A Tossed Shrimp & Shell Pasta Salad with a Mushroom Wine Reduction Sauce (& BBQ Chicken)

Tossed 'Shrimp & Shell' Pasta Salad with a Lemon-Mushroom-White Wine Reduction Sauce & BBQ Chicken

This meal was one in a million. With a 3 hour preparation time from start to finish, this meal had some serious TLC behind it (marinating time included). No recipe, no idea what I was making when I started sautéing mushrooms- I was free styling.

Let's start with the pasta.

First, I started with the mushrooms

(although I would recommend starting with marinating the shrimp if I was going to make it again).

I threw a small can of mushrooms (drained) straight into a saucepan and let them sizzle for about a minute. At that point, I had a few slices of onion precut from a salad that I had for lunch, so I tossed two or three into the pan to do my flavor a favor, along with some pepper and course kosher salt.

Next, I considered butter, but I really wanted to avoid frying the mushrooms immediately, so I decided to make the mushrooms part of a sauce (for what, I didn't know yet, but this is when it starting coming together). I basically added a 1/4 cup of wine to the mushrooms at a time, along with a little butter,

and I began to reduce the mixture until the wine was nearly gone. I continued this same process until I had reduced approximately 1/2 bottle of the leftover dry white wine and used about 3 tablespoons of butter.

Once I realized I had a fairly rich mixture, I decided to compliment the wine and contrast the butter with the juice of about half a fresh lemon. Then, I turned the heat real low and let it barely simmer for about 20

minutes. Eventually, I turned off the heat and let it cool.

Meanwhile, I moved on to the medium shrimp. I thawing two hands full under a small stream of cold water in a colander. Then I shook the water off and began marinating them with the juice of the other half of the lemon & about 2 tablespoons of thin teriyaki sauce. I covered them and threw them in the fridge.

2 hours later, I made the shells (medium) and cooked them until they were al dente. This pasta wouldn't have done the sauce justice had the pasta not been al dente- no questions about it.

After the pasta had been drained and rinsed, everything finally came together and were mingled and tossed. A highly unexpected fresh taste from the mushrooms and brilliant sauce, while the shrimp complimented the al dente pasta perfectly. Topped it off with a green onion garnish.

Finally....I BBQ'ed some Boneless-Skinless Chicken Breasts in the oven with a specially doctored-up Sweet Baby Ray sauce.

Bon Provecho.

BONUS TIP: I just learned that the noun form is marinade and the verb form is marinating.

Stir Fry with Honey Ginger Glazed Salmon, & Classic Hamburger with a Candied Caramelized Onion Twist

So the first week we moved in, we tried to keep things fairly simple. I hardly could find the plates, let alone the pan for the salmon.

Stir Fry Veggies with Honey Ginger Glazed Salmon

So this was a really quick meal, probably 20 minutes tops. The stir fry part was a pretty straightforward mixture of frozen veggies with some added soy and teriyaki sauce.

The salmon was a little more complicated.

The salmon was basically marinated in a sauce that I made with some local honey, ginger powder, some spices and a splash of soy.

It was chilled and marinaded for about a hour beforehand, but it could really just be used as a glaze. Finally, the salmon was oven-steamed in a foil pouch to help retain the moisture. A little extra sauce was thrown on top the last minute of cooking time.

Fresh Hamburger on toasted bun with candied caramelized onions and pasta.

This meal was more of a classic with a creative twist. The burger was formed fresh and had some Worcestershire sauce mixed with it to draw out some of the flavor.

More importantly, the onions.

The onions were first sautéed in the skillet with some course salt and pepper.

Then, I added some butter to start cooking them down a bit. If you do this, just don't burn the butter! After they had simmered for a little while I added at least 2 tablespoons of raw honey and some standard granulated sugar. Finally, I spun the skillet so that the sugar would

caramelize but not burn.

The Extras

The buns were toasted in the oven, and then I added the fixin's to the burgers. I used some fresh spinach in place of the traditional lettuce to compliment the flavors in the burger, as well as a swipe of mayo. The whole thing was garnished with a thickly sliced piece of swiss cheese (that eventually ended up on the burger).

It's Been A While!

Ok Folks- I know it has been a while, but I really didn't give up on this whole "food blog" thing. Between starting school and moving into a new home, it has been busy. However, that also means I have tons of content to upload over the next day or two- so pay attention because I have been cooking and eating.

First off, I'll be posting the homemade stuff since we've moved in. Then, I'll be posting some of our excursions into the heart of Indiana food.