April 2, 2015 New Recipe Spaghetti with Cajun BBQ’s Shrimp and broccoli and an ear of corn

April 2, 2015 New Recipe   Spaghetti with Cajun BBQ’s Shrimp and broccoli and an ear of corn

I started cooking around 5:30 today.  I first made tzatziki for tomorrow's lamb dinner with Barry, Kylene, Cynthia and Ricardo. Then I made a marinade for the two small end pieces of legs of lamb (Sprouts 2.99/lb., a close out) with a handful of rosemary and oregano sprigs from the garden and about ten cloves of garlic from our garden that we stored int he fridge in the basement over the winter. 

Then i picked a handful of mint and made syrup water and had my first fresh mojito of the year, using some of the left over chopped mint from the tzatziki.  We have definitely entered Suzette’s kitchen remodel phase, which means she comes home around 7:30 and I cook.  Today it was easy to devise a menu.  I thawed out a lb. of 16-20 count shrimp from Sprouts ($6.99/lb.) and shelled, deveined and marinated 9 large shrimp in some PPI Cajun BBQ shrimp sauce we made last Friday using Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen recipe.  When Suzette arrived I boiled water.  When the water heated to nearly a boil I added the flower-lets of one head of broccoli.

  

Then I shucked and put in two ears of white corn and cooked it about 10 minutes.  When the water came to a boil I added about ½ lb. of spaghetti and cooked it until it softened to beyond al dente. 

Recipe:  Tomatoes, shrimp and Broccoli in BBQ shrimp sauce.

            When I thought the spaghetti as about five minutes away from being ready I cubed two Roma tomatoes and heated a large skillet with about 1 Tbsp. of olive oil, one chopped clove of garlic and about 1 tsp. of dried oregano.  I heated that for a moment and added the two cubed tomatoes and sautéed them for a couple of minutes.  Then I added the shrimp and PPI BBQ sauce to the tomatoes 

and sautéed the shrimp until they turned pink.

There was a goodly amount of sauce so I did not feel the need to add anything to it and just let the tomatoes and broccoli combine their cooking liquid with the spicy BBQ sauce.

Suzette drained the spaghetti and placed a scoop into each of two pasta bowls and I divided the shrimp and sauce into the two bowls.  We decided to drink red wine.  I had brought up a bottle of Santiago Station Devil’s Back Cabernet Sauvignon from the Valle Central of Chile ($3.99 at Total Wine) to make the marinade for the leg of lamb I marinated for tomorrow night’s meal, so we drank it with dinner.  It was clean tasting and went well with the spicy tomato spaghetti sauce.  I am really impressed with the Santiago Station selections at Total Wine at $3.99.  We drank their Sauvignon Blanc and it was delicious.  At $3.99 they are the best value in wine in Albuquerque at this moment.

After our wonderful spaghetti dinner I had to have a chocolate and a sip of Grappa.  I chose Gabriello Santoni Grappa di Brunello (Total Wine for $34.99 for 750 ml.), which is my favorite grappa at the moment.  The grappas carries the Alfio Moreconi selection on its label so it appears to be a private label exclusively to Total Wine, which is a good thing in this case.  Total Wine excels in finding excellent low cost spirits that as good or better than many established brands that it markets for less. 

The Santoni grappa was lighter and fruitier than many other grappas I have tried.    Somehow the sweetness within the fire of the grappa counteracted with and moderated the fire of the BBQ shrimp sauce.

It may seem out of place to cook an ear of corn with this dinner, but I found lovely fresh white corn yesterday at Ranch Market and bought two ears and wanted to try it before the corn got old.  I was right, Suzette said they corn was the best she had eaten in New Mexico, which is a great compliment from a rural Pennsylvanian.

   

In keeping with the Italian theme Suzette ate a bowl of spumoni ice cream.

Bon Appétit