coldhearted scientist وداد

I do a lot of fun and interesting things but it is evident that I do not have enough pure fun. The evidence is that when I do, I can tell, because I feel completely different. I feel as though I were in California.

This weekend we had pure fun by camping in Acadie in a lovely field where we pit-fired our pots. We watched the fire until late and danced around it like semi-Christian peasants. We barbecued from T-Boy’s Slaughterhouse and drank wine, and the weather was beautiful. I have a farmer’s tan now.

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This recipe is a slightly more advanced than those I usually post, but it is amazingly good. To eat it you must have aromatic rice of a high quality. I recommend Louisiana or Peruvian rice, as these are the best I know to serve with American fish. I made it most recently with some more of that redfish I caught personally, and shrimp I bought from a young man who had caught them himself that morning and was now selling them door to door.

In a deep skillet, melt butter and sauté half an onion. Then add several sliced mushrooms and sauté them, and then a pint of fresh shelled shrimp. Sauté until almost done and transfer the contents of the skillet to a bowl. Sprinkle with lime juice and chopped cilantro. Set aside.

Now add olive oil to the skillet. Sauté the other half onion, half a head of garlic, chopped, and then add several stalks of celery, also chopped, a bell pepper, chopped, and a large, ripe Creole tomato, also chopped. Sauté until soft.

Now add freshly ground sea salt and red and black pepper, a glass or two of good white wine, and if you like, maize in some form. For this I actually like “cream style” corn form the can, but also good would be real choclo, not the soft and sugary entity that now passes for “corn on the cob” here. In any case, cover the pot now and let simmer a few minutes so that flavors combine and the choclo cooks. Then add your fillets of firm white fish.

Simmer until the fish is done, not overdone. Now add the shrimp. Stir gently and cover for a moment so that everything is well heated and well combined. Like all of my recipes, this one assumes high quality ingredients and good judgment on the part of the cook.

Axé.