Wednesday, August 02, 2006

What can I do with this?

I discovered that, aside from being a generally all-out good cook, I know how to combine and meld. In my refrigerator last week, we only had:
Some fresh shrimp
A lemon
A fresh fennel bulb
Some peppered bacon
Assorted milks and creams
Parmesan cheese
Some heirloom tomatoes
Some fresh basil
Some tiny mozzarella cheeses

First thing I did was slice the tomatoes and dust them with some basiled sea salt that I made last month, and added a bit of fresh ground pepper. I sliced the mozzarella next, layered them in a fan with the tomatoes and put a chiffonade of basil on the top.

Then I sauteed some garlic and shallots -- house staples, we never run out -- added the bacon, then the fennel. Put the vegetable mix in a bowl and seared the shrimp in all those tasty flavors, then degreased with lemon juice. Addded a little bit of cream and stirred it until it thickened, adding a bit more slowly until I had a nice little sauce, then let a little parmesan melt into it.

Served up the tomato and basil salad with the shrimps resting on the glistening fennel mix, and drizzled with a beautiful pale yellow sauce. What a tasty little hit it was!

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