deliciousness

white wine and tarragon steamed mussels

adapted from jon shook and vinny dotolo’s two dudes, one pan
serves 4

olive oil, salt, pepper
2 shallots, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, diced
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you like spicy)
3 lb mussels, cleaned (see note below)
2 cups heavy cream
1 loaf bread
1 bunch of fresh chives, finely chopped
2 1/2 tbsp roughly chopped tarragon

NOTE: Make sure your mussels are ALIVE when you get home. They should be closed - if they’re open (and stay open when you tap them), they’re dead. Likewise, if they are closed after being cooked, they are dead. UNSALVAGEABLE! To clean mussels, dump in a big bowl of water with a little flour or corn starch mixed in. Rinse, then debeard - pull off the hairy threads that poke out around the tip.

Heat oil in dutch oven over medium high heat. Add shallots and garlic, lightly season (think of mussels as pre-seasoned), and cook until they begin to brown (2 min). Make sure you don’t burn the garlic! Pour in wine, scraping browned bits off the bottom of the pot, and stir in red pepper flakes.

Add mussels to pot, cover, and steam until just beginning to open (3 min). Pour in cream, cover, and cook until all mussels are open (3-5 min). Remove from heat, sprinkle with chives and tarragon and serve with bread.

spaghetti with white wine and shrimp

serves 4
adapted from giada de laurentiis’ everyday pasta

1 pound spaghetti (3/4 pound if your family likes the sauce/stuff more than the pasta)
olive oil, salt, pepper
2 shallots
2 garlic cloves
handful of sun-dried tomatoes, sliced (also used 1 14-oz. can of diced tomatoes, drained)
1 1/2 cup white wine
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (she also used 2 cups of clams)
2 large handfuls of argula

Boil large pot of salted water and cook pasta according to instructions.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil (use oil from sun-dried tomatoes jar for more flavor) over medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic, turn down heat to medium, and cook until tender but not brown. Add both tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and cook until softened/heated through. Add wine and shrimp (and clams if you want), and bring to a boil. REduce heat, cover, and simmer until cooked, 7 minutes. 

Add pasta to shrimp mix and combine so that pasta soaks up some wine sauce. Gently fold in arugula. I know it’s taboo to mix seafood and cheese, but I added a lot of grated parmesan cheese to the pasta before folding in arugula. Add in some pepper flakes if you want some heat too.

notes on cheddar tomato fondue.

recipe found here.

1. regular sharp cheddar is much, much, much tastier than using white cheddar.
2. red wine (i used 337 cabernet sauvignon) is just as tasty as white wine.