What Are You Eating Today? Part 5

[Ron Thorne]

We bought a pound of really nice 16-20 count shrimp, and I'm going to grill them on mesquite charcoal tonight, using bamboo skewers. I'm marinating them for 4 hours in a spicy concoction I found online which seems simple and delicious. It features Sriracha Chili Sauce as a primary ingredient, along with olive oil, garlic, worcestershire sauce, sugar, freshly ground pepper (natch),& chopped cilantro. If it tastes as great as I expect it will, I'll post the recipe later.

I'm making some of Peppercorn's Cajun-inspired long grain rice & garlic bread to go with it. And, we'll likely have a drink involving tequila to wash it all down.

Here's what the shrimp dish should look like once off the grill.

[Ron Thorne]

The Spicy Shrimp dish was fabulous! I marinated the 1 lb. of shrimp in a quart-size ziplock bag for 4 hours, then poured them into a bowl to place them on skewers, 6 to a skewer. Patti fired up our mesquite charcoal after the rice was ready, because it only takes about 2mins. per side if the coals are white hot as they should be.

Here's what the shrimp looked like just off the grill, and alongside my Cajun-inspired rice, made with chicken broth, onions, green bell pepper, garlic, turmeric, cayenne pepper, salt & freshly ground black pepper. We also had some garlic bread and a Margarita alongside.

It was very yummy, and I'll definitely make this dish again.

As promised, the recipe follows:






Spicy Shrimp -

• 1/3 cup Sriracha
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 handful cilantro, roughly chopped, plus more for garnish
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pounds large shrimp (16 to 20 count), deveined

1. Mix together the Sriracha, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, cilantro, and sugar. Season aggressively with salt and pepper. Put in a 1-gallon plastic bag, add the shrimp, and mix together in the bag. Marinate in the fridge for 2 to 4 hours. Or longer.
2. Heat a grill. Skewer the shrimp (4 to 6 shrimp per skewer) and grill until pink and delicious, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
3. Remove the shrimp from the grill, slide the shrimp from the skewer using a fork, and pile on a serving platter. Sprinkle with finely chopped cilantro, and throw a few toothpicks in a few shrimp. Watch them disappear.

Note: I cut the amount of Sriracha Sauce in half to minimize the heat factor for Patti, and it was still plenty spicy. Be forewarned. Sriracha is some serious stuff ... but delicious.

I got this recipe from a wonderful website I recently discovered, food52, an online community of folks who love to eat and cook. I registered, and am very glad I did. They don't pester you with endless e-mails, but provide a wealth of information and recipes from professionals and home cooks instead.

The creators of the site are also creating a cookbook using the best recipes from members, as voted on by the food52 community each week. It's a very innovative, conscientious project in my estimation.

Here's what guides them:

• If you cook, your family will eat dinner together.
• If you cook, you will naturally have a more sustainable household.
• If you cook, you’ll set a lifelong example for your children.
• If you cook, you’ll understand what goes into food and will eat more healthily.
• If you cook, you’ll make your home an important place in your life.
• If you cook, you’ll make others happy.
• If you cook, people will remember you.

Here's a clickable link if you'd like to check out the website.

food52

[clinthopson]

Ron, that looks like fun. I signed up.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

An excellent brick chicken with cous-cous, great flatbread and pepper spread, tasty meatballs with raisins on skewers, and a fine latte made by my daughter, who works the front desk at the brand new hotel that houses the restaurant.

Hotel is super-green, and looks great. All the rooms have balconies and tiger bamboo floors. Living roof.

Spoonbar: http://www.biteclubeats.com/2010/06/...ealdsburg.html

h2hotel: http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-...,1606216.story

[clinthopson]

Last week we had a great Szechuan meal with that renown food expert, PeteC. There were about five or six choices, all of which were new to us. The big winner was a cumin crispy lamb.

Pete recommended a Venetian restaurant, Le Zie, in Chelsea near the Joyce Theater where we saw the great Savion Glover. Le Zie was so good we ate there twice!

If you go to the Apple, ask Pete where to eat. He won't steer you wrong.

[bigtiny]

A couple of weeks ago, we took some friends out for a B'day celebration to 'Craigie on Main' in Cambridge. The chef (whose name I'm blanking on) was nominated for a James Beard award this year.

Starters were: asparagus soup;sauteed mushrooms with greens and poached egg; grilled octopus; and a rabbit roulade with 6 sauces/mustards. They were all very good....trust me

Main dishes: grilled beef tenderloin (excellent); sea bass (very good); and two of us had the same -- pork three ways (rib, belly, sirloin) with faroh (sp?) and some other stuff.

Two of us had marrow bones and toast (man!!!!) and we all shared a side of grilled asparagus with the lightest, tastiest hollandaise I've ever had the pleasure to taste.

The place was pricey, but pretty good. I generally like food with a bit more robust seasoning, but this was a FINE meal!

bigtiny

[Ron Thorne]

A sizeable, thinly sliced tri-tip French Dip with a perfectly suited draft beer from on-the-premises at Midnight Sun Brewing Co.



I brought a 22oz. bottle home for later.

[baksheesh]

I had a great ribs and chicken combo at this place. This is the kind of stuff I just can't seem to find in Ireland. I think the pumpkin gravy is a bit of an acquired taste though.


Also really loving the putine from this place.

[clinthopson]

Ho can I say this without being totally offensive?

Sheesh - go to New York City or New Orleans or Paris and educate your taste buds.

[baksheesh]

Ho can I say this without being totally offensive?

Sheesh - go to New York City or New Orleans or Paris and educate your taste buds.

Point well taken Mr. Hopson, and believe me I would if I could. At the moment I'll take what I can get, and dream of better things. When the time comes I'll be asking for recommendations of where to go, you can rest assured of that.

[Pete C]

I still can't bring myself to try poutine. One of the few things I find repulsive on principle.

[bigtiny]

I had a great ribs and chicken combo at this place. This is the kind of stuff I just can't seem to find in Ireland. I think the pumpkin gravy is a bit of an acquired taste though.


Also really loving the putine from this place.

Get a flight to St. Petersbug Florida. From Tampa Internation airport, get a cab to St. Pete. You want to go to Big Tim's BBQ on 34th st. s. at approximately 5th avenue. You can thank me later...

bigtiny

[baksheesh]

I still can't bring myself to try poutine. One of the few things I find repulsive on principle.

Mr. C, this statement astounds me and that's official.

Get a flight to St. Petersbug Florida. From Tampa Internation airport, get a cab to St. Pete. You want to go to Big Tim's BBQ on 34th st. s. at approximately 5th avenue. You can thank me later...

bigtiny

Thanks for the heads up bigtiny. I live in hope...

[Sergio Zamora]

I still can't bring myself to try poutine. One of the few things I find repulsive on principle.

Do you like hash browns covered and smothered?

[clinthopson]

There was this place in Paris where all they served was steak with peppercorn sauce and pommes frit. They brought more steak and pommes for as long as you wanted.

It was somewhere in St. Germaine.

I've never been satisfied with fried potatoes since then.

[baksheesh]

I still can't bring myself to try poutine. One of the few things I find repulsive on principle.

A quick roll call here Mr. C.

1) Fries - Mmmmm! Good.

2) Gravy - Mmmmm! Damn good.

3) Cheese (and melted at that) - Mmmmm! Nice!


So, to sum up. What's not to like?

[Pete C]

So, to sum up. What's not to like?

The unholy combination thereof.

[baksheesh]

The unholy combination thereof.

I am sorely tempted to post some of the more eye-popping photos from your blog, of the highly esoteric dishes you have sampled in your travels. I guess everybody's got to draw the line somewheres, and poutine is one of yours.

Btw a few years back the family Christmassed in New York and we found this chip shop in the Village whose game was that they offered french fries from 'round the world - i.e. with various sauces as appropriate, e.g. roast garlic mayo for France, straight up mayo for Belgium. Care to guess what Ireland's contribution was? And we had to laugh 'cause they had it bang on the money.

[rollhead]

A quick roll call here Mr. C.

1) Fries - Mmmmm! Good.

2) Gravy - Mmmmm! Damn good.

3) Cheese (and melted at that) - Mmmmm! Nice!


So, to sum up. What's not to like?

1) Fries - "Mmmmmm! Good" because they are crunchy.

2) Gravy -- Does a Damn Good job at turning crunchiness into sogginess.

3) Cheese -- Nice! is really bland, rubbery cheese curds.

So, to sum up: Poutine, a pile of soggy/rubbery blandness -- Ugh. Disgusting.

[baksheesh]

1) Fries - "Mmmmmm! Good" because they are crunchy.

- Because they are tasty

2) Gravy -- Does a Damn Good job at turning crunchiness into sogginess.

- Because they are tasty

3) Cheese -- Nice! is really bland, rubbery cheese curds.

- Because they are tasty

4) Poutine, a pile of soggy/rubbery blandness -- Ugh. Disgusting.

Yo rollie m'man! You're getting all hung up on texture and whatnot when you should be thinking about the flavour. Flavour is king. Ain't no blandness involved when you got a good gravy, and if you don't smother them then those fries aren't going to be overly soggy either.

Think quality of ingredients and economy with the gravy and you've gotten closer to the reason why I'm loving poutine. Seems like I could've gotten lucky and only gotten the good stuff 'cause none of your caveats have applied to what I've had so far.

Wings on the other hand...

I have been sorely disappointed. I got better wings back in Dublin in Tribeca than I've had here after following up three out of the top ten recommended Wing places in the city.

[Pete C]

Care to guess what Ireland's contribution was?

Oatmeal?

[Sergio Zamora]

Care to guess what Ireland's contribution was?

[baksheesh]

Oatmeal?

Porridge on chips? Stop with the crazy talk Mr. C!

No, it was curry sauce. A variety of brown goo you would undoubtedly not even stoop to scorn, but damn tasty slathered over a punnet of fries after a few pints.

[baksheesh]

Very close Sergio. First comes the Guinness (quantity varies according to endurance), then comes the curry chips.

[Pete C]

Just back from dinner at Shebeen in Charlottesville (S. African)

Sosatie		20
A delightful dish of cubed leg of lamb, skewered on sugar cane with dried apricots and marinated for at least twenty-four hours in mango chutney, tamarind & turmeric, grilled and served with samp and beans, yellow rice, mango chutney and a cucumber-mint yogurt.

[stonemonkts]

My search for a good mustard is finally over. Some of you will think, how did it take me so long to discover it? I'm slow on the pickup sometimes, what can I say.

But finally finding it was revelatory. Serendipitous too, as it was found by pocketing a room service bottle prior to checkout recently.

THIS is mustard HEAVEN:

[Pete C]

Try the green peppercorn Maille.

[stonemonkts]

Do they still make it? I can't find it.

http://www.maille.us/pages/products.aspx?sid=1

[bigtiny]

I am sorely tempted to post some of the more eye-popping photos from your blog, of the highly esoteric dishes you have sampled in your travels. I guess everybody's got to draw the line somewheres, and poutine is one of yours.

Btw a few years back the family Christmassed in New York and we found this chip shop in the Village whose game was that they offered french fries from 'round the world - i.e. with various sauces as appropriate, e.g. roast garlic mayo for France, straight up mayo for Belgium. Care to guess what Ireland's contribution was? And we had to laugh 'cause they had it bang on the money.

Curry fries?

bigtiny

[Uli]

Curry fries?

bigtiny

yep. or mayo fries.