All day today I was thinking about all the recipes I want to share with you. And the gardening mishaps I am bound to make. And anecdotes about my kids. (Although, currently, my 8 year old is just trying to give me more grey hair, so I may be holding off on those for a bit.) It got me thinking about some pantry staples I like to have on hand, and how/why they are staples in my kitchen, and could they inspire you in your kitchen. I was really getting excited picking the boys up from school, and thinking about how this would come together.
Guess what?
Yea, you got it. I got home. Life happened. And I didn’t even have some of the staples I wanted to share with you.
That’s not even the funny part. I took this picture.
I sliced, and chopped these items. I went to the pantry to grab some black beans and to the fridge to get some scallions, to my surprise I didn’t have either. It was too late. I was winging it.
I just started laughing thinking of all of you laughing. Being in the kitchen is an adventure. I have said it before, I will say it many more times. Embrace the adventure. That’s all I can say. If there was one piece of advice you will ever take from this little corner of the blog-o-shere, it is to embrace the kitchen as an adventure. Not a chore, not with fear, but just going all in.
Back to the recipe. I did have pinto beans, and chicken stock, so soup was on.
In a medium sized pot, on medium high heat, add butter and olive oil. When the butter is melted, add the onion and red pepper.
I also added salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and a bay leaf. I let this render for a few minutes, just until the onions began to soften.
I drained and rinsed the pinto beans, and added those.
I combined it all and just let is sit in the pot for a few minutes. Stirring every so often. I turned the heat down to medium, and added the sliced garlic.
A pro tip from Chef himself – add garlic later. It doesn’t take long for it’s flavor to disseminate, and more importantly, garlic does burn. When that happens, it’s a bitter taste. I added about a cup and half of chicken stock. (If you are making a veggie version of this recipe, add veg stock instead. If you go to the pantry, and notice you have no stock, just add water.)
Friends – do not do anything else before grabbing your salt and pepper. Add a little, add a lot if prefer, but trust me, there is little flavor in this pot until you add salt and pepper, again.
At this point, I turned the heat to low and let this simmer for 15 minutes.
While the soup was simmer, I was defrosting some shrimp. Shrimp can be quickly defrosted in a bowl in a sink that has the faucet running with cold water only over it. Takes a handful of minutes.
Once those guys were defrosted, I peeled and then deveined them. Let’s talk about that for a minute. Yes, yes, yes for your own sanity, buy the peeled and deveined frozen shrimp. I like to occasionally test my sanity, make sure I am just on this side of it. In reality, I buy shrimp in bulk, it’s usually less expensive to purchase it with the shell on. Chef did take mercy on me once and show me how to assembly line the shrimp to make deveining shrimp a much quicker process. One day, when he is home, I will shoot a short video of his skills. Whatever you do, don’t be deterred. The worse that can happen is you cut the shrimp in half.
Once the shrimp are ready to go. In a sauté pan on medium heat, melt a teaspoon of butter and olive oil. Evenly spread the shrimp out and salt and pepper them.
Now this is exactly what will happen. You will put the shrimp in the pan. You will say to yourself, keep an eye on these guys; they cook fast, and overcooked shrimp is the worst. And just like that your 8 year old will come running in the back door screaming crying that he “hurt himself, so, so, so bad. And Mom, can you just make sure I am not bleeding?” Sobbing tears. Screaming. Like all good moms you triage. Wet paper towels in the right hand for the not bloody, but clearly bruised knees, and for the scrapped up palms, and your tongs in the left hand flipping shrimp, and turning the heat off to the pan, just in case. We. Have. All. Been. Here. He got cleaned up, no permanent damage was done, and I got back to the stove.
For those dying, laughing, quick recap, shrimp only needs to cook about 90 seconds per side. When it turns pink you are good to go. I removed the shrimp from the pan. I added some sliced shallots, sliced garlic and a can of fired roasted tomatoes. I just let it simmer a few minutes. (Oh, yes, turn the pan back on in case your kiddo came in screaming just as you were at a crucial point in dinner making.)
I threw the shrimp back in for a quick reheat.
Now you combine these efforts.
I top with a little sour cream because the creamy taste mixed in just takes this to the next level.
It truly doesn’t get much better. One day, I will have all the kitchen staples, and go thru the list with you, but for now, just keep on adventuring.
Quick Bean Soup
serves 2 (or in my case 1 at dinner, and 1 at lunch that next day)
1 tbls butter
1 tbls olive oil 1/2 white or yellow onion, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
1 15oz can of beans – black, pinot, kidney are best, drained and rinsed
2 cups of chicken stock
In a medium pan, on medium high heat, melt the butter and oil together. Add the onion, red pepper, salt, pepper, cumin, chili power, and bay leaf. Sautè for several minutes. Add the beans and garlic. Mix and let sautè for a few minutes. Stirring occasionally. Turn the heat down to medium. Add the stock, and salt and pepper. Turn to low and simmer for 15 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally.
Shrimp with Fire Roasted Tomatoes
serves 2 (or in my case 1 at dinner, and 1 at lunch that next day)
1 tsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
1 lb of shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 shallot, sliced
1 garlic clove, sliced
1 15oz can fired roasted tomatoes
In a medium sautè pan, on medium heat, melt the butter and oil together. Spread the shrimp evenly in the pan, salt and pepper. After 90 seconds, turn them. After 90 second, remove from the pan. Add the shallots, garlic, and tomatoes and simmer for a few minutes. Return the shrimp to the pan when ready to plate and serve.
For plating top the soup with the shrimp and dollop of sour cream. Scallions would have been nice too. Next time.
Thank you for this and also the tip about the garlic!
I need to make this asap