I swear I do constructive things with my time...

Yeah, I know I've posted twice relating to food. But these are two recipes that I really think needed sharing, especially the second. It makes sandwich-making SO much easier. I swear that I'm not just cooking here at college, and I'll write about my FASA show very soon. For now let me say that the show's coming together very nicely, and I actually am not too worried.

So anyway, the recipes are "One-pot Shrimp Scampi" (easy cleanup, as the name suggests...I swear I just use a knife, cutting board, pot, and serving bowl for the recipe) and "The Cheese Shop's House Dressing". Small descriptions come before each one, along with tips.


One-pot Shrimp Scampi

An easy recipe with relatively easy cleanup! You can substitute white wine for a fraction of the chicken stock, though I’m not entirely sure what that fraction would be. Make sure to use a pan that’s NOT nonstick for this particular recipe – that’s important! I recommend using frozen shrimp since they’re a bit easier to come by. You can use chicken in this recipe instead; use slightly under a pound of chicken, sliced thinly.

1 box angel hair pasta
1 ½ tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
16-20 pieces shrimp
Salt and pepper
¾ cup chicken stock (can substitute some of this with dry white wine)
Dash of ground red pepper (or more…)
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp parsley, finely chopped

Cook the angel hair pasta according to the package directions. While the pasta is cooking, season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Drain the pasta and set it aside in a large bowl. Rinse the pasta cooking pot out with a little water and dry it to make sure that no starch or water remains clinging to the inside of it. Place the pot back on the stove at medium heat.

When the pot has heated up, add the butter and olive oil. Once the oil/butter mixture is hot, add the garlic and cook for about fifteen seconds. Do not allow the garlic to brown! Place the shrimp down over the garlic to cook on one side for about 2-2 ½ minutes. Once they have turned mostly pink, turn them over and cook on the other side for about a minute. Remove the shrimp from the pot and place them over the pasta.

Deglaze the pan with the chicken stock (or chicken stock/white wine mixture) by simply pouring the stock directly over the contents of the pot. Scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan and mix them with the rest of the sauce. (This only works with a pan that isn’t nonstick.) Mix in the lemon juice, and add salt, pepper, and ground red pepper to taste. Boil the mixture for 2-3 minutes, then add the parsley. Stir well to make sure everything is combined before pouring the sauce over the pasta and shrimp. Mix well and serve while hot!



The Cheese Shop’s House Dressing

There’s this little place in Williamsburg called the Cheese Shop, which makes excellent sandwiches. They also sell bread ends (the unused end pieces of the loaves they use for sandwiches) for only a dollar, which makes a very tasty and very handy snack. Let me tell you, though – the Cheese Shop’s not all that special without the house dressing. It’s a delicious combination of flavors that somehow manages to go with any sort of meat (or even vegetables) and cheese. I love buying bread ends with house dressing, but the dressing is a tad overpriced. And so I decided to make my own version. Here it is, without further ado.

2 ½ tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp stone-ground mustard (the kind with seeds) or Dijon mustard
1 tsp steak sauce*

Mix the ingredients together – feel free to adjust the ratios according to your own personal taste. Use as a condiment for sandwiches of any variety.

*Make sure that the steak sauce you are using has Worcestershire sauce in it; that is where most of the flavor comes from.