Just Shrimpin'

Everyday Recipes

• It does feel like a special occasion dish, but there’s really no reason that Rack of Lamb can’t make a weeknight meal. It’s fast, simple and really isn’t much more expensive than a couple of good steaks. Consider this a reminder delivered next time you’re at the butcher shop.

• I have lots of squash sitting on my counter right now, and while it’s great simply roasted it’s also nice to add some spice (terrible unintentional rhyme, but we’ll keep it). This Kabocha Squash with Garilc, Capers and Chili does just that and is an excellent excuse to buy some Calabrian Chili Paste if you don’t have it lying around. The lemony yogurt sauce is a nice touch as well and makes it even more logical to serve this with your lamb!

Project Time

• On Monday we sent out a few favorites for holiday parties. We neglected to include my favorite - Shrimp Cocktail. I usually camp out by the tray and ruin my appetite for everything else while trying to dump my plate occasionally to minimize the pile of tails. This doesn’t need to be a project as buying a ring from the store and doctoring up a bit of sauce is by no means frowned upon… but if you did want to go all out and cook your own here’s a detailed, step by step guide to making it happen. Certainly worth trying at least once.

Something Fun (or Interesting)

• So how big is that shrimp? Here’s quick rundown for those who have ever struggled with those numbers with dashes when buying shrimp … as in, how big are they if there are 31 to 40 in a pound? The article and uses plain english words like “medium”, “large” and “colossal” - and includes a handy chart - to equate these numbers to a size. They even include recommended cook times that you might find useful.

Let us know what you tried (just reply)! More soon.

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