A couple of weeks ago, I discovered an adorable Italian gourmet shop called Bella Cucina in the Highlands, near our apartment. Like all of my favorite food stores, it boasts a generous array of samples. I hit the buffet of pestos, dabbing a bit of each onto the provided crostini, and immediately became obsessed with the artichoke lemon variety. I couldn't leave without buying a jar, which Zack and I enjoyed over whole-wheat rotini that evening. It inspired me to write this post over on Atlanta Magazine's blog.
Then, a few days later, pesto turned up on our list of production recipes at school. We rolled out our own fresh pasta that day and a classic basil-and-pine-nut pesto would be the sauce to accompany it. Already on a bit of a pesto kick, I immediately volunteered to make the pesto for my group. Probably due to the awesome quality of the fresh basil we used, it turned out fabulous. I'd like to think it was my skill at throwing all of the ingredients into a Robot Coupe (kitchen lingo for food processor--it's the brand that professional kitchens use).
I smuggled some of my awesome pesto home and we ate it last night when Andrea, The Kansan, and Dieter came over for dinner. I made a huge batch of that whole-wheat rotini (see, I learned something in Nutrition class!) and added chunks of chicken breast that I had sautéed, coating all of it with the pesto. It was a great and fufilling meal made with my current sauce of choice.
Alright, that's enough about pesto. Today was sauté day at school, and it may have been my favorite day yet. Sautéing is just such a fun cooking technique--it's quick, usually only dirties up one pan, and involves sizzling heat and tossing food in the air with a quick motion of the pan (I won't pretend that I've mastered this one...we're supposed to practice by throwing some ice around in a sauté pan at home).
There were a few recipes on our production list--veal marsala, chicken breast with dried cherries, and sauteéd shrimp with lemon sauce. When it comes time to volunteer, I always gravitate towards the recipe that I'd most want to eat if I saw it on a restaurant menu. So, I picked the shrimp. All of these recipes were pretty simple, intending to help us to practice the art of sauté.
My mise en place involved blanching tomatoes and dicing them concasse, mincing garlic, chopping chives, zesting and juicing a couple of lemons, and peeling and deveining shrimp. Then came the cooking process, which takes literally a minute and a half for this recipe. That's why it's so important to have all of your mise en place ready to go--when you're sautéing, there's no time to run off and grab something that you forgot.
I made several batches of this shrimp dish, improving each time. Starting with a really hot pan with a little bit of oil, I put down four shrimp at a time, letting them sizzle for about 30 seconds on each side. Then, off the heat, I hit the pan with some white wine, lemon juice, and a little bit of white wine vinegar to start my pan sauce. Once that reduced, I'd monter au beurre (of course!) and add my tomato concasse. Plate it and garnish with a sprinkle of chives and lemon zest, and voilà. My group-mate Joel took this lovely photo of the finished product:
im so impressed!! i love reading your blog and you've even inspired me to "cook" (or at least try!) recently. good luck!
ReplyDelete