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Rites Of Spring ...Seafood, Early Season Vegetables Make Perfect Pairina BY LYNN CARLSON In ihc spring, a good cook's fan cy turns to fresh vegetables? the sweet, tender, bright-green ones we associate with every new born growing season. After a long winter by the soup kettle, we're ready to stir up some thing lighter and more celebratory to help us throw off the yoke of the season just past. It's an important rite of spring, but it's hardly a new phenomenon. Thomas JelTerson, a hard-core gourmand and gardener, wrote in his diary about his annual competi tion with a neighbor to sec who could harvest the first tiny May peas, which they shared with great gusto. There's no better partner for spring vegetables than fresh sea food. Add some carbohydrates in the form of noodles or rice and you have a perfect entree?not too ex pensive, not too fussy and delight fully good for you. Luckily, we modern foodies don't have to wait by the garden for JT\ 1 I I I 1 I 1 1 i t 1 I i i i i i i i i i the peas to fill out?or by the dock for tlie fish lo bite?before we get cooking. Local seafood markets are open for the season, and supermar kets offer all kinds of fresh produce year-round. Here are a couple of my own seafood-vegetable creatioas. Pcnne rigate ("quills with ridges," in Italian) is an unbent scored variety of macaroni that makes a great sauce-catcher. Tender slim asparagus spears are on gro cery shelves in the spring, and at a fraction of their off-season cost. The asparagus and shrimp in this pasta dish are wonderfully comple mentary. Since we're still a couple of months away from REAL fresh tomatoes, try the dried kind I used in this recipe. (They also are avail able locally.) At nearly three bucks for a four-ounce bag, dried toma toes might seem unnecessarily ex travagant, but just a few go a long way toward boosting the flavor of Illlllllllllllllllllllllllllll YOU RELY ON YOUR CAR... RELY ON US TO KEEP IT RUNNING RIGHT The standard is quality. 4NAM> COASTAL PARTS 109 Shallotte Ave. ? Shallotte ? 754-4902 ? many dishes, including this one. The sauce comes together very quickly, so don't start cooking it until after you've put the pasta wa ter on to boil. PENNE WITH SHRIMP AND ASPARAGUS 1 lb. penne rigate 2 Tbsp. olive oil 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced, or to taste 4 sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in boiling water for 15 minutes, squeezed dry and chopped V* tsp. crushed red pepper f takes Juice of 1 small lemon Vs cup dry white wine 1 lb. shrimp, peeled and de vested y* cup freshly grated Romano cheese 1 lb. fresh thin asparagus spears, sliced diagonally Cook pasta in salted water. While the pasta water is healing, saute garlic, tomatoes and pepper Hakes in olive oil in skillet. Add lemon juice and wine; simmer over medium heat until slighlly reduced. Add asparagus, stir and cover to steam about 2 minutes; stir in shrimp and leave on heat until they turn pink, about 2 more minutes. Toss sauce with hot, well-drained pasta and Romano cheese. Serves 4. This dish makes a good informal dinner party or family gathering meal. It serves a crowd, so I make it in an enamel turkey-roaster. Spring's wonderful Vidalia onions and English peas bring out the nat ural sweetness in the seafood. The turmeric gives it a little bit of bite and a festive bright yellow color. The meat and vegetable amounts and types are quite flexible, so don't be annoyed at my vagueness on the ingredients list. This dish requires very little ac companiment other than a green salad. Assemble it before the guests arrive, and visit with them while il bakes. It's my conglomeration of a half dozen seafood jambalaya and pael la recipes, hence the name. JAMBALAELLA Chicken legs and thighs, rinsed and patted dry Olive oil 2 large Vidalia onions, chopped 2 chopped bell peppers (green, red, yellow or a combination thereof) 3-4 ribs celery sliced Fresh minced garlic to taste 3 bay leaves 2 tsp. turmeric 1-2 cups fresh shelled raw peas 3 cups raw converted rice YA quarts chicken stock or seafood stock (or a combination) Salt and pepper to taste Fresh raw seafoods you like: shrimp, scallops, clams or mus sels (scrubbed and left in their shells), chunks of firm fish or lob Shop m. Over 7,000 square feet of... FABRICS ? STITCHERY ITEMS ? PATTERNS SHEETS & TOWELS BY THE POUND ? NOTIONS ____ LOTS OF LACE TRIM and MUCH MORE! 754-6404 -Make Your Own Flag Hwyii3miies0hoem h^i7 ?ad Flag Material Patterns and Accessories! We pride ourselves on our knowledgeable, friendly staff to serve you. Crafts ster. Drizzle olive oil in a large skillet and brown chicken pieces. Placc them in a roasting pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Saute onions, peppers, celery and garlic in the hot oil until just tender. Transfer to roasting pan. Placc raw seafood in with browned chicken and sautccd veg etables. Add bay leaves, turmeric peas, rice and stock. Salt and pep per to taste.* Stir gently. Bake un covered in preheated 375-degrec oven about an hour until rice is ten der and liquid is absorbed. *If you use canned chicken broth or granulated bouillon, don't add salt Serves 8-12. I am fortunate to be married to a primo stock-maker. If you've never made your own chicken or seafood broth, you should. (Better yet, teach your husband how.) You make stock with mostly scraps?chicken necks and bones, shrimp shells, celery leaves and such. And you'll use it in lots of ways once you get used to having it. Homemade is cheaper, better and gives you a great way to cut your kitchen waste. Making it in a slow cooker eliminates the need to boil or stir, so the stock comes out nice and clear. Freeze it in different size containers and thaw it in the mi crowave as you need it. Here arc our favorite stock blends. ERIC'S STOCK Chicken or turkey necks or bones from raw or cooked chick en (carcasses of smoked or grilled chickens make a nice different stock) Handful of celery leaves 4 bay leaves 6 peppercorns I whole onion, peeled 2-5 garlic cloves, whole and un peeled 1-2 cups white wine Water Placc all ingredients in a Crock Pot or other slow cooker and add water to the top. Cover, plug in and let cook on low heat for 24 hours. Strain, cool and then refrigerate overnight. Skim any coagulated fat from surface and freeze in individ ual containers. SHRIMP STOCK Save shells from 1 or 2 pounds of shrimp. Placc in 3-quart sauce pan and cover with water by an inch or so. Add a bay leaf, a couple of peppercorns and a half cup of white wine. Squeeze in juice of 1 lemon and throw in the rind. Simmer for 30 minutes?no longer, or it will become bitter. Strain through a colander, allow to cool, then freeze in containers.
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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April 8, 1993, edition 1
44
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