Angel Hair pasta with Grilled Shrimp

Saturday night, after coming back from taking the Jeep off-road all day, I was in the mood for the shrimp I had. So using Josh's iPhone (I knew that thing was good for something!) I looked up a recipe while we were at the off-road park.

I found this Linguine and Grilled Shrimp recipe on the mobile Food Network site and emailed it to myself. I didn't have any linguine and I was not in the mood to chop a ton of tomatoes, and I didn't have any fresh basil.

So this is my interpretation of pasta with grilled shrimp:

1/2 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
Salt & coarsely ground pepper to taste
8 ounces angel hair pasta
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise
1 8 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1/2 cup brine-cured black olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
dried basil to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Preheat grill to medium-high. Put a large pot of lightly salted water on to boil.

Thread shrimp onto skewers and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill until just opaque throughout, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove the shrimp from the skewers and cut each into 3 or 4 pieces. Set aside.

While the shrimp is grilling, cook angel hair pasta until just tender, about 3 minutes. Drain but do not rinse.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until it just starts to brown, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, olives, the grilled shrimp and cooked linguine; cook, tossing, until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, mix in the basil and season with pepper. Top with Parmesan, if using, and serve.

It was pretty yummy after a long day on the trail!

Beer Can Chicken

This has been in the works for a while now. A month or more ago, I "borrowed" a can of Coors Light from my parents for this chicken, since I was not willing to purchase a 6 pack when I only needed one, and no one in our house drinks beer. 

Fast forward a couple of weeks, and I finally buy a small chicken at the grocery store. I get all excited to make this only to realize it takes a full hour + to cook. Ok, so that rules out most nights for me. 

Last week, I finally made it. And promptly got upset about something else, and didn't feel like eating. So Josh, being the wonderful man that he is, ate both chicken breasts and then made up for it by praising how good it tasted. All of the leftovers were picked off of the bones and made into chicken salad for his lunches. 

Long story short, after weeks and an hour and a quarter of cooking on the grill - I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO TASTE IT!

But it looked delicious and Josh was a fan, so I shall be "borrowing" another can of beer and buying another chicken before summer is over. 

I followed this recipe, and from what I hear, it was great!

my first risotto

I am so proud of myself! Last week (I haven't had time to blog!) I made my very first risotto! After an initial mishap (burned butter + a sink of dish water = burned butter on the ceiling, floor, my arm, etc.) and a lot of stirring, I conquered something I thought I couldn't do. I'm not a patient person, so managing to not burn the actual risotto was a huge step for me.

I used the recipe below, but shrank it by half because there were only two of us.
1 medium-size yellow onion
4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
5 cups or more chicken broth, canned or homemade
2 cups Arborio rice (available in many supermarkets or specialty food stores)
Salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preparing the Rice

Peel and finely chop the onion.

Melt the butter in a 4-to-5-quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring regularly.

Add the onion and cook, continuing to stir, until it turns soft and translucent. Turn the heat down if the onion starts to brown.

Meanwhile, pour the chicken broth into a separate saucepan, set over medium heat, and bring to a gentle simmer. Adjust the heat as needed to maintain this simmer the whole time you are preparing the risotto.

Once the onion is soft, add the rice and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes. Adjust the heat as necessary -- if the rice is cooked at too high a heat, it will turn brown and take on an undesirable flavor.

Adding the Liquid to the Rice

Using a ladle, scoop up about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of broth. Pour it in the pan with the rice, stirring constantly with a spoon. After the first addition of broth, the rice mixture will look a bit soupy.

As the rice begins to cook, stir it constantly, making sure that you scrape along the bottom of the pan so that it does not stick. You should see little bubbles popping up on the liquid from time to time. If it bubbles more vigorously than this, turn the heat down to medium-low.

When most of the liquid is absorbed into the rice and the rice begins to look a bit dry, add another ladle of broth to the pan and stir constantly, as before.

Determining When the Risotto Is Cooked

Continue to add the broth in 1/2-to-3/4-cup batches and stir the rice until you have used most of the broth (this will probably take about 20 minutes). It is now time to test whether the risotto is cooked. Spoon up a grain of rice and bite into it -- it should be tender without being too mushy. If it is still crunchy and tastes a bit starchy, you will need to continue adding liquid and cooking further.

If it looks as if you will run out of chicken broth and your rice is still not cooked, don't be alarmed. Because of variations in individual stoves and cooking temperatures, you may need more liquid than called for in the recipe. Simply heat up another cup or 2 of chicken broth. If you run out of broth, use hot water.

When the rice is tender and the risotto has a creamy consistency, almost like thick oatmeal, it is done.

Serving the Risotto

Add salt and pepper to the risotto, about 1/4 teaspoon at a time, until it seems well seasoned to you. Stir.

Add the grated Parmesan cheese and stir well.

Serve the risotto immediately in warm bowls and have extra grated Parmesan on hand.

**from the foodnetwork.com