Steamed Lemon Shrimp with Potatoes and Nasturtium Flower Salad

I love popcorn and I will readily forgive someone who is inept in its preparation. I like it that much. And I make my own rather delightful renditions that include popped in a wok with peanut oil and coarse salt and an air popped variety topped with butter, salt and nutritional yeast.

I'll eat a bag from a convenience store (a favorite road trip snack with a cold V-8 juice), air popped with Molly McButter or microwavable. I'll eagerly wait in line at street fairs and festivals for real Kettle Korn and having spent my teenage and college years working at movie theaters, I can't resist movie theatre popcorn, preferably with a dose of the evil oil/butter (I know it's disgusting, that's why I called it evil). And when I was a girl, my mom would pop corn to take to the drive-in movies! And a trip to Woolworth's wasn't complete without a bag of their caramel corn. I can still conjure up that smell. But oh Lordy be, on the most special occasions we got Jiffy Pop Popcorn!

The only occasions that come to mind: when The Wizard of Oz came on TV (which was only once a year, back then) or we had a non-family-member babysitter (which was maybe twice a year, cue Dar Williams' The Babysitter's Here)! Oh the joy of watching that bag grow, even if it was burnt, the magic of busting it open to find such a treat! I loved it!

I tell you this because I was at a loss for dinner tonight. I worked on my patio flowers, cleaned house, went to the bakery to grab a baguette and went by the garden. I didn't get done until well past 5 pm. After a shower and a huge glass of water, I was pooped. I didn't feel like going out (no way was I getting dressed) and there's no good delivery around here. If I was single, you can be damn sure I would have had popcorn for supper. But I couldn't look myself in the mirror tomorrow if I served Chris a plate of popcorn, all Charlie-Brown-Thanksgiving style.

So, I opened the freezer and rooted around until I found a bag of frozen, uncooked, wild shrimp. Humph, I was still less thank enthusiastic.

I opened the fridge and under a bag of onions I found some fingerling potatoes.

Oops, they had been in there about a month, but were perfectly firm. I had lettuce, tomatoes, cukes and a bunch of nasturtium blossoms. It took me a minute, but I knew what to do.

I keep a well stocked kitchen. I always have the basics available in my refrigerator, freezer and pantry. I can proudly say I have a good selection of oils, vinegars, nuts, citrus, cheese, onions and sauces, rices, cous-cous, panko, corn meal, salts, peppers, pasta, canned tomatoes, beans, fish (including tunas, oysters and anchovies) and yes, popcorn. I figure I can make something tasty even if I don't have fresh vegetables or meat!

So, I drew up my plans: steamed lemon shrimp on the grill with the potatoes, onions and what was left of the peppers and cherry tomatoes.

Of course we'd have a salad, but with the nasturtium blossoms. I knew Chris had big plans to finish off the blackberry ice cream, so I didn't need to sweat about dessert. Done. Even in a pinch, I could feed me and my love with a fine meal. Bring on the Apocalypse!

Here's an interesting and life-saving lesson from culinary school: you can quickly thaw frozen food items in a bath of ice water, changing and re-icing every 30 minutes. Yep. Not hot water, like our mothers told us. I'm no scientist, so I asked my husband (who is) why this works so well. Bless his heart, he tried to tell me. But this is all I managed to comprehend: something about hot water freezing faster than cold... more heat escaping from the hot water through vaporization. Cold water being warmer than the frozen items...or something like that, maybe. What I do know is this: even if hot water thawed the food faster, it also allows microbes to grow and potentially harm (kill) you. So don't do that.

I needed to thaw my shrimp on the fly, so into a bowl of ice water they went (and I put that into the fridge). Chris was going to walk in the door in less than an hour, so I was working fast. I washed all the veg and started slicing away. I wanted this to cook fast, so the smaller the pieces the faster the cooking time, the more uniform the pieces the more even the cooking time. Though the potatoes were tiny, maybe one inch in diameter, I cut them in half and cut everything else to match. I threw in about 6 cloves of garlic, in their skins. When you roast garlic it's sweet and creamy and I planned on spreading this on the bread.

After I lit the grill, I tore off four long sheets of foil and crossed them to make a vessel. The idea is to layer all the ingredients so the heartiest is nearest the heat. The potatoes went on the bottom, then the onion, garlic, peppers and tomatoes.

The shrimp went on top and some of them were still icy, but no bother, I knew the melting water would help cook the potatoes, so it was definitely ok. I doused the ingredients with lots of lemon oil, olive oil, salt, fresh rosemary and the juice and zest of two lemons. For good measure and because I can never leave well-enough alone...a few healthy chunks of butter. I sealed the packet up and wouldn't you know...it looked exactly like jiffy popcorn. I had to smile, knowing something good would come out of that balloon of foil!

I started the grill on high, but turned off one burner and placed the pouch directly over one flame. When you do this kind of grilling, it's important to watch for, well fire. The heat is intense and the direct flame contact will most certainly burn through the foil (which is why I reinforced my packet with four sheets).

By the time I came back inside, Chris was home and hungry. I sliced the baguette, brushed on olive oil, butter and Parmesan cheese. I put the salad together with curly lettuce, red onion, shallots, tomatoes and I used olive oil and the best balsamic I had on hand. Took me less than five minutes! Just before serving I had big plans to toss in the cheese and all of the blossoms.

As soon as the salad was done I checked the shrimp. I opened the foil and the aroma was remarkable. The intoxicating smell of shrimp, garlic and lemon

was so strong and inviting, I nearly passed out. Seriously, I was practically clapping my hands together. Plus, the magic of busting it open to find such a treat! I loved it! I was reminded that good things come in small packages, even at dinner.

The shrimp were ready to come out. So I placed them on a platter and waited another 20 or so minutes for the potatoes to finish.

By the time the potatoes were fork tender they'd released enough starch to mix with the reserve fats and juices and form a rich, dense sauce. While I spooned out the goodies I put the bread over the fire.

Chris poured the wine (the remainder of last night's chilled pinot noir) and we sat down to this heady, easy and quick meal. It was so juicy and messy...and you guessed it, Chris said it was, "Good." I had to agree.

Shopping List

1 lb uncooked shrimp, in shell (frozen or "fresh")

Handful fingerling potatoes, each cut in half

1 small yellow onion, med dice

1 yellow pepper, seeded, ribbed, med dice

1 C mixed cherry tomatoes

6 cloves of garlic, in skins

1/2 shallot, minced

4 basil leaves

2 stems fresh rosemary

2 T lemon oil

4 T olive oil

2 lemons, zested and juiced

4 T butter

1/2 baguette

1 T Parmesan Cheese

2 C curly lettuces

1 Persian cucumber, chopped

1/2 small red onion, sliced thinly

Nasturtium blossoms

1/4 C goat cheese, crumbled

S/P, to taste

Preparation

Toss potatoes in a bowl of olive oil and salt. Cross four sheets of foil and layer the ingredients in this order: potatoes, onion, peppers, garlic and tomatoes.

Drizzle the lemon and olive oil over the veg and use a generous amount of salt and pepper. Toss in the shrimp, lemon zest and juice the lemons over the top. Lastly, add the butter and lay 1 stem of the rosemary and the basil across the top. Close foil into a packet by bringing up the sides and sealing tightly. It should have a jiffy popcorn look to it! So make sure there is enough foil to create a tent for the steam to form. Do watch this closely.

You need a high heat to get the potatoes done quickly, but you can easily a) over cook the shrimp (even if it was still frozen when you put it on the grill) and b) burn through the foil and lose all the juices (which will burn the potatoes and produce a dry, gross mess).

Even though every grill is different, I recommend you check the shrimp within the first 5 minutes. As soon as it pinks-up (a technical cooking term, I assure you) it is ready to come off the heat. Everything continues to cook when you remove it from the heat. So if you wait even a few seconds too long, it's too late. And as far as food is concerned, I can hardly think of anything as pitiful as over-cooked shrimp.

Unlike bad popcorn, simply not worth eating.

You can't really overcook the potatoes, so you can relax for a moment and cool off with a glass of ice water (or vodka). But you still have to watch the grill, even from afar, to avert a fire. I suggest turning the packet, which will help. Closing the grill will speed cooking time, but doesn't let you off the hook, you still have to keep an eye on it. While you remove the rest of your dinner from the grill, place the bread on the flames. As you can see, it can burn, too, if you're not careful.

Toss your veg into a bowl with the rest of the rosemary (just pick it off the stem) and shallots. Dress it before you add the cheese and blossoms, so they don't get pulverized by tossing.

The creamy goat cheese will pair nicely with the peppery nasturtium. If you can't find nasturtium, use rocket (arugula) instead of lettuce, to assure you get a good balance.

In less than 35 minutes you will be eating and I hope enjoying yourself!