Good food is back back back!

I love the Asian markets!

I went by my favorite Chinese market today because I had been cooking for one and today my wife came home from playing concerts in Dresden and Prague and tomorrow my son comes home from college. Better fill the fridge!

Today I picked up two delicacies, a branzino and a pound of live shrimp. The branzino was flown in from Greece. I don’t know where the shrimp came from but it is unusual to find them live here.

I made a classic court-boullion to cook the shrimp. I got a pot of water boiling and added a bay leaf, a couple of crushed garlic cloves, some aromatics, a few peppercorns and some lemon juice. I boiled it for a few minutes then dumped the shrimp in. They cooked just for a minute and I took them out and let them cool in a mix of the court-boullion and water.

The branzino I simply rubbed with  olive oil, sprinkled with salt and put it under a broiler for a few minutes.

I also made a snow pea salad dressed with walnut oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper and lemon juice. I had a couple of slices of wine, wheat walnut bread to fill it out.

This was an expensive lunch for me. The branzino is not a cheap fish. Altogether I spent about 6 bucks.

You thought pasta salad was boring, didn't you?

I got to eat this!

Today's blog (smack) is about (nom nom nom) pasta (gorge) salad. On days when I have a rehearsal or concert in the evening I frequently skip dinner so I like to have a good lunch. I've got a rehearsal at Stanford Chamber Choir this evening in Memorial Church. This is a 12" serving bowl and there are about three cups of pasta salad. Those are four large, juicy shrimp.

I started making this salad when my kids were small and I wanted a way to get green things in their tummies. This worked!

The shrimp were coated with olive oil and curry powder then grilled in a hot cast iron skillet. I deglazed the pan with orange juice (from the tree) and kept that aside. Hmm, got one shrimp left. Must..type..

The pasta is acini di pepe (pickle seeds!) shaped like little pencil erasers. I added olive oil and red wine vinegar, a bunch of cilantro, most of an English cucumber cut into dice, the zests of two oranges and a lemon and the juice from all three, celery seeds, ground cumin, black pepper and salt.  I have garnished it with the shrimp, some peeled cherry tomatoes and Kalamata olives. I poured the deglazing liquid over the shrimp.

Total cost for my meal today including the shrimp is about $3.25. And I have about a gallon of pasta salad left over.  No more shrimpies though. Sigh.

Since pasta is bland and the basic recipe is just pasta, oil and vinegar you can do just about anything with this. Maybe next time I'll make it with cider vinegar and chopped green apples.  Maybe ham and pineapple.

Can't..type..must eat..pasta salad..