First up-- these four pictures are from two days ago. They show one of the four cups of Nigella's chocolate mousse I had made.
That mousse was damn good, too.
The next eleven pics show you, step by step, the pasta I made this evening. It was essentially a fettuccine alfredo with andouille sausage and spiced shrimp. Vaguely Outback Steakhouse-ish in concept, though not quite as good in execution. Could've used a bit more oomph-- some garlic, some salt, some fresh parsley, or something. Luckily, the spices in the andouille and on the shrimp made up for the general blandness of tonight's alfredo, and if nothing else, the ensemble looked and smelled pretty good.
Of course, if you really want to drool over some food photos, go visit this post at the Nomad's place and open up that PowerPoint presentation. And if you're Korean, I don't ever want to hear that stale old line, "Americans love fried food," again. As you see in that slideshow, it's not just Americans: GERMANS LOVE IT, TOO!! I still can't get over the size of that hamburger.
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Some Old Bay could have added some zip to this dish. Did you just thaw the shrimp in that picture, or did you cook it and then add it to the andouille? I only ask because you could have cut the andouille up a little smaller (like a mince/dice, rather than slice), and render out a little bit of the fat first, then add about 1-2 cloves fresh smashed garlic and toss in the shrimpies til they cook. Just an idea.
ReplyDeleteIf need be, I'll be more than happy to zap you some Old Bay or other creole-ish seasonings, and "what not".
Today I went to the fancy market and got some ground lamb (they did this to order for me) which I'll mix up with some minced mint and garlic, form into little balls, and then cook in a great tomato, garlic, chile, mint, garam masala sauce (with a tang of lime) tonight, and serve over a bed of couscous mixed with cooked quinoa, raisins and pignolis...
I might just photo blog that too!
You inspire me!
Looks delicious, Kevin!
ReplyDeleteBut what's that faint, wet, slapping noise I'm hearing? Oh, I recognize it now - it's the sound of your arteries slamming shut.
For a guy who loves to cook, it's disapppointing to see you using whipped cream out of a can.
ReplyDeleteShit, what maven's talking about sounds yummy - though I've never tried lamb. (Not that I'm avoiding it - I just can't recall it ever being an option.)Your meal looks yummy - I love shrimp (quite possibly my most favourite food on earth) - but I'd have opted for rice. Pasta schmasta - but spaghetti or capellini os yummers. And some vegetables! Mushroom, zucchini - mmmmm, eggplant. I know you hate onions - but I'd have them as well. Why do you hate onions? Do you hate them raw? Cooked?
ReplyDeleteWhy aren't you dead yet!?!?!?!
ReplyDeleteMaven-- delicious indeed. I look forward to pics.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm-- I'm gonna behave myself this term. This is the final extravagance before the austerity.
EFL Geek-- the previous time, I whipped my own cream, but this time around, I was cooking for a bunch of students and just didn't have the gumption to do all that whipping.
Jelly-- I generally hate onions in Western food (pizza, spaghetti, burgers, gyros), though I also don't like them in Korean-style Chinese food. If the onions are ground up or minced, and then they get the hell cooked out of them, no problem. Raw onions are generally worse than cooked ones for me, and I think there's something about an onion's texture I despise.
Anonymous-- Because I'm a fat, stubborn bastard who's hard to kill.
Kevin