The Pleasure of the Forbidden

Sexy title for a sexy dish. Well, not the part when your hands are covered in shrimp guts. The forbidden in my house is the shellfish allergy of the other half, so when the cat's away the wife gets shrimp.

I stopped on the way home and got 6 shrimp, which was plenty for one person. Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything provide some guidance on how to procede, so thanks, Mark.

1. Set water to boil for pasta if you want it (you can also just serve with bread).

2. Saute a good slug of olive oil with some thinly sliced garlic on low heat until it's brown.

3. Add the shrimp, salt, pepper, a little cumin, and a little paprika.

4. Saute until the shrimp is pink.

5. Pour over pasta, add in some arugula and a little parmesan if you'd like.

Enjoy your forbidden pleasure.

One would think that shellfish would not be something to attempt on a Monday night, and normally I would agree with you, except for mussels. They're cheap, easy (like your Mom...sorry. I can't help myself) and delicious with an added benefit of being low calorie in their pure state. Mondays are no time for ultra low fat, however, so I made mine with half and half.

The Sweet and Low-Down:

Mussels

half and half

shallots (or onions)

parsley

white wine (or vermouth)

garlic

bread

1. Rinse mussels off and pull off anything that looks seaweed-y (most farm musself you get in the supermarket show pretty clean, so don't be put off by the use of the word "seaweed-y").

2. Cook the onions in a few TBSP of butter until tender. Use a large stock pot.

3. In the same pot, bring 2 cups or so of wine to a boil along with the minced shallots , salt and pepper.

4. Add the mussels when boiling and cover. Stir a couple times. They're done when they open up (5 min. or so)

5. Spoon out the mussels into a large bowl, add a 1/2c. or so of half and half, and boil until it looks like a sauce you'd like (5 min. or so).

6. Pour over mussels.

I served this with garlic toast and sauteed zuccini. Tres francais pour Lundi.