Nov 4, 2010

Spicy Shrimp with Tomatoes & Spinach and Pistachio Lime Biscotti

I finally had time to cook with my shrimpies tonight! Unfortunately, I forgot to take out the trash after I peeled them last night. I walked into my apartment thinking I had just entered The Little Mermaid's castle. I quickly lit a candle and ran around the house doing a Febreze dance. True story.

My dinner was quite easy - a small amount of lots of different ingredients. Out of curiosity, I weighed my peeled shrimpies on my scale - 7.25 oz! Yeahhhhh! Ok, I know that's not a lot but I was super excited to eat something that I caught with a freakin' net coming out of my teeth. That sounds fierce. I am fierce. Don't forget it. 

Ingredients:
  • (almost) 1/2 lb. shrimp 
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 14.5 oz can no salt added crushed tomatoes, drained
  • 1 6 oz bag baby spinach
  • fresh basil leaves
  • s&p to taste
Preparation:
1. Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes or until translucent.
2. Add garlic and crushed red pepper. Cook for 1 minute.
3. Add tomatoes and white wine. Simmer until wine has reduced.
4. Add spinach and basil and stir just until wilted.
This was very easy to make and had tons of flavor. It would have been delicious over pasta as well. And oh my, I just realized this is essentially Shrimp Fra Diavolo...ha! 

After dinner, I was seriously craving something crunchy and sweet. I pulled out a random cookie book and let it randomly land on a page. 177. Biscotti. Perf. 
The original recipe was for almond biscotti, but I had pistachios. Pistachios sounded much more fun, and instead of lemon zest, I thought lime zest would be great. I started with a bag of these...
and used one of my favorite kitchen tools to let out some aggression. It's fun to pretend those nuts belong to all your ex-boyfriends. TMI? 
Friends, biscotti takes time. First you make the dough and roll it out into logs.
Next, you have to bake them, let them cool, and cut them in half diagonally. Then you bake them on their sides.
Flip again, bake some more. No wonder why these things are so hard!
After all is said and done, you have a bunch of stick shaped cookies that are just begging to be dipped in coffee or tea.
They do taste wonderful though! If anyone in the Charleston area wants some biscotti, PLEASE come over and get some...

TOMORROW IS FRIDAY!! Weekend plans? 

32 comments:

  1. Girl, you are a champ! When I saw your page landed on biscotti, I was like, damn, bc those take FOREVER. Shoot, I wanted to make dessert tonight and decided waiting 20min for coconut macaroons was TOO long, and walked away, haha.

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  2. that shrimp looks awesome !! isn't it fun to cook something you CAUGHT ?? :D

    great job on the biscotti !! seriously, impressed - I'v never done that!

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  3. You turned a boring Thursday night into a thriller! The Lime Zest really sounds interesting on the biscotti. I'll watch out if you ever have that hammer in hand!

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  4. I made biscotti today too! They were amaaazing.

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  5. Glad you enjoyed your shrimpies. I've totally forgotten to take out seafood trash before- ick. I have never seen biscotti made in logs before? I always see it done in one big round and then cut into pieces and baked a second time- cool stuff. Is it nice and crunchy?

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  6. Ha! I laughed out loud at the ex-boyfriend comment. Perfect.

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  7. Hahaha taking out aggression on food is always a good time. ;)

    My weekend plans involve writing two exams and then going to a bar for a much needed night out! Hope you have a good weekend!

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  8. The biscotti looks great- I love how easy it looks.

    Yet I haven't made it myself yet. What gives?

    Have a good weekend, lady! I've got my race and then I'm off to St. Louis for a night! (another whirlwind weekend)

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  9. I've never made biscotti, but I love it when I get my hands on it, especially if dipped in chocolate! It's definitely one of the most underrated cookies out there.

    Dinner looks fab!

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  10. Biscotti must be in the air..I just made some last week. Yours looks yummy! :-)

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  11. MMM love biscotti, although I have never made them homemade!

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  12. that biscotti looks so good. I wanted to make some last night but figured i would just eat it all lol.

    xo

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  13. Mmmm I love biscotti! Lemon + almond is my favorite combo.

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  14. The shrimp looks delicious! We used to make something similar to that when I was a kid and we put feta in it...so good! I need the biscotti to go in my coffee...now please! Have a great Friday!

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  15. Biscotti is one recipe that I have not mastered. Not even hot coffee will soften my bricks!

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  16. the shrimpies and biscotti look great! I hate when the smell lingers. ick. My plans for this weekend be Disney World!! so pumped.

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  17. "Febreze dance"....LOL..Love Biscotti..

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  18. Yum Yum, gimme some! Pistachio Lime Biscotti?! Heck to the yes, please! I love how flavorful and unique your eats are!

    I'm so so so happy it's Friday! The Hunk and I don't currently have plans this weekend (which is quite nice, actually) but the C-I-R-C-U-S is in town and I kinda wanna go!

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  19. Homegirl, you are FIERCE. There's no way we would ever forget. Also, I don't appreciate that the offer of amazing biscotti was made only to those living in Charleston. People in Minnesota like biscotti too, you know. :P

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  20. nice dedication to making a dessert - sweet jesus, i don't have that kind of patience, but they look yummy!

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  21. You know...Charleston isn't TOO far of a haul. You have some serious stuff to brave making biscotti, that's really impressive!

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  22. Letting out your aggression on the ex...too funny! The biscotti look delicious! And yes, fresh basil is the bomb! I was going to mention the pasta I made last night could be substituted with shrimp for the sausage, but I forgot. Ooops!

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  23. I would love to try making biscotti sometime. It looks complicated, but I've heard it's not too hard. So perfect with a cup of coffee or tea.

    Did you use salted pistachios? We have some in the house that I'd love to use for this.

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  24. Biscotti = Yum.

    The shrimp dish looks awesome. Much better than when the shrimpies were all alive and junk after you caught them. Out of curiosity, did you de-vein them yourself? Because if so, I am calling you for all my future shrimp-de-veining needs. So gross.

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  25. HAHA I got a good laugh from the nut comment. If I lived closer to Charleston I'd be there for biscotti in a hot minute!

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  26. My boyfriend would LOVE that shrimp dish! And of course the shrimping you did...
    I have yet to make biscotti.. but yours looks easy and good- might be time... I'm thinking pumpkin?

    THANK GOODNESS (seriously!) it's Friday!

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  27. This looks like some serious good eats. Great blog.

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  28. That meal looks really good. Also you showed those pistachio nuts who the boss was.

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  29. Oh the flavor of that biscotti sounds amazing!

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  30. Can't go wrong with tomatoes and shrimp! And I reallllly want to make biscotti- cool!

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  31. OMG. What the fluff? I was at another blog and clicked on a response and was back here like yesterday. So I was reading about you. I have never heard "What the fluff" before. So you are my first time to hear it.

    My latest post on my blog tells about the virtual cure for breast cancer with quotes from Harvard, Johns Hopkins and Christiane Northrup, M.D. Since the cure is at little or no cost, the medical community is not advertising it since there is not much profit in it. But everyone needs to know about it so they never get breast cancer.

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  32. hahaha Little Mermaid's Castle!! Sorry you had to go through that (the visual though was quite hystercial) :)

    At least the food looked amazing!! I've never made biscotti before but that looks pretty easy.

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