Tag Archives: culinary

Walnut Orange Shortbread Cookies

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Version 3 – too much flour

Isn’t the third time allegedly the charm?  Not with these damn cookies. I’ve been struggling to develop a recipe – walnut orange shortbread cookies with sea salt – and failing.  The initial lackluster version didn’t impress, but I sensed potential.

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Version 1 – cookies with potential

As flavorless as the communion host, these bland disks needed more butter, more sugar, more flavor.  For the second attempt, I augmented the butter and sugar and added orange flower water, an often-used secret ingredient of mine.  Oops – buttery, but clearly too much of a good thing.

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Version 2 – Too much butter, baby!

Today was attempt number three – the one that’s rumored to be “the charm”.  No such luck – too much flour.  I should return to the kitchen to try one last time, but honestly, I’ve lost interest and I’m moving on to something else.

 

Curried Shrimp Appetizer

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Shrimp Appetizer with Cilantro Chutney

When her family home was finally tenant-ready, scrubbed clean of 40+ years of memories, she foolishly believed she would never return; that these renters would somehow morph into buyers without her involvement. She dreaded opening that front door again, scared of releasing nearly forgotten childhood sadness into the blinding daylight.  This house, this street, this city, no longer held significance for her, scorched of sentimentality.  As if to prove it, she never calls it “our home” or “mom’s home.” She either says, “The Norwood street house” or, more aptly, “The Albatross.”

Curried Shrimp Appetizer

Ingredients

    Curried Shrimp
  • 4 teaspoons coriander, ground
  • 2 teaspoons cumin, ground
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric, ground
  • 1/2 teaspoon mustard seed, ground
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger, ground
  • 1/4 teaspoon chili, ground
  • 1/4 teaspoon cardamom, ground
  • 1/8 teaspoon clove, ground
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ lbs. raw shrimp, tail on
    • Cilantro Chutney
  • 1 bunch cilantro, stems removed
  • 1/2 inch fresh ginger
  • 1 serrano chili, seeds removed
  • 6 scallions, white and pale green parts
  • 8 to 10 fresh mint leaves
  • 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • water, as needed

Directions

  1. Measure all curry spices except salt into a small, dry sauté pan. Cook until fragrant. Remove from heat and add salt. Set aside.
  2. Combine chutney ingredients except water in a blender  Add enough water to blend until chutney resembles pesto. Set aside.
  3. Rinse and dry shrimp well. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with curry, mixing until shrimp is covered with curry.
  4. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add shrimp and sauté until pink and opaque, about 3-5 minutes.
  5. Serve shrimp at room temperature with chutney.