Skewers of Sadness

I was supposed to be in California this week with Bug.  The kids are off school here in NYC, and I was just itching to get out of the city and back to the laid-back, sunny vibe of my home state.  But then Bug got sick and, after delaying our flight not once but twice, we ultimately decided we'd have to let California go.  So it's been a tough week, particularly when I'm really, really feeling like I need a break from NYC.  And being almost 11 years old, Bug is keenly aware that this is "all my fault."  It's been a sad, sad house.

So I decided to cheer myself up with these shrimp-and-bread skewers.  Last summer, during our annual West Coast trip, our friends Amy and Lisa introduced us to these awesome (and easy) skewers: shrimp, bread, olive oil, fennel seeds, and red pepper flakes.  That's it!  Naturally, Amy and Lisa barbecued them but, in my home, I have to resort to my urban BBQ: my cast-iron stovetop grill.  When I told Amy I was going to make these skewers to try to make up for the fact that I wasn't seeing them this week, she replied, "Yeah, you're making Skewers of SADNESS!"  And I think the name may stick in our house.  Here was the menu I put up this week:

Nevertheless, these don't make me sad at all.  They remind me of summer days on Amy and Lisa's patio (here's a picture), and they remind me of taking life easy...those moments when all I have to do is laugh and eat...and that's it.  And couldn't we all use some sunshine, summer, laughter, conversation, friends, family, smiles?  Hopefully these will take you there.

SHRIMP-AND-BREAD SKEWERS
a.k.a. Skewers of Sadness

Serves 2

3/4 pound large shrimp, deveined, tales removed
1/2 baguette, cut into 1-inch chunks
olive oil
fennel seeds
crushed red pepper flakes
freshly ground pepper
kosher salt

1. Toss shrimp and bread chunks with enough olive oil to evenly and generously coat everything.  Add fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, to taste.

2. Thread shrimp and bread onto skewers.  I like to keep the shrimp on their own skewers, and likewise with the bread - this helps everything cook more evenly.  But feel free to alternate the bread and shrimp, if you'd like, which makes for a better presentation.

3. Grill the skewers on a barbecue grill, or on a stovetop grill set on high.  Grill until shrimp are pink and cooked through, and the bread should be toasted with grill marks.

4. Depending on how you made the skewers, you can either serve them directly on the plate, or you can remove the shrimp and bread from the skewers and add to a large serving platter or bowl.  Add a salad as a side dish (I ate mine with sugar snap peas in this case...which are ridiculously out of season, but I just couldn't help myself...).

When I bought our tickets to California, I got super excited and made a "California Love" playlist to listen to while driving around in my parents' new convertible.  Pathetically, I've had it playing on repeat in my apartment for the last four days.  Here's a sample of my favorites:

The one song missing from here is "California" by Stop 186.  It's my favorite California-themed song but I just couldn't get it for this playlist.  And sue me...but I like Counting Crows' version of "Big Yellow Taxi" better than Joni Mitchell's...

Eat, drink, and listen to "California Dreamin'" one...more...time...

Thanksgiving

As you may have guessed from my previous post, I was not looking forward to Thanksgiving in Orlando.  Thanks to my publishing job, I had already been to Orlando for conferences twice in the last year, and one of the last places on Earth I wanted to go was back to that land of manufactured reality.

It turns out that all my self-indulgent whining was just that: self-indulgent and whiny.  We had a fantastic time at Harry Potter World.  And the Thanksgiving buffet?  Well, all-you-can-eat crab legs and dessert don't suck at all.

And did I mention the bottomless Champagne?  I might be coming around to buffets after all...

That said, we had lots of amusement park food: soft pretzels, hot dogs, fries.  So, by our last night, I was more than ready for some real food: we made reservations at Emeril's Orlando.  I was skeptical...but it was everything I had hoped for: delicious food, gorgeous list of wines by the glass, and attentive service (but not overly so).

We started with the New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp, which came with a diminutive but delicious rosemary biscuit.  The sauce added a touch of heat but it didn't make me scramble for my water glass (which is a good thing).  We also started with oysters in a creamy sauce with frisée and bacon.  It was okay...but I realized that I really love my oysters raw and adorned with only a squeeze of lemon; with all the other goings-on, I could hardly taste the oyster.  I drank a glass of Champagne, which held up to the barbecue shrimp surprisingly well.

Adam and I shared the duck duo for the main dish, which included a perfectly seared duck breast and duck confit.  Brussels sprouts and steamed potatoes were served with it.  And because we were having duck, I naturally drank Pinot Noir with it, specifically Foris Pinot Noir which is from the Rogue Valley in Oregon.  It was one of the rare times that Adam admitted my wine paired with the dish waaaay better than his beer.  I won, I won!

For dessert, we shared a vanilla crème brûlée which...I have to say...might be the best crème brûlée I have ever had.  How they got that thick sugary crust caramelized so perfect, I will never know.  It was outstanding.  The server recommended a glass of sweet bubbly for a pairing, which was lovely, but I was sort of jonesing for the espresso Adam ordered - it covered our table in a fragrant cloud.

It was an amazing meal with my amazing family, and it reminded me that my attitude can be such utter crap sometimes.  Orlando isn't that bad.  I'll never forget the trip and I'm so glad that we went.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday (you USians, anyway) with loved ones!

Eat, drink, and celebrate family.

Improvisation

I did something radical last night: I went to the store (Eli's Manhattan) to get ingredients for dinner.  And I had no idea what I was making.  I'm a list-maker and a recipe-follower; I don't generally just show up for the party without some sort of plan.

The key to spontaneous food shopping is to mentally catalog what you already have available at home and, if you can't remember for sure, hopefully you can call someone at home and have them check.  Adam regularly fields calls from me, asking if we have such and such ingredient in the fridge.  For instance, in this case, I knew I had pizza dough from Fresh Direct that I had put in the fridge to thaw just that morning.

So with pizza crust in mind, I went into Eli's.  As I perused, I thought about shrimp - what about a shrimp pizza?  Which then jogged my memory about a shrimp pizza I had at Ramblin Jacks in Olympia, Washington way back in 2000 when we lived there.  In my memory, it had shrimp, Brie, and apples on it; it looks like they're still serving something similar, sans shrimp.

Okay, so shrimp and Brie on the pizza.  Now what?  I was then reminded of shrimp skewers that Amy made when we were visiting them: bread cubes and shrimp tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and fennel seeds.  Shrimp and fennel seeds is a sublime combination.  But what about a vegetable?  Maybe baby spinach?  Sure, why not?  So I threw that in my cart too.

I generally like to have two separate pizzas - for variation - when I make them.  I also had two crusts.  Eli's had some gorgeous figs (from California, of course) so I grabbed those.  Blue cheese sounded too rich so I grabbed some ricotta - I thought they would be a good combination.  And I had ham in the fridge at home - maybe I could add that.

And I went home to put it together.

I shared all the above information just to illustrate my thought process.  It's all about thinking about tastes you've enjoyed before, putting them together, interpreting them differently.  And not being afraid to try something.  You might fail, but so what?  I still had cheddar cheese and a loaf of bread at home - if I made inedible pizza, we could always have grilled cheese.

Here's how it turned out:

The fig pizza wasn't great, I have to be honest.  Figs and ricotta?  Great.  But it needed something...  I initially thought about walnuts, but I don't think that was it.  It needed brightening.  Maybe lemon zest.  Maybe red pepper flakes.  The blue cheese might have been the way to go.

The shrimp pizza was absolutely fantastic, though.  Brie and shrimp is a wonderful combination, and the fennel seed added some pep.  You could even add some actual roasted fennel.  I do think that, doing this again, I would add lemon zest to this as well.  I believe it was Mark Bittman who said, "I never regretted adding lemon zest to anything."  I subscribe wholeheartedly to that way of thinking.

I'm not going to regularly experiment like this - I still enjoy the list-making, menu-planning, and premeditation.  But this was fun; I like pulling from my previous memories and experiences of great meals.  Not to mention that, when you improvise like this, you begin to gain more and more successes.  And your confidence in the kitchen grows.

Eat, drink, and step outside your comfort zone.