Chomp, Chomp, Chomp

When one starts to eat an elephant one bite at a time, which end does one start at??  Neither are very appealing…

Anyway Chapter One of Catch up, volume who knows begins now (one alert reader likened my table of contents like Jeopardy categories)

Crangon:  Or in more common parlance:  Shrimp.

The feeder has had a love/hate relationship with this crustacean for a long time.  We quite enjoy having “Shrimp Cocktail” with our end of day libations.   Well, it gets somewhat monotonous having boiled shrimp (I freeze them raw, then boil them).  So, looking something other than restaurant boiled shrimp, I have tried in vain to alter the standard boiled shrimp. Trying recipe after recipe with varying complexity of flavorings for the liquid the little darlings are cooked in.  Sprigs of Thyme, Bay Leaves, black pepper, Zatarain’s Shrimp Boil, beer, onions, the list seems endless.  And after chopping, dicing, reducing, you end up with well, boiled shrimp that might have as well been boiled in water.  No change.

Well, says I, let’s take a look at another technique: steaming them.  So, I start out on another road (less taken?).  I perused several recipes for the steaming liquid and then decided to “wing it”

Substituting cidre for wine

Then assembled stuff to apply to the outside of the shrimp, even stooping to using the time honored (and overrated, IMHO) Old Bay.

Put the “dry stuff” in a baggie with the raw shrimp

Shook it up real good, and put them in the steamer basket

Steamed them for "a while" until they looked (and felt) like they were done

And got them ready to serve

Results?  Well the feeder did his usual thing of using the “if a little is good, more is better” theory.  Apparently the Emeril “Bayou Blast” had a fair amount of Cayenne in it which took over.  The more you chewed the hotter it got (Blasted!)  Old Bay got lost.  In the end, we had to rinse off the “coating” and they weren’t so bad then.

So the steaming process seems to hold some promise (at least it altered things), and will be further pursued, with a more restrained hand. We’ll get away from the tired shrimp draped over the side of the Martini glass, which should be put to better use.

Bordeaux

While Bordeaux brings to mind noble wines from legendary properties like Pauillac, Chateau Margaux, Ch. Lafite Rothschild, producing some of the finest (and most expensive!) wines in the world like Chateau Petrus,  Sauternes, and so on, there are lesser but no less interesting bottles.  One such is a sparkling wine (don’t you DARE use the Champ…word) of some repute is Calvet Cremant de Bordeaux Brut Rose

Which we had with the steamed shrimp (after they were bathed).  The tamed down shrimp went well with the slightly acidic sparkling.

Transition to… Alexandria (USA)

We are fortunate enough to have considerate friends who travel “up the road” a fair amount, to Alexandria and one of their normal stops is:
Duck Donuts

It all began on the sandy beaches of the Outer Banks in Duck, North Carolina. There, Russ DiGilio and his family would enjoy relaxing and fun vacations… but something was missing, there were no fresh donuts! So, they decided to create their own… and Duck Donuts was born.

There is a universe of flavors and we got a “key lime pie” and blueberry, and with a cup of locally roasted St. Inie’s Coffee

A nice way to start a day

Well, there go three bites of the elephant (tastes like Chicken?  not a chance!)

I dunno, but I think when eating said Pachyderm, one DOES NOT have to

DFD

stay safe