My 100th Post!

At first, I thought I needed to wait until something spectacularly culinary happened to me before writing this post. After some more pondering, I decided that each of my posts was inspired by something special, and so why should this one be any different. But Blogger was under construction...thus my 2-day absence from the blogosphere. For that, dear readers, I am sorry! I want to thank each and every one of you for your continued support, your comments and your readership. Everytime I check my stats, I'm astounded at the collection of countries that are showing up there. I've spread across the world, and that is so cool! When I started this blog, I wasn't sure where it would go, or what I would find, but I now know that I truly enjoy writing, I love cooking more every day, and I want to keep doing this for a long time. So, I'm here to stay, guys and dolls, so get comfy, and read on for yet another culinary adventure.

I decided to dedicate my 100th post to the readers by cooking a reader's suggestion from my current menu. Laurie had requested a Portuguese dish, but wasn't sure of the name of it. She mentioned that it had shrimp, pasta and lots of tomatoes...and so I did a little research, and came up with what I think is a good representation of her request. I ended up with Emeril's Portuguese Shrimp and Pasta. This recipe called for quite the process so I set to work in the kitchen, gathering my mise en place.

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined

2 teaspoons Essence

1/4 chorizo, thinly sliced (I used turkey pepperoni because I was out of chorizo)

1/4 cup minced shallots

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 1/2 cups peeled, seeded, and finely chopped tomatoes (I didn't peel them)

1 cup dry white wine

3 cups Fennel Tomato Broth (ingredients to follow)

1/2 pound kale, blanced and roughly chopped

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 pound homemade, or dry pasta, cooked al dente

1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves

1/4 cup piri piri (ingredients to follow

Fennel Tomato Broth:

1 quart shrimp or seafood stock

2 cups roughly chopped tomatoes

1/2 bulb fennel, thinly sliced

2 teaspoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

Piri Piri:

1 cup olive oil

2 fresh poblano peppers, stemmed and seeded

3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon thinly sliced garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup fresh kale

Yes, that was a lot of prep, I agree! Now, the first thing you've all probably noticed and questioned is that there's boxed pasta on my counter. I know, and you know, that I usually shun boxed pasta in exchange for fresh. However, I had to buy and open a box of thick spaghetti to put noodles in the Spring Minestrone that I made a few weeks ago. Rather than wasting the almost full box of spaghetti, I decided to save myself a little bit of time and use it for this recipe. I'm very happy that I did because the rest of this meal was quite labor intensive, and if I had made pasta on top of it, I'd still be in the kitchen!

First things first, get your Tomato Fennel Broth on the stove since it needs to simmer for about an hour. I'm not sure I actually let mine simmer that long, because I was pretty hungry and impatient tonight, but I just left it to cook the whole time I was preparing everything else. Place the seafood stock, chopped tomatoes, sliced fennel, tomato paste and fennel seeds in a saucepan and bring it all to a boil...and then reduce it to a simmer for about an hour. Once it's done, you'll need to strain it through a fine mesh sieve...according to the instructions. However, I didn't do this. Originally, it was an accident, but it was a good one, because I've always preferred a chunky sauce!

Next, I made my piri piri, since it was able to be set aside once completed. I gathered the olive oil, poblano peppers, red bell pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic, salt and kale. I put everything but the kale into a smaller saucepan and brought it to a boil, and allowed it to cook for the next 15 minutes.

At this point, I poured the mixture into a small food processor and blended it with the fresh kale. The Piri Piri was then set aside to wait for plating.

Okay, and now, on to the main event! In a large pot, I added a few tablespoons of olive oil and my jumbo shrimp, which I had dusted in the Emeril's essence.

Look how big those shrimp are! Gorgeous! After about a minute of tossing those around, I removed them from the pot and added the chorizo (I used turkey pepperoni - not the same, at all, but still a little bite, and...it was in my fridge!)

Once the chorizo (or turkey pepperoni) had cooked and heated through for about 5 minutes, I added the garlic and shallots and allowed those to cook for another minute.

After the minute or so is up, add the diced tomatoes to the mix and turn the heat to high.

Once the sizzle has died down a bit, pour in your white wine and deglaze the pan, allowing the wine to almost completely evaporate.

Next, pour in your Tomato Fennel Broth. I, by accident, poured it in without first straining it, but that was actually a nice mistake to have made. I enjoyed the large chunks of fennel and tomato in my sauce. If you prefer a soupier consistency, remember to strain the broth before adding it to the main pot. At this point, also throw in that blanched, chopped kale. Leave this to cook for about 7 or 8 minutes, allowing it to reduce by half.

Add the salt and the butter and kind of swirl it around until it all melts into the liquid.

Once the butter has been incorporated, add the shrimp, pasta and chopped parsley, and allow to cook for another minute or two. Be sure that the shrimp are cooked through.

It's finally time to plate. Get some nice shallow pasta bowls and scoop some pasta into each one. Top with a few of the jumbo shrimp and a few ladlefuls of sauce, chorizo and tomatoes. Drizzle the piri piri on top for a little kick!

Bom Apetite! (Portuguese for Bon appetit!)

Another call for requests: The current menu only has one more thing to make, so I'm getting ready to make a new list. If anyone has requests, comment on the post, or send me an email and I'll be sure to incorporate it into an upcoming menu!

Thanks again, readers - I'm really enjoying this, and I hope you are too! Happy 100th post to all of us!