Fettuccine Gamberi

Pasta is one of the easiest foods to prepare; it is available the whole year round. Conveniently, its dried commercial variety (pasta secca) boasts a long shelf life. The neutral taste of the durum semolina in which it’s made of could easily blend with any sauce as accompaniment. It is but practical to always have a box or two in your pantry.

This recipe is ideal for seafood lovers, best for wanting to feel full sans the guilt of gorging on meatballs…times when you have shrimp left in the fridge which is inadequate for a Shrimp Scampi but a wee bit more than enough for a vegetable stir-fry.
Shrimp Pasta may be prepared in variety of ways to your quirk, though ideally best to match it with the consistency and ease of eating. In Northern Italy, it is popularly prepared with béchamel (white sauce). However, the neutral flavor of the shrimp could easily be overpowered by the richness of a white sauce.

This recipe, influenced by Southern Italy, consists of tomato, capers and seafood. If you don’t care much for red sauce, you may omit the tomato; this will give you a much lighter white wine sauce.

Pasta:
1 box              fettuccine Pasta or Linguine
2 tbsp.            Salt
1/8 cup          oil (Canola or Olive Oil)

In a pot, heat water until rolling boil, add salt & oil. Drop the noodles in and stir to totally immerse, do not cover – cook for approximately 7 to 8 minutes (before al dente). Pour the pot in a colander and drizzle olive oil to keep the noodles from sticking. Allow to sit, prepare the sauce.

Gamberi Sauce:
1 cup              shelled shrimp
4 tbsp.            garlic (chopped thinly)
1/2 bulb         white onions (sliced thinly)
1 tbsp.            Capers or green olives
4 pcs.              Peeled & chopped tomatoes
1 can              tomato paste
½ cup             Riesling (best white cooking wine for seafood)
Dash               red pepper flakes (as spicy as you want)
Lots of            Extra Virgin Olive Oil (you can never have enough)
2 cups             Shrimp Stock*
* using Mortar & Pestle pound the shrimp heads & shells add two cups of water & salt pepper to taste
* if you don’t mind dealing with sodium glutamate, buying shrimp bouillon is the easiest way to get a stock.
 http://www.thelatinproducts.com/knorr-shrimp-bouillon-cubes-8-count-3-1-ounce/

In a pan, pour in EVOO close to ¼ cup until hot. Set the heat low then sauté onions - add in garlic and caramelized. Drop the Capers and stir fry for a minute.

Put in tomatoes & tomato paste, fry for another minute. Adjust to medium high heat & add in white wine to deglaze. Add dried pepper flakes & pour in shrimp stock, cook until sauce is reduced. Add in fettuccine pasta and simmer in sauce until al dente. Drop the shrimp last. (Shrimp cooks fast and you don’t want it to end up too firm and dry.) Mix the shrimp with pasta & sauce until the shrimp cooks to a light tangerine shade. Salt & Pepper - serve.

As for pairings, Chardonnay they say…I do however, eat everything with red- and pls. make it a magnum!

http://www.livestrong.com/article/262296-what-is-the-nutritional-value-of-shrimp/

Japchae with Duck Meat & Shrimp

This recipe is consist of Dangmyeon noodles, a nutritious Korean cellophane noodles made from sweet potato starch. Not to be confused with vermicelli noodles which is made from rice, Dangmyeon noodles are usually thicker, translucent and firm in texture when cooked.

Japchae is a Korean recipe using this noodle together with vegetables and meat of choice; flavored with sesame oil, soy sauce & sugar. Japchae to Koreans is almost like what Pasta alla Puttanesca is to the Italians. That is, a meal put together to repurpose whatever is left on the pantry & cooler.

Japchae is simple & fast to prepare. What kills prep time is all on top of the cutting board. For this one, I used the leftover roasted duck to give my noodles an exotic fatty flavor. As for the mushrooms, you may add in any type – I had some baby bella left in the fridge which I love for their almost meaty texture & earthiness.

Haricots verts, for their sweetness – spinach & bok choy are the usual Korean choices for greens.

As for the stock, you may use beef if you want. For this one, I opted to repurpose the shrimp heads which stock works best to counter the gamey flavor of the duck.

Ingredients :
3 bundles    Dangmyeon noodles
4 cloves     garlic (thinly chopped)
½ small      white onions (thinly sliced)
6 pcs.        Baby Bella mushrooms (thinly sliced)
¼ head      Cauliflower (detached to florets) or broccoli
1 cup        haricots verts (chopped) or any greens of preference
1 cup        left over roasted duck (chopped) or any poultry
1 cup        shelled shrimp
6 pcs        shitake mushrooms
¼ cup       canola oil
¼ cup       Oyster Sauce
2 cups       Shrimp Stock (Boil shrimp heads and mash to extract essence in stock)
4 tbsp       Dark sesame oil
½ bundle    parsley (chopped roughly)
2 eggs      whipped, fried & sliced
To taste     salt & pepper

Dangmyeon (Korean Sweet Potato Cellophane Noodles) Preparation:
Heat water in a pot until rolling boil. Remove pot from heat and fully immerse the Dangmyeon noodles for 3 min. Drain noodles on a colander over the sink and run in cold water to stop cooking process. Loosen the noodles with canola oil and allow to sit until needed.

In a wok, sautee onions & garlic in canola oil until caramelized.

Add Duck meat and baby bella mushrooms, stir fry for 2 minutes.

Add cauliflower florets & chopped haricots verts, stir fry for until vegetables sweat, add shitake mushrooms and gradually pour shrimp stock. Add in Dangmyeon noodles and mix in the vegetables and remaining shrimp stock. Simmer in broth for 3minutes & add in shrimp while constantly mixing the noodles. Fuse in the oyster sauce and sesame oil. Cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat & dropped in the eggs and chopped parsley for garnish.. salt & pepper to taste.

Serve with ginger root tea – hot or iced. Serves 8. To store in the fridge, cover with cling wrap to prevent noodles from drying.

“Mashikeh-Mogoseyo!” (Enjoy your meal!)