Sweet Chili Shrimp

Ingredients:
1/2 pound frozen shrimp
1 pound squash & zucchini, cut into pieces
a handful of mini sweet peppers, sliced
3 large cloves of garlic, chopped
1 stem of scallions, sliced
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
2-3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp black vinegar
2 tsp chili garlic sauce or sriracha
a splash of fish sauce
a couple tsp of oil
a tbsp of cornstarch and a little water

Thaw the shrimp under cold running water.

Heat the oil up in a large pan and add in the garlic and white part of the scallion. After a couple minutes, add in the the squash and bell peppers and saute until soft (a few minutes).


Add in all the various sauces with the sugar and water, and cook for another minute. Add the shrimp in with the remaining green part of the scallions, and cook until the shrimp are perfectly pink.

Make a slurry by stirring the cornstarch into a small amount of water; while stirring the dish, add the slurry in slowly and wait for the sauce to thicken. Adjust the sauce to taste, and serve up with some steamed sticky rice and a little more chili sauce. Quick and dericious.

Tomato Basil Soup

Remember those days when I used to take at least a single photo of everything I attempted in the kitchen? And ate foods besides bagelwiches and breakfast burritos? Me neither.


A single out-of-season recipe to represent the entire fall season.



Tomato Basil Soup




Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients:
1/2 large onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
pat of butter
3-4 medium tomatoes, petite diced
1/4 cup chopped basil
1 can Campbell's condensed tomato soup
2.5 cups chicken stock
splash of red wine (optional)
1 cup water
salt & pepper




Heat the butter over medium low and slowly saute the onions with the garlic until translucent and slightly caramelized. When the onions are ready, add in the chopped tomatoes and cook for an additional minute.

Add in the tomato soup with the chicken stock, water, and wine.

Let simmer for 20-30 minutes if you're paddling around the kitchen doing other things. Let simmer for "a bit" if you desperately want that soup now. At this point, you can puree in a food processor (and add in a little cream) for a creamy, smooth soup, but I like chunky.


Add in the chopped basil (I had sweet purple basil from the farmer's market and it worked lovely as well), and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve up with some crusty bread or toasted croutons.




Mmm, mmm... good.

An Eastern Ballad

"I speak of love that comes to mind;
The moon is faithful, although blind;
She moves in thought she cannot speak.
Perfect care has made her bleak.

I never dreamed the sea so deep,
The earth so dark; so long my sleep,
I have become another child.
I wake to see the world go wild."

...Ginsberg

Summer Squash and Zucchini Ragout

Can we just take a moment to drink in how adorable these are?

Baby summer squash from my first trip to the Mar Vista's Farmer's Market.

Summer Squash and Zucchini Ragout

Ingredients
Sauce:
4 cloves
8 peppercorns
8 coriander seeds
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1 cinnamon stick
5 cilantro sprigs, chopped
5 mint leaves, chopped
6 basil leaves, chopped
1 Jalapeno pepper

[Note: I didn't have all of these spices on hand... most of them in fact. I threw in extra peppercorns, some allspice, double the mint, and a little extra cilantro, and it still came out delicious. So I'm sure the actual recipe is really delicious.]


Vegetables:
1/2 onion thinly sliced
1.25 lb summer squash
1 can of yellow corn
2 tomatoes peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 tbsp peanut oil
salt
2 tbsp cilantro leaves, chopped


Pour the cream and milk into a small pot and put over low heat.

Bruise the hard spices with a pestle. Combine with the cinnamon, herbs, and half the jalapeno, and add them into the cream mixture. Slowly bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and let steep while you cut the vegetables.


Heat the oil in a wide skillet and add the onion. Saute briskly for a minute or so. (I used baby summer squash, which needs very little cooking, so I didn't add the squash until the onion was almost done, about 5 minutes.)

Add the summer squash, corn, and the remaining jalapeno (chopped) and season with salt. Continue to saute over fairly high heat for about 2 minutes.


Pour the steeped cream sauce directly into the pan through a strainer. Add the tomato in and simmer for several minutes. Simmer until the sauce has reduced and thickened. Season to taste with salt and serve garnished with chopped cilantro.


So maybe ragout isn't the prettiest dish. It's still bomb diggity. And that's good enough for me.

You look lonely

...Maybe I'll come back and play.