heat ~ 2 TBS of olive oil over medium heat. Toss the shrimp in and sauté each for about 1 minute per side. Remove shrimp, add ~ 1 TBS of olive oil and gently wilt the spinach for about 2 minutes; it should still maintain its greenness and texture. Remove the spinach and then add the radicchio and more olive oil, if necessary. Sauté the radicchio for about 2 minutes, about the point where the smaller leaves begin to turn a deep purple. Add about ¼ TSP of balsamic vinegar and toss together.

Add back the spinach and the olives, toss together, then the shrimp. Pour in the tomato sauce.

Drain the pasta and top with the sauce. Serve immediately and with grated Parmesan, if desired.