Monday, August 17, 2015

No, now I know for a fact that this was Tuesday -

 I guess I knew there was no way I could blog so I took really dull pictures this day. Neil and I woke up and went into Bennington to shop for dinner.

 We did hit the same little cafe' that we always hit - which Scott said was cheating - so Neil could do his mail.


I went with shrimp and grits for my meal - which everyone seemed to enjoy. This is a pretty good and easy recipe. It is from Garden and Guns ( Thank you ,Susan! ) and it called for a polenta cake , but I just went with some good stone ground grits cooked in milk and water, cream added late in the cooking to break them up some . The grits were just ootw.


1 pint (about 2 cups) cherry tomatoes
4 tbsp. olive oil, divided
1 lb. ‘Nduja or spicy fresh sausage, such as chorizo or andouille ( could not find fresh , just went with a normal chorizo )
1 cup red onion, sliced into petals
2 cups white wine
Black pepper, to taste
4 cups packed baby spinach
1 lb. fresh wild Atlantic shrimp, peeled and deveined 
6 oz. butter, chilled and diced
Salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Toss tomatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil in a shallow ovenproof dish that can hold the tomatoes in a single layer. Roast for 30 to 45 minutes, or until tomatoes collapse and begin to caramelize. (This can be done a day ahead. Bring tomatoes to room temperature before using.)
Heat a large shallow sauté pan over medium-high and add remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, meat, and onions, breaking up the mixture with the edge of a spoon if necessary. Sauté until onions soften and meat is well browned, about 5 or 6 minutes. Add the white wine and a couple of grinds of black pepper; bring to a boil and cook until it is reduced by almost half. Stir in the roasted tomatoes, spinach, and shrimp, and cook for 2 or 3 minutes, until shrimp is just cooked through. Add butter and stir to make the sauce glossy. Salt as needed.

I really recommend this dish - was not at all hard to make and the pay off was there for sure - it is good
#1 make more of the grits AND the shrimp than you think you need - #2 there is no real reason to roast off the tomatoes esp this time of year when they are at their peak - BUT, if you do DO NOT use the super sweet grape / cherry tomato like I did, they are just too full of sugar and to nothing but turn to carbon in the stove.  Also do not over reduce the wine , it goes very fast.

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