Monday, November 12, 2018

Don’t Let the Turkey Buzzards Get You Down: Shoot First

I am not one to let the buzzards get me down as a rule, but their constant circling in multiple groups is beginning to make me a bit anxious: manufactured votes being counted in Arizona, Georgia and Florida with barely a peep from anyone, thousands of “migrants” continue their march to violate our laws and borders, Hillary is running for president and California is burning. 

blowtorch jcExcept for Hillary…

Since today is only a holiday by government edict and since we already held a proper Veterans’ Day observation yesterday, on the proper day, we are now free to move about the Internet. And even though it’s still almost 2 weeks off, we’re moving into the kitchen – LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, START YOUR  BLOW TORCHES:  THE THANKSGIVING RECIPE MARATHON HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN. As always, Julia Child residing.

Julia child

Like all days it will still be an open thread, but you can begin dropping any holiday recipes you’d like to share with the MOTI today. Feel free to request and/or post recipes that have been previously posted as there’s no viable search function in Disqus to find those from the past. Who knows, maybe this year somebody will gather them up in one place!

I’ve got two simple recipes for you. The first is a very simple alternative to the standard shrimp cocktail appetizer. It’s from Monahan’s Fish Market in Ann Arbor where they call it “Shrimp Rémoulade” even though there’s no mustard in it - Mid-Westerners, go figure.

Shrimp Rémoulade – From Monahan’s Fish Market

  • 1 lb. medium shrimp,  peeled & deveined, tails off , well dried  (or frozen, cooked, defrosted)
  • 2 scallions, chopped
  • ½ red bell pepper, diced
  • ½ C Monahan’s Remoulade Sauce (recipe below)

Bring water to a boil, add shrimp and cook until they are barely opaque (about 3 min.), drain, ice to chill down, pat dry.

In a med. size serving bowl, combine the scallions and bell pepper with the remoulade sauce. Fold in the shrimp to coat.  Serve with picks as an appetizer. While technically  an appetizer  you can also serve  on greens as a salad or on a roll as a sandwich.

Remoulade Sauce

Yield ¾ cup

  • 1/3 cup ketchup
  • 1 1/2 t lemon juice
  • 1/4 t paprika
  • 1/4 t Jamaican Pickapeppa sauce (skip, if you don’t have, or substitute Worcestershire sauce )
  • 1/2 t tabasco
  • 1 1/2 t Cajun seasoning  - any brand is fine
  • 1/4 t cayenne (omit to reduce heat factor)
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise

Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl.

The Shrimp can be served on greens for a salad, on a roll as a sandwich, or with toothpicks as an appetizer.

cajun-shrimp

My second offering is not so much a recipe as a concept. You’ll need a bucket of those soft pretzel balls popping up everywhere –  Costco carries them:

pretzillas

Then take out a frying pan, any size, melt enough butter to comfortably cover the bottom and plop in as many of those little nuggets that will fit with enough space to shake them around a bit. Turn heat to low and let them warm through, about 5 minutes, shaking or flipping with a fork to rotate every minute or so. Turn the heat off and sprinkle generously with some of the salt that comes with them: yes, this step is necessary!  Transfer 5 or 6 to each serving plate and serve with a small ramekin of warm (real) maple syrup.  Of course you can serve these with bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs if you’d like, that might prevent you from eating too many of the tasty little balls. They are addictive, but you’ll thank me anyway.

So there: you’ve seen mine, let’s see yours.

B1-JULIA_WE_B_^_WEDIQ

And let’s get going, those old buzzards aren’t going to cook themselves.

animals-vulture-prey-preys-circle-circling-wpa1215_low

Or alternatively: it’s been 3 weeks and the buzzards are still circling, what’s your position, ethically speaking?