Anchovies and Bagna Cauda

Anchovies. It’s a food that can bring thoughts of revulsion to many, along with memories of bad pizza experiences and those smelly, brown, tinned things that bear no resemblance to actual fish. And yes – anchovies are actual fish. A fact that is, surprisingly, news to some. But served fresh or preserved properly, they are somewhat sweet and quite good in many applications.

I picked up a pack of white anchovies from Spain for my pressed baguette sandwich. They were not cheap and therefore I wanted to be sure to find a good use for the remaining filets.

Enter Bagna Cauda. It’s an Italian dip that is traditionally served with fresh vegetables. I added a loaf of homemade bread and sautéed shrimp to my Bagna Cauda platter and a light lunch was served. Interestingly, I found that the veggies were not a very good pairing for the dip. However, the homemade bread and shrimp were fantastic. Aside from anchovies, the dip is made up of butter, olive oil and garlic – always a delicious sauce for bread and shrimp.

I saved my leftover Bagna Cauda to toss with pasta. All it needed was a light sprinkling of parmesan and I had a great dish. Two dishes for the price (and effort) of one. Love that!

Bagna Cauda
Makes about 1 cup

1/2 cup good quality olive oil
4 – 6 cloves garlic
12 white anchovy filets
1 oz butter (1/4 of a stick)

Heat the olive oil in a small pan over medium heat and add the anchovy filets. Stir occasionally until the anchovies begin to dissolve in the oil. While you’re waiting for the filets to dissolve, use a microplane to grate the garlic cloves into the sauce. Let everything simmer together for 8 – 10 minutes and then finish by stirring in the butter. This sauce needs to stay hot so serve it in a butter warmer or other dish that has a heat source. Serve with what you like, but I recommend the shrimp and fresh bread.

Thai Coconut Shrimp Soup

Fish Water, aka Nam Bplah, aka Thai Fish Sauce is my newest staple flavor. It's a central flavor in Thai cooking and is used in similar ways to how westerners use salt as a flavoring. I would not say that the two are interchangeable. Fish sauce definitely imparts a flavor to Thai food that cannot be duplicated by just adding salt.

I'm not sure where my love of Asian flavors comes from. I started eating sushi with my family when I was very young and I'm guessing it has grown from there. The truth is that I have never met an ethnic food that I didn't like so let's just chalk it up to a love of all ethnic food. When I'm craving Thai food, this soup can be ready in 20 minutes and usually hits the spot.

Thai Coconut Shrimp Soup

Adapted from Everyday Food

1 T freshly grated ginger

4 minced garlic cloves

1 T canola oil

1 can coconut milk

4 cups water

1 T cornstarch

2 carrots peeled and cut into thin two-inch strips

1 oz Mee Krob noodles

2 scallions, sliced vertically

6 colossal shrimp

2 T lime juice

1 T fish sauce

Salt to taste

Heat oil in a medium pot and add garlic and ginger. Cook until just heated through and add coconut milk and water. Remove a small amount of cooking liquid to a bowl and stir in cornstarch. Return cornstarch slurry to the pot, add carrots and bring to a boil. Once carrots are just tender, add noodles and cook for 4 - 5 minutes. Add shrimp and remove from heat (shrimp will continue to cook). Stir in lime juice and fish sauce and salt to taste. Divide soup between two bowls, top with scallions and enjoy!

Shrimp and Orzo Salad

I am slightly obsessed with lobster rolls. Having never had the pleasure of actually eating one of these delicacies that I imagine are abundantly available as soon as you step off the plane in someplace like Boston or anywhere in Maine, they are starting to reach mythical existence in my mind.

Every-now-and-then the craving gets bad enough that I have to make something that I imagine to be similar, almost immediately. This orzo salad was the result of one such craving. I added shrimp and crisp celery to some cooked orzo and dressed the whole thing with a mayonnaise horseradish mixture. It absolutely hit the spot. Possibly more so than anything I've made to try and quell these cravings in the past. One day, I will eat a lobster roll on the East Coast. Until then, this salad will certainly suffice.

Shrimp and Orzo Salad

1 cup orzo

6 colossal shrimp

4 stalks celery, diced

2 T mayonnaise

2 T light sour cream

1 T creamed horseradish

1/2 t salt

Boil water, add the orzo and cook for 9 minutes. Add the shrimp to the water and cook until pink. Drain the pasta and shrimp and set aside. When the shrimp is cool enough to handle, chop. Mix the mayonnaise, sour cream, horseradish and salt together and add the dressing to the pasta along with the chopped shrimp and celery. Stir to combine and add more salt to taste. Enjoy!

Shrimp Stir Fry

I'm always looking for quick weeknight meals that can be made from scratch without too much time involved. I may be tired when I get home from work, but it doesn't mean I want to sacrifice taste or the joy of creating something out of the ingredients found in my fridge. It's just so much more gratifying than throwing some pre-made dish in the microwave for two minutes. That's not to say my microwave doesn't come into use, but something like this simple stir fry will save me from it on most nights. This recipe calls for mixed stir fry veggies. I use bok choy, sugar snap peas and snow peas, but it works just as well with whatever veggies you prefer or you happen to find in your fridge.

Shrimp Stir Fry

Serves 2

3 cups mixed stir fry veggies

8 oz shrimp

1 T toasted sesame oil

2 T honey

2 T flour

1 T rice wine vinegar

2 t soy sauce

Mix together the honey, flour, vinegar and soy sauce in a small bowl and set aside. Heat a wok over high heat and add the sesame oil to heat through. Add the veggies and stir fry for 3-4 minutes until beginning to soften. Add the shrimp and the soy mixture to the wok and stir fry until the shrimp is cooked through and the sauce has thickened into a nice sticky stir fry consistency. Serve up into two bowls and enjoy!

Quick Paella

I can't recall ever ordering paella in a restaurant, and I know I have never made it at home before, but I have always known I would love it. I love shrimp and chorizo and the beautiful color that the saffron turns everything. This was a really simple version I threw together quickly for a weeknight dinner so it is by no means traditional, but it was delicious just the same. This serves two for a light dinner, but if you're starving, one could probably finish it off.

Quick Paella

Serves 2

6 extra large shrimp

2 pieces chorizo

1/4 cup peas

2 cups cooked rice

1/4 t saffron

1/2 cup stock

Add the cooked rice (I used Jasmine because it's what I had on hand) to the paella pan or any other wide shallow pan you have and start to simmer with the stock and saffron over medium heat. Once the mixture is warmed through (after about 8 minutes) add the peas and chorizo and warm through. As soon as you start to see a bit of a crust forming on the bottom of the pan, you know you're getting close to chorizo deliciousness and that it's time to add the shrimp. Add the shrimp and cook until just turning pink (nothing worse than overcooked, hard shrimp). Divide between two bowls and enjoy!