Thursday, September 07, 2006

Fast Food Doesn't Have To Be Bad Food












It's funny to me that "fast food" at a restaurant is almost always something overloaded with grease, salt, and is generally bad for you. At home, the fastest dinner preps seem to be some of the healthiest.

Shrimp are a good example. They're a wee bit high in cholesterol, but we don't eat them so often that this is a factor.

These shrimp would have been tastey without a single adornment, but I have to meddle, so in that glass dish I mixed the following.
Some olive oil ...extra virgin
Black pepper
Fresh garlic
Shot of Tabasco
Oregano
Basil
Some cheap wine ... just a dollop
Ground cayenne

I whisked all that together in the little food chopper thingie device and tumbled the shrimp in it before tossing their little crustacean corpses into a hot cast iron skillet.

About 3 minutes later, we were eating.












Prep time = about 15 minutes (made a salad too).
Cooking time = 3-4 minutes.

Fast food from friendly Florida. Posted by Picasa

20 comments:

amarkonmywall said...

YES to this post! Have you considered doing "Five Minute Meals with FC" on HGTV in your spare time?

I almost always prefer cooking at home and I'm just now figuring out the grocery stores and specialty fish and food markets here in Chicago? Would the shrimp be this fresh? Probably not, but there are good things available.

I like the purest approach, too. If it's something really delicious like this, who needs the other food groups?
I just want to know what beverage you choose for this meal. :-)

Thanks for the recipe!

Deb said...

mmmm...fresh crustacean envy! But I shouldn't complain; last night we had fresh Minnesota walleye and northern pike, with potatoes and beans from the garden. Cooking time was a bit longer, however.

Anonymous said...

Heh - shrimp - the insects of the sea. Here in Athens, we're a few hundred million years disconnected from this benefit but when my parents from Fairhope come to visit (or when we decide to dine on the lesser quality availabilty here) it's shrimp. Shrimp. The neptunian cuisine.

Anonymous said...

I agree with you entirely - fast foods are too often not good for us!! And, like you, I've got quite a few recipes up my sleeve that didn't come from any book, that have dinner on the table in WAY under 30 minutes... which is about the same amount of time it would take us to walk to the closest fast food chain and order.

Those shrimp, though, look wonderful... I will have to see about adding those to my list!

Anonymous said...

Are those river shrimp? I think they are still running.

Anonymous said...

Ahh, now I know what to have for dinner tonight!
That's the best way to do shrimp-- quick, fast and tasty!

Anonymous said...

I think you need to have some datyl pepper hot sauce in there somewhere.

MinorcanMeteorolgist said...

ooooooh you're killing me...I am terribly hungry...and we got into a conversation about "camarones frijoles" today in Spanish class.

But, alas! You did not include the time taken to peel and de-vein those shrimp now did you! Or was it...gasp...STORE-BOUGHT?!

lol...really good-looking shrimp. Now I need to go get something to eat. Adios.

BTW...my uncle's catching 5+ pounds a cast in the St. Johns this year. He says it's the best shrimping he's seen in years. And they're still running.

Juli said...

Shrimp...... the other white meat.
;)
I loves me some scrimps! Thanks for the recipe!

T. Allan Smith said...

What a great site you have. And the shrimp look delicious. We specialize in Florida books, Florida music and Florida art. Check us out at micklersmith.com

Here's an upcoming event your readers might be interested in.

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Just a quick note to remind you that Daphne Nikolopoulos, author of The Storm Gourmet, will make two appearances in the Tampa Bay area this Saturday to demonstrate her recipes for eating well without power, a timely topic if a storm comes our way.

We've invited Daphne to St. Petersburg on Saturday, Sept. 9, to show how to prepare great meals when the electricity is off. Daphne will present her demonstration at 11 a.m. at The Pier Aquarium in downtown St. Petersburg and at 2 p.m. at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church Community Center in Tarpon Springs.

We're partnering with our friends at The Pier Aquarium for the 11 a.m. event. Daphne's demonstration will be part of The Pier Aquarium's Book Nook By the Bay event. Earlier, at 10 a.m., a hurricane expert will offer advice on preparing your family for the storm.

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Juli said...

ps... the Mayport shrimp at the grocery are selling for $8.99/lb. Where are yours from and how much ya paying?

R.Powers said...

Vicki,
When it comes to seafood, I'm in the simple prep camp!

Deb,
That sounds delicious as long as those fish were fried southern style!

Roger,
It did remind me of some of your clean, simple, garlicky recipes.

Wayne,
Have you ever tried some of the freshwater prawns (Macrobrachium rosenbergii)? There's some town in GA that has a FW shrimp festival.

Mrs. S,
I have not forgotten the C.Rolls.
Time management problem.


Kevin,
Nah, store bought. Apparently they are running great this year.


Hurricane Teen,
Gasp on buddy, these are store bought. Very tastey tho. Where's the uncle throwing?

Juli,
Ditto. Mayport shrimp around here are similar...$6.99. These were not Mayport, but still good.

T. Allan Smith,
That sounds like an evening well spent. Thanks for dropping by and sharing that info. I'll be visiting your site.

Anonymous said...

I thought you'd like to know that we had Chinese food for dinner instead of shrimp.
It just wasn't as good!

R.Powers said...

Thingfish,
You rascal. Is hibernation season over already? :)

Laura,
Saw it on your site just a minute ago...I had Chinese tonight too.

Deb said...

The Minnesota fish had cornmeal in the breading...does that qualify as "Southern style?"

And the comment about shrimp running in the St. Johns really takes me back...not 5 pounds a cast though!

R.Powers said...

Deb,
That works.
I know, even allowing for a little fisherman exaggeration, it must be a good shrimp year this summer. I need to go.

Molly said...

Hello, The shrimp looks delicious. Mrs. S recommended your site as I am a science teacher too. I love your turkey on the head, very clever. My husband is chemistry and physics teacher, and I teach science to seventh graders.

benning said...

Hungry! I am sooooo hungry! Drat!

MinorcanMeteorolgist said...

Deb - I was taken aback by it, too, but my uncle is not one to exaggerate.

He's throwing from his boat into some holes off of Racy Point.

I'm probably going to go out with him within the next couple of weeks...by then they might not be running as good, but I will go take a looksee for myself :-D

Anonymous said...

I agree. To me fast can mean, umm fast, as well as "made with ingredients that have not been overly messed with". One of my favorite foods is "pane e pomodoro", a piece of cheese, a couple of olives and a glass of wine.
Cheers.