I have a thing about authenticity in cooking. I make pizza dough myself, I whisk egg whites by hand, I will peel and devein each and every shrimp. See? Evidence:
This may have something to do with how I learned to cook – as a child seeking distraction from home-sickness, with a Granny whose honor lay in the size of the bicep of her whisking arm. She taught me to make pastry at 5-years-old, and we made it often. It may also have something to do with my general habit for taking the hard road. (I am a playwright.) I have used electric mixers, purchased pre-baked pizza shells and frozen, de-veined shrimp, but there’s romance in knowing that I know all the steps.
What this usually comes down to, is that even in the heat of summer, the oven will be blasting, all four stove tops will get used, and there are alpine ranges of dishes in the sink and on the rack. This is atypically mild, for the prep alone:
But for a few self-inflicted labors, today’s dinner was relatively simple, and perfect for a summer day. No ovens!
Shrimp and Potato Salad
1 Pound of Medium Shrimp (straight from the fish counter, raw. (Or pre-cooked if the thought of digging your fingers into squishy invertebrates, ripping off their legs and flushing their intestines doesn’t make you happy or hungry.)
1.5 Pound of Red Baby Potatoes
1 Red Onion – Thin Sliced (you could also halve this. There was an awful lot of onion)
Optional: 1 Cup Mozzarella pieces (I quartered the mini bocconcini, but you can also just cube a big hunk of the stuff)
5 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVO)
5 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
1/4 Cup of White Wine
Salt and Pepper
1.5 Cups Tomatoes – sliced into wedges (I used cherry tomatoes, halved)
1. Toss the Sliced Red Onion with the Red Vinager. Set aside.
2. Boil a pan of salted water, add potatoes. Boil on medium/medium-high for 30 minutes (or less if they are weeny. You want to be able to pierce them with a fork, with only a bit of resistance. ) Drain, cut in half, and put into a bowl. Pour in the white wine. Toss lightly, with salt and pepper, so as to minimally disturb the skins. Let marinate for 5 minutes.
3. Peel and de-vein shrimp. (De-veining involves slicing into the circumference of the back, and rinsing out the dark brown vein therein). Saute in butter until they go pink, about 2 – 3 minutes. Cut in half, or butterfly (cut crosswise down the middle.)
4. Add Chopped Tomatoes, Shrimp, Mozzarella, and EVO to the onions. Toss. Add about 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper. Let sit for 5 minutes.
5. Combine the two mixtures. Toss.
6. Refrigerate until serving.
For all you purists out there, I know that fish/cheese is usually a no-no, but I had the bocconcini in the fridge, and if I didn’t use them, I would have found myself throwing them away a week later. As much as the white wine does WONDERS for potatoes, the cheese lent a bit of body to the salad.
Granny would be proud.
- Lucy
p.s. I should note that the kitchen used in this, as well as in Two Spoonbreads is not my own kitchen. Cooking there is a part of my day job. How lucky am I!?
