Pasta night - July 9, 2020

Well, the pickles are done - 6 pints, plus a "sample." 

To the sweet pickle recipe on the lime bag, I added sliced jalapenos, sliced cayennes, and a couple tablespoons of crushed red pepper flakes.  The jalapenos and cayennes went in the brine to soak with the cucumbers.  I added the red pepper flakes as the cucumbers were cooking. 

They are hotter than a firecracker.  Just the way I like them.

But my kitchen is a wreck.  Canning stuff is everywhere:  pressure canner, water bath canner, jars, lids, rings, tongs, measuring cups, you name it.  Normally, most of this stuff lives in the attic, but there is no way I'm hiking up those scary pull-down steps every time I finish a batch of something. 

Nanny did get to come home from the hospital yesterday.  I went down to see her before supper-time to see if she wanted me to fix her some supper.  I'd planned to make a shrimp and pasta dish that she likes, but my sister-in-law had said that Nanny was complaining that her throat was irritated from the surgery, and I wondered if potato soup would go down easier.  When I offered Nanny those two choices, she said, "I can swallow shrimp and pasta just fine!"  (She really likes the pasta dish!)

Meanwhile, Nanny's 85-year-old sister, Aunt B, called and said she was bringing pot roast.  I offered to hold off on the shrimp/pasta until the next night, but Nanny said there was no telling what time Aunt B would get there with the pot roast, if she got there at all. 

I said I'd go ahead and make the pasta, and if Aunt B came with the pot roast, Nanny could have the pasta the next night. 

The pasta dish is very simple and quick to make.  I use:

Sliced fresh mushrooms - about any kind will do
Chopped green onions - separate the white ends from the green ends
Frozen cooked shrimp
Fresh chopped garlic
Olive oil
Butter
Cooked angel hair pasta (any pasta will do, really) - save a cup or so of the pasta cooking water
Fresh grated parmesan cheese

Thaw the shrimp.

Cook the pasta (don't forget to save a little of the cooking water). 

In a big skillet, saute the mushrooms in just a tad of olive oil over medium-high heat.  Give them a little dash of salt and pepper.  Cook them long enough that they give up their liquid and get a little brown.  Cook them until the mushroom liquid dries up and leaves a film on the bottom of the skillet.  This film is flavor! 

Turn the heat down to medium-low.  We're not frying now; we're softening and warming.  Add a little more olive oil or butter if the skillet is too dry. 

Add the white parts of the green onions and garlic.  Cook and stir it for just a minute, until you can smell the garlic and the onions get a little soft.

Add butter to the skillet (I use about 1/2 a stick).  As it melts, scrape the bottom of the skillet to incorporate all that good brown mushroom film.  Is there enough "sauce" to coat the pasta a little bit?  If not, add a little of the pasta cooking water and stir it around.  (You could also de-glaze the pan with chicken broth or white wine.)

Add the shrimp, and cook it long enough to heat the shrimp (it only takes a minute or two). 

Add the pasta and toss it around.  Add a little more butter or olive oil if it seems too dry.

Plate it up.  Give it a little dose of parmesan cheese.  Sprinkle the green ends of the onions over the top.  Yesterday, I had a fresh tomato, and I chopped it into tiny bits and sprinkled them on top, as well.  It looked very pretty!

Bacon.  Crumbled bacon would be nice, too. 

Do you like black olives?  Roasted red peppers?  Toss 'em in. 

(I tend to make stuff up as I go.)  ;)