Jan 17 2009
Splendid Shrimp
I’ve had a pretty inspired week as far as cooking goes. Though I live in a city of nearly half a million people, and my sister lives near a town of 400, we both have pretty much the same situation as far as take-out and delivery in our immediate vicinity: none. In her case, it’s literally none – the closest Domino’s, for example, is a 30 minute drive – and in my case, I could walk to the Domino’s, but I wouldn’t want to eat there. I have yet to discover any Chinese food or pizza anywhere nearby that is at all acceptable. So, like my sis, it’s pretty much make it yourself or resort to frozen, which is never as good.
It’s an endless battle between sloth and pickiness. I don’t eat beef and pork. My sister won’t eat fish or eggs. My brother is equally repulsed by mayonnaise and mustard. As a family, we may well be the pickiest in the entire US of A, though there are certain things we all agree on, such as the utter inedibility of tofu* and yogurt, and we’d have to be near death in a desert to even consider drinking milk.
So I have to be creative. The star of this week’s cooking show was definitely a recipe for grilled shrimp with charmoula sauce. I got the recipe from the LA Times while I was basking in the glories of Pasadena a couple of months ago, but only tried it this week (I’m sure the cooks among you, like me, have lots of untried recipes from newspapers and magazines – good for inspiration). I wish I hadn’t waited so long, because t was magically delicious. I’m already plotting what else I can have it with.
*Tofu advocates are always trying to convince me that it isn’t that bad. If you marinate it, barbecue it, fry it, etc., it’s fine! Which means “If you spend a lot of time removing every tofu-like quality, you may be able to choke it down after a week long fast.”
2 Responses to “Splendid Shrimp”
How close are you to Chinatown? Because when I lived in Oakland, the bulk of my meals came from the bowels of Oakland’s Chinatown. Although a lot of places don’t deliver, most will happily give you large boxes of things which can be reheated at leisure, thus allowing you to enjoy dim sum for days…and days…and…I really need to come to the city soon and stock up on frozen dim sum.
Let me know your faves in Chinatown – or take me there if you do come to Oakland! I got decent food from Shan Dong, but would love to know where to get good dim sum. It’s a 10-15 minute drive from where I live. Everything’s “just a short drive” away! If only I had a cute little VW Bug convertible! 🙂