Thursday, July 24, 2008

skewers revisited

so i made this meal a while back when i was all omg me, skewers, and my bff rose do everything together! it was also in a time when i didn't realize that raw meat + macro lens ≠ yummy food photos. so i apologize in advance for not taking two or three steps back before photographing. vegetarians may want to stop reading this post now.

and, haha. you thought i was done with my rachel ray oh how i love thee (really the magazine only), but i'm not. and why should i be? i'm going to keep receiving the issues and i'm going to keep trying the recipes. i don't have to hide my love for easy meals sans the oregano stories. (if you've never watched RR on TV, then you wouldn't know that every time she uses oregano she tells a story about what it means and how, oh hehe, i just know all this random stuff and now just pour in your E.V.O.O. which is extra virgin olive oil which i've said 800 billion times in this episode alone...) 

ANYWHOBEARSKIPANTS, this recipe for spicy meat skewers and couscous was from the june/july 2008 RR. 

spanish shrimp and chorizo skewers
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (E.V.O.O.)
2 tbsp hot pepper sauce
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
juice of 1 lemon 
2 tsp sweet paprika
16 jumbo shrimp, deveined and peeled (tail on)
3/4 lb chorizo sausage, casings removed & cut into angled slices

1. combine E.V.O.O., hot sauce, garlic, lemon juice and paprika
2. add shrimp and marinate for 10 minutes
3. thread shrimp and chorizo onto skewers, alternating 
4. grill, turning once, until shrimp are opaque (7-8 minutes)

what's more appetizing than extreme close ups of raw pork and shellfish smothered in marinade?

but this is better, right? cooked just a bit is more appealing, i think...

"especial" couscous (minor edits from original)
1 tbsp E.V.O.O.
2 c chicken broth
1 c frozen peas
4 scallions, sliced white to medium green
2 pinches saffron threads
1 tsp tumeric
2 c couscous
1/3 c cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 c almonds, sliced and toasted
1/4 c green olives with pimento, chopped

1. bring broth, peas, scallions, lemon peel, saffron, tumeric and E.V.O.O. to a boil
2. stir in couscous, cover and remove from heat, let stand for 5 minutes
3. stir in cilantro, almonds and olives 


super easy and pretty good, too

like i said, RR's meals tend to be basic and easy to follow. that's nice when i'm ravenous and don't want to read recipes for an hour before deciding if i have the ingredients and feel up to making dinner. 

the marinade was nice and spicy (i may have added a few more dashes of hot sauce), making the shrimp a perfect accompaniment to the already spicy chorizo. the couscous was tasty but not entirely matched to the meat. 

if it's food on a stick, i'll probably like it 
::sobs for the MN State Fair::

in closing, i promise not to write E.V.O.O. in future posts.

1 comments:

Thomas said...

You can write EVOO so long as you don't explain it every time you use it. It's like, c'mon Rachel, how many times do you have to explain it. If you have to explain it, just don't say EVOO. Just say olive oil. I haychu Rachel Ray. Just kidding. I went to the Blue Mermaid Cafe in Portsmouth and they had a picture of her and a newspaper article since she loves the place. She was trashed off her derriere in the photo.