For the inaugural post, I thought I would share with you the
recipe that won me a wife. We had not
been dating long when I asked her if I could cook for her. When she said yes, I decided to pull out what
was possibly the best, and most involved recipes in my repertoire. I’ll share with you not only how I make it,
but also a few subtle date night tricks that, until now, my wife never knew I
considered so carefully that night.
Image courtesy of Closet Cooking
Ingredients
4 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil; more for finishing
3 large cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, or large shrimp
halved
½ tsp. grated orange zest
Salt
Pepper
½ cup dry white wine
14½ oz. can whole tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped
8 oz. dried fettuccine or spaghetti
3 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
How to Make
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for cooking the
pasta. In a large skillet over low heat,
combine the olive oil and garlic. Cook
gently, stirring, until the garlic is just fragrant and beginning to turn
golden, 2 to 4 minutes; don’t let it brown or crisp. Add the shrimp and zest; season with salt and
pepper. Raise the heat to medium high
and sear the shrimp quickly just until they turn bright pink, about 1 minute on
each side – they don’t need to be cooked through at this point. Add the wine and let it simmer for 1
minute. Stir in the tomatoes and cook
until heated through. Set aside over
very low heat if the pasta is not yet ready.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta until just tender. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water and then
drain the pasta. Add the pasta and half
of the reserved cooking liquid to the skillet.
Gently simmer for a few minutes so the flavors meld and the pasta can
drink up the sauce. Stir in the parsley,
taste for salt and pepper, and serve warm with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive
oil.
I usually serve this with orange slices and garlic bread.
A Few Comments and
Tips
You don’t have to be a classically trained chef (as I
certainly am not) to know that the fresher the ingredients, the better the
dish. I had a jar of chopped tomatoes
that my father grew and jarred himself.
I also had access to fresh, whole shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico (this
was before the BP oil spill). Everything
else was gathered from the supermarket that afternoon. However, I’ve made this dish before with
packaged shrimp and canned tomatoes from the supermarket and the results didn’t
meet standards.
They say don’t cook with wine that you won’t drink. Because I was cooking on a budget in those
days, I went with a pinot grigio from Yellow Tail. This is an Australian brand that typically
only costs about $12 per bottle. For us,
it worked. You’ll only need half a cup
for cooking. The rest you can serve
chilled with your dinner…which brings me to my first date night tip. After half a cup of the wine is used for
cooking, there’s not a lot left to share between you and your date. Once it’s gone, don’t open another
bottle. You don’t want your date to
wonder if you have a drinking problem.
At the same time, it’s good to show that you can stop after a glass or
two. It may seem silly that I feel the
need to even comment on this, but for any guys that might be reading this,
never forget that a woman will watch you and analyze everything little thing
you do. Then they’ll discuss it with
their friends. Don’t think for a second
that her friends won’t accuse you of trying to take advantage of
her!
I chose not to peel the shrimp before the date started. It takes a long time to peel and devein such
an amount. This gave me an excuse to
extend the date a little longer. If it’s
fresh, there will be no unpleasant odor.
But even if it’s a problem, it will soon be replaced by the sweet
fragrances of the wine and orange zest cooking in the pan.
ENJOY!
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