Bowtie Shrimp and Spinach

I recently read a poem that referred to shrimp (I think it was by Ogden Nash) as the "wingless hummingbirds of the sea". Quite a beautiful visual this portrays!

Shrimp has quite a long history in cuisine, and even Marco Polo mentioned its abundance in Chinese markets way back in 1280. It is still quite the popular food dish with Americans alone consuming over 850 million pounds per year! And while only a few species of shrimp have a market value, there are over 300 species of these tiny creatures.

Shrimp have quite amount of nutritional value in addition to being pretty damn tasty, and can be prepared in all sorts of ways. Anything from your basic shrimp cocktail to a spicy creole dish, shrimp are definitely versatile.

Wanting to throw together a quick dish for two this past week, I decided to combine three of my favorite things: Pasta, Seafood and Greens. Below is a simple light recipe that any seafood lover can enjoy.

Patton's Bowtie Shrimp & Spinach

Ingredients

1 12 oz. box of bowtie pasta
1 package of baby spinach leaves
1 lb. shrimp (deveined and peeled)
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
Juice of one lemon
3 medium tomatoes
2 Tablespoons of minced fresh basil
Salt and Black Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Preparation

Put water in a large pot (enough to cover the pasta) and add a couple tablespoons of Olive oil and a pinch of salt. Once boiling, add the box of bowtie pasta and cook until al dente. Then drain water, reserving one ladle full of the pasta water.

While the pasta cooks, devein and peel the shrimp then lightly salt and pepper them. Cut tomatoes into bite sized pieces. Mince the garlic. In another pot, add enough olive oil to just coat the bottom. Add the garlic and the shrimp and cook over medium-high heat until the shrimp are pink in color. Add the basil, pepper flakes and half the lemon juice and cook 2 minutes more. Drain the pasta (still reserving one ladle of the cooking liquid) and then add the pasta, tomatoes and the bag of spinach to the shrimp mixture. Cover with a lid and cook just until the spinach wilts. Once the spinach is wilted add the remaining lemon juice, the ladle of the pasta cooking liquid and any additional salt and pepper to your taste preferences. Toss entire mixture together and serve with lemon wedges as a garnish.

This makes a great weeknight dinner and makes four servings, so if there are only two of you, there will be plenty to take to lunch the next day!

Crepe Crazy

Last summer I went with a couple of friends to the farmers market that is set up under the bridges of highway 83 in Baltimore. Having never been to a farmers market, I was intrigued by the variety of vendors there. I had expected to just see fruits and vegetables piled on tables or in the back of pick up trucks being sold by dusty looking men in straw hats and overalls.

While there may have been a couple that fit that stereotype, I found the farmers market to be a place of wonder. Not only were there uncountable amounts of fruit and vegetables, there were also vendors selling various kinds of cheese, or cooking all types of meats for tasting, snow cones, coffee drinks, fruit drinks, bakers with treasure troves of artisanal breads and....crepes.

I purchased a large fluffy crepe that was stuffed with spinach and cheese and all sorts of spicy goodness and then wrapped in a bit of newspaper. As I walked through the market munching happily on this food delight, I started wondering if I could pull off such a kitchen feat at home.

While the crepe originated in the Brittany region of France in the late 1800's as a dessert, there is no end to the amount of ways they can be prepared. Sweet and savory fillings go equally well, and with a bit of practice, almost anyone can make a crepe.

You can experiment with any fillings that are to your liking. I chose to fill mine with spinach and an array of mushrooms that I then combined with a Parmesan sauce. Since crepes are so thin, they need a little more of your attention, so you can flip them before they burn. I would suggest making your filling first so you can devote your time to those tricky crepes. Since this was the first time I had ever made a crepe, I also used a small frying pan, one that was about six inches across, since I wasn't confident in my crepe flipping skills. As you can see from the picture above, I lost a couple along the way. While most pictures of crepes you will find on the Internet will be beautiful pieces of food art, I thought I would share a more realistic view of what happens in the home kitchen.

My first attempt at crepes were an overall success. I did learn that I should probably have sauteed the mushrooms longer before adding the spinach to remove more moisture, since I ended up with mushrooms that were more juicy and had a little more "earthiness" then I would have liked. I also learned that a little less showboating for my girlfriend while flipping crepes up in the air results in less crepes ending up on the floor. Enjoy!

Spinach Mushroom Crepes with Parmesan Sauce

The Filling

1 Bag of Baby Spinach Leaves
2 cups of chopped mixed mushrooms (I used Cremini, Shitake, and Portobello)
3 cloves of garlic
1 shallot
Salt and Pepper to taste
Olive Oil

Filling Preparation

Add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of a large saucepan. Mince the garlic and shallot. Chop mushrooms into bite-sized pieces. If you are using Shitake mushrooms, be sure to remove and discard the woody stems. Add shallot, garlic and mushrooms to the saucepan and sautee over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to keep the garlic and shallots from burning on the bottom of the pan. Once the mushrooms have cooked down and most of the moisture has cooked out (about 10 to 12 minutes) add the bag of spinach to the saucepan. Cover saucepan with a lid and let the spinach wilt down into the mixture. Add salt and ground pepper to taste. Once spinach is wilted, turn heat down to very low while you make the sauce and crepes.

Parmesan Sauce Ingredients

1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/4 cup of milk, heated
Salt and Ground Pepper to taste

Sauce Preparation

Begin heating the milk over medium heat in a pan. Warm the milk just until little bubbles begin to form at the edges. While the milk is warming up, melt the butter in a separate saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste cooks and bubbles a litte, but don't let it brown. This only takes a couple of minutes. Pour in your heated milk, and continue stirring as the sauce thickens. Bring to a boil and add the salt and pepper to taste. Turn the heat to low and mix in the parmesan cheese, stirring until it is all melted in.

Once the sauce is complete, mix it in with the mushroom and spinach keeping your heat on low. Return the lid to the sauce pan and then make the crepes.

Crepe Ingredients

3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup of milk
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon of salt
pinch of nutmeg
1 tablespoon of melted butter

Crepe Preparation

Take the flour, salt, nutmeg and pepper and sift it together into a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, whole egg and the egg yolk, and then gradually add your flour mixture to this. Whisk all together until well combined. Once combined, force the batter mixture back through a fine sieve into a bowl.

Heat a small frying pan with medium-high heat and lightly brush the whole bottom of the pan with the melted butter. Use a small ladle or tablespoon to add some of the batter mixture to the frying pan. Add enough to cover the whole bottom of the pan with a thin layer of batter. Cook until the underside is slightly browned, then loosen the edges with a rubber spatula and flip the crepe. (or you can showboat, and flip it up in the air after loosening the edges). Cook until other side is just slightly browned and then transfer to a plate. Repeat this process, making crepes one at a time until all batter is used.

Add the filling down the center of the crepe, then roll it up, tucking the edges under. Serve.

Eggplant: The Other White Meat

Eggplant, believe it or not is actually part of the Nightshade family, although it has relations to other garden favorites such as the Tomato, Pepper, and even the Potato. Just as Tomatoes were once known as "Love Apples" and considered to be poisonous, the eggplant was known as the "Mad Apple" around Europe until a few centuries ago and was believed to induce insanity. Fun huh?

Throughout the history of the eggplant, it has been known by many names to many different cultures, and there are many different varieties. The actual name eggplant came from the English due to the white eggplant variety they had that, well, sort of resembles an egg. Then thanks to Thomas Jefferson, the eggplant was introduced to America. There is still the prickly white variety grown at the Jefferson garden at Monticello, although strangely enough eggplants in general were mainly grown for ornamental reasons instead of cooking until 50 or so years ago!

Despite the many varieties, the most well-known version in America is now that oblong purple version. Growing up, I thought the only two ways to eat it was in eggplant parmesan or a fried breaded version my mother made that was topped with some good old Heinz 57. However with the increasing popularity of vegetarianism, organic foods and all of that other tree-hugging hippie crap that I am so fond of, the eggplant as gotten some more attention. Like the portabello mushroom, it is beginning to find its way in to the meat or even pasta replacement arena.

I came across a version of this eggplant recipe on www.epicurious.com recently and changed it up a little to fit my own tastes and what was available at the local grocery store. You can use any type of sauce that you choose, I just have an overwhelming preference to the Classico brand. I am sure that probably a home family recipe of sauce from scratch would be even better, but being of the Irish decent, I think my skills lay more in cabbage then in a day long bubbling sauce pot. Additionally, you can substitute the spinach with swiss chard or some other leafy green of your choice, although I would caution against anything too bitter like say, mustard greens.

I know, eggplants are bitter right? Well they can have an bittering flavor that can be off-putting, however by adding the salt and letting them "sweat" out alot of the internal liquid for about 20 or 30 minutes, the bitterness will be reduced quite a bit. In addition, the sweating and the broiling makes the slices much more pliable and easy to roll and make a great substitution for pasta shells which will reduce your carb intake. Its a win-win situation!

I made this earlier this week and my girlfriend and I plowed through the pan in two days and I made it again as soon as they were gone. The eggplant is so much lighter than pasta, and even though I was dubious at using mint in this type of dish, it gives a wonderful fresh flavor that really kicks it up!

So fellas, if you have a hot date with that hippie chick that works at Whole Foods, this dish will really impress....unless she is Vegan, as the ricotta, mozerella, and parmesan won't quite fit the bill. Enjoy!



Eggplant Rolls with Spinach and Fresh Mint

•2 medium eggplants, trimmed, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
•Coarse kosher salt or Sea Salt
•Extra-virgin olive oil
•1 bag of baby spinach leaves
•2 large eggs
•1 15-ounce container whole-milk ricotta cheese
•1 1/4 cups finely grated Parmesan cheese, divided
•2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
•Ground Black Pepper too taste
•1 jar of Classico Tomato Sauce (I used the Garlic and Roasted Tomato one)
•1 Large ball of fresh mozzarella, drained, thinly sliced


Cover 2 baking cooling racks (you can also layer then in a colander) with 1 layer of eggplant slices; sprinkle generously with coarse salt. Continue layering eggplant slices in each colander, sprinkling each layer with coarse salt, until all eggplant slices are used. Place each colander over large bowl; let stand at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. Rinse eggplant slices to remove excess salt; dry thoroughly with paper towels.

Position oven rack 5 to 6 inches from heat source and preheat broiler. Line 3 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Arrange eggplant slices in single layer on prepared baking sheets. Brush both sides of eggplant slices with olive oil. Broil 1 sheet at a time until eggplant slices are tender and beginning to brown, watching closely and removing eggplant slices as needed if cooking too quickly, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove baking sheet from oven and cool eggplant while preparing filling.

Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add spinach to pot and boil just until tender, about 2 minutes. Drain; rinse with cold water. Squeeze spinach very dry, then chop coarsely. Squeeze spinach dry again between paper towels. Whisk eggs and pinch of coarse salt in medium bowl. Stir in chopped spinach, ricotta cheese, 1 cup Parmesan, mint, and black pepper.

Lightly oil 15 x 10 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Spread half of tomato sauce evenly over bottom of dish. Divide spinach-ricotta filling among eggplant slices, placing about 1 heaping tablespoon filling in center of each. Starting at 1 short end of each, loosely roll up eggplant slices, enclosing filling. Arrange rolls, seam side down, atop sauce in baking dish. Spoon remaining tomato sauce over. Place mozzarella slices in single layer over rolls. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake eggplant Parmesan rolls, covered with foil, until heated through, about 30 minutes if freshly made or 40 minutes if refrigerated. Uncover and bake until brown in spots and sauce is bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot.