THE LADY OF SHALLOTS

This is the last of my Seafood Extravaganza posts (three total). This one is a lot shorter than the last . This recipe is, once again, from Barbara Lynch's Stir cookbook. This is a fantastic recipe (not reproduced verbatim here) and next time I'll be a little more liberal with the red curry paste...it was subtle and wonderful, but I'll be happy for a little more kick) Vinaigrette: chopped shallot , white wine vinegar , Thai red curry paste , grapeseed oil , crème fraîche Shrimp is lightly sauteed in olive oil, haricots verts are blanched, and hazelnuts are toasted in oven and chopped when cool (skins rubbed off with paper towel after toasting---neat trick!). Toss everything together with some sliced radishes and cilantro , and the dressing!

One might subtitle this post: Or, Why Not to Cook When You Don't Feel Well. It doesn't help that celery, fennel and leeks all begin to look rather alike--especially when cut into matchsticks. But have no fear--this "mistake" actually turned out well in the end...at least for the mussels While on "Spring Break" which I affectionately refer to as "Break from Teaching, but little else," I've been focusing on going trough my fantastic Stir cookbook by Barbara Lynch. After conquering clams the week before, I felt it was time to try mussels, which, frankly, are more of a pain to clean. I wish I had looked at Ina Garten's Barefoot in Paris, because I just found a great description of how to clean mussels, but I managed. Mussels have these annoying "beards" that one must remove. I didn't soak the mussels as Garten recommends, and I wonder if this would have made the beard-removal easier. Moreover, half the beard stays IN the musse...

I've been on a seafood kick for the last two weeks, largely due to the fabulous seafood I can buy at the Somerville Winter's Farmers Market. I've never cooked shellfish, and I decided it was time to try. I started with some fresh littleneck clams and used this recipe that I found on Cookthink. I used gluten-free linguine (because I happened to have some), so it made this already healthy recipe even healthier. It was very tasty. I'd probably be more generous with the saffron threads next time (see more about that in my next post ), and if making it for company, I'd serve it with the clam shells (that I took the time to scrub!). It will make a lovely summer dish as well, followed by some kind of lemony dessert.