My Madison Bistro

About once a year, my friend Brian and I get together to make coconut shrimp. I’m the first to admit that I’m embarrassingly slow when it comes to peeling and deveining the shrimp, and it took us a few tries to really establish a rhythm. At first, we were exhausted and quite hungry by the time the last shrimp came out of the oil. That exhaustion was likely the reason coconut shrimp has only been an annual event, but our hunger definitely made for an enjoyable eating experience. With wild gulf shrimp currently available at the local seafood markets, the time had arrived to enjoy this favorite of mine.

As I’ve gained more and more experience in the kitchen over the years, making these shrimp has become a more enjoyable experience. What can I say? I live in the middle of a continent, with the closest ocean well over a thousand miles away, so good quality shrimp aren’t all that easy to come by around here. I’m a little out of practice. Give me a beef tenderloin to butcher, and I can make quick work of it, but seafood? Not so much.

Even with my shortcomings, this dinner still can come together quickly. It’s all about finding your rhythm in the kitchen; if you do a lot of cooking, this likely is not an issue for you. But several years ago, when I was first starting scratch cooking, I have to say, it took me quite awhile to gain my footing and really learn how to manage several things coming together at once.

But even if you’re a novice in the kitchen (or just with seafood), this meal is well worth your time. The added bonus? You can always make cocktails with that drink mix you have on hand.

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Tags: coconut, pineapple, shrimp

Still a bit miffed about Friday’s muffin disaster, I decided to turn my last zucchini into a loaf. Though I appreciate the convenience of muffins, there’s some very satisfying about sitting down with a cup of tea and slice of quick bread late in the afternoon, or using it, along with coffee set to autobrew, as bait to cajole myself out of bed on a Monday morning.

You can easily turn this recipe into muffins, or even mini-loaves, if you so desire. I use it for all of the above, with great results, as long as I actually have the ingredients I need. Have fun playing around with the flour ratios (I’ve even substituted plain whey protein powder for one cup of the all-purpose flour, to make a more satisfying breakfast treat), as well as the sugar. This recipe really is pretty forgiving, as long as you listen to your instincts.

Continue reading “Zucchini Spice Loaf”

Tags: cinnamon, quick bread, zucchini

Isn’t it funny how by using that little phrase, you already know that I’ve had a bad day? I had intended to take a day and bake/prep a few things before the temperatures soared over the weekend. I planned on making zucchini muffins first thing this morning, and then enjoying one with a cup of coffee. And then I would shower, head out to get some groceries, then come home to bake some bread.

It didn’t really work out like that. At all. I realized I had only one egg, but I needed three for my muffins. I was so set on the schedule I had for myself that I didn’t want to change it around by showering and shopping first, then baking, because after a bout of baking in the summer, I would need another shower.

I have curly hair. Long, curly hair. Two showers in one day? I don’t think so.

So I scoured the Internet in search of egg substitutions in muffins. I mean, there are tons of vegan muffins out there, so obviously something works, right? Well, over and over I kept seeing 1/4 c of applesauce per egg to be a viable substitution. But with all of that zucchini in the recipe, I had my doubts. Still, after wasting away an hour of my morning, I realized there’s no shortage of zucchini in the summer, and I should just try the muffins. After all, I could always bake another batch in a few days, a batch following my tried and true recipe.

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Tags: BLT, zucchini muffins

A homemade challenge, where anything goes, as long as it’s been made from scratch.

Michael Pollan has been on a mission to get us all back into the kitchen and away from processed foods. In his latest essay, he talks of the popularity of cooking shows and that surprisingly (or not), cooking shows don’t inspire the viewer to cook, just to watch more television. Sometimes I’m guilty of that, as well. I enjoy getting ideas from shows, and the really good shows draw you in and share a story. But I don’t always immediately run to the kitchen. It is relaxing and even heart-warming to watch someone else cook, and I suppose my love affair with the Barefoot Contessa stems from an invocation of memories, of watching my mother and grandmother cook, of anxiously awaiting the fruits of their efforts. But frankly, sometimes a mentally draining day is physically draining as well, and it’s just easier to pick up a sandwich from the deli; after a particularly trying day, I’ve even been known to sneak over to Taco Bell to pick up something I could quite easily make for myself in the same amount of time.

Pollan’s essay brings up an interesting, though not surprising, point that we’d all be better off if we did our own cooking. But what exactly does “cooking” entail? As a child, if I had a purchased pizza crust, pizza sauce, a bag of shredded mozzarella cheese, and a package of sliced mushrooms, you better believe I would have taken credit for “cooking dinner” if I’d assembled them all and baked them. As an adult, I don’t call that cooking any more than I’d call a Lean Cuisine or Kraft Macaroni & Cheese cooking. To me, cooking utilizes ingredients, though the definition of such can be a  bit subjective, I admit.

I started to wonder, could I even accomplish cooking everything from scratch?

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Tags: Michael Pollan