I sometimes forget I'm in the states at restaurants and order a side of gravy. Some places have gravy. The waitress who look at me weird, why does he want gravy and then really look at me weird for pouring it on my fries.
Bizarro dinner tonight. Boiled shrimp I bought at HEB wasn't enough so I'm cooking pasta and going to hit it with some spray butter, parmasean and banana peppers.
Gravy on fries got me craving something else. An ex girlfriend is Portuguese and lives in Toronto. Near downtown Toronto they have a large Portuguese area, in fact its called Little Portugal. Many Portuguese restaurants, etc. They make these baked potatoes ball deals that are extremely good. Anyway, a lot of Portuguese family's put Mayo like ketchup on the potatoes, its very good. Found a recipe online and I'll attempt to make them tonight with chicken. I might cheat with the Chicken and get one of those cooked rotisserie deals at Costco. Dannygirls Parisienne Potatoes Recipe - Food.com I think what makes the potatoes so good is the olive oil and paprika, makes a kind of sauce.
Funny tom. But I couldn't even consider it ghetto shrimp scampi since I ate the shrimp and 10 minutes later decided I was still hungry and started cook the pasta. But that's a brilliant idea if I get a date anytime in the near future. Toss already boiled shrimp in to a pan just to add some heat to it. Brilliant!
I sometimes buy frozen shrimp and have them with cocktail sauce as a snack. A few months back, it was pouring rain, dark and miserable. Didn't feel like driving up to the restaurants or going into a grocery. Decided to snack on the shrimp and discovered no cocktail sauce. Then thought what else to make with the shrimp. Had some linguine noodles, but then discovered no pasta sauces left. Anyway, I ended up cooking the pasta, dumping a bunch of Newman's Own Creamy Caesar dressing as a sauce. Tossed in the shrimp. it wasn't amazing, but it was very edible in a pinch. The big question is would I do it again. Yes, it was tasty, just regular pasta sauces are better, so Id rather have regular pasta.
Its not a great dressing. Might have been better with another brand. Tonight is chilli night. This time I'm going to try it with beans.
Best thing I ever did to ease the burden of making a home cooked meal is to buy garlic powder and onion powder and other spices in Costco sized containers. I like cooking. It is relaxing to me. But, let's be serious, prep work on herbs and spices can be a PITA. So, when I am pressed for time - bust out dried spices. For example, if you have frozen shrimp. Boil up some spaghetti, add garlic & onion powder, some dried oregano, etc. you have poor man's scampi ready to roll. A good starch. A good protein. And, then quick & easy garlic bread. Toast bread lightly in toaster. Spread a bit of butter. Sprinkle a little garlic powder. Knock of any excess. Back into the toaster. Keep a close eye on, so that melting butter plus toaster does not equal conflagration. Serve with whatever wine is in the house, and you're eating good w/o going out or buying pre-made...T
I've never tried that in the toaster. If I want garlic/cheese bread I found a trick of sorts that works really well. Use mayo instead of butter. I know it sounds weird but I read about some restaurant's recipe this way and tried it. It's very good. So I just spread some mayo on, season, add cheese, and toss under the broiler for a few minutes. If it's thicker bread I'll sometime start it out on a lower shelf then move up under the broiler just to brown up the cheese. Really tasty. I tend to just sort of throw things together when I am not cooking something specific. In a way I think it's a talent a lot of folks don't have. I just start grabbing what I have on hand and usually come out with something decent. So the other night I had some pasta and some hamburger but was out of tomatoes or anything to really make a sauce with. So I cooked them both up, adding some onion and spices with the beef. I had some chicken stock in the refer so added that and a little cream and parmesan and tossed it with the pasta. If I were making something like this thinking ahead I would have added mushrooms too and maybe some peppers or something for a little color. The next day I took the leftovers, added some cheddar cheese and threw it in a casserole to bake for awhile. Viola it became mac-n-cheese with hamburger.
OH, and yeah I prefer the dried onions to powder but have big jugs of garlic powder, dried onions, basil, and red pepper flakes sitting right on the top of the stove.
Good plan with some spices. Tonight though is sashimi night. The rest of the week I'll have my brother, SIL and nephew until Sunday. The SIL is Chinese, born and raised in China. She only eats Chinese foods and a little Japanese, so until Christmas dinner, we'll be eating Chinese.
Broiler is a good opp, but I can never seem to get the right balance of toasting versus carbonization! I'm the same way, I kind of liken it to the Iron Chef show, where you get some random ingredients and try to make something tasty from it. Your invention sounds like Hamburger Helper that my mom made for us as kids, although it may have been noodles and not spaghetti in the box! T
Does she do the cooking? If so, you're living large. Enjoy and best wishes for the upcoming holiday season...T
Holy beef! I see creamed spinach? You at Lawry's in Beverly Hills? If so, please lie, because I won't be able to handle the truth! T Edit - You ARE at Lawry's!! I just noticed the pattern on the china. No creamed corn? Dang man, I'm so freaking jealous right now!
Ugh. I'm putting you on my "block" list! Love that place. Old school ambiance, and the food is great to boot. Enjoy...T
Ok, all these whippersnappers and their ghetto shrimp scampi, plus Jdubbya's post, motivated me to go Iron Chef tonight. Tonight's secret ingredient, crawfish tails! I cooked some cassarecce pasta (kind of twists). Sauteed up onions, broccoli and bell pepper. Thawed frozen crawfish tails, cooked them up in olive oil and butter, with added spices - paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, parsley, fresh cracked. Added a little cream and parmesan cheese at the end, reduced the liquid. A little white wine - to fortify the chef! Pour the crawfish and veggies over the casarecce. Add a tad more cheese and splash of Tabasco. Serve with a nice Chianti classico. Enjoy on the porch because it's 70+ crazy degrees here today in DFW! Seasons greetings y'all, and best wishes for 2016! T
It takes a bit of practice but more importantly a watchful eye. Timing is everything!! Yeah, the Iron chef analogy is a good one. I had a roommate when I was much younger who had worked as an executive chef so he taught me a lot of tricks too. I just like making things up as I go. I like to think of it as high class hamburger helper though!! I used to make it (and still do on rare occasion) with boxed mac&cheese, but at least now if I do I try to use one of the slightly better ones like Velveeta.
Holy mother of all that is Beef. That is a plate full of food. Looks amazing except the spinach. I like it raw but not a big fan of it cooked. Hope you were able to roll out of there and home safely.
