TUESDAY: Shrimp off the barbie

After two evenings of gourmet cooking by Señor Grace, it was my turn to come up with the menu for Tuesday night. Unless I have a lot of spare time to peruse the internet or pour over recipe books, I usually try to come up with a meal that I can prepare quickly. I don't want to sacrifice taste of course, but if there is something that promises to wow my palate without keeping me in the kitchen for hours and hours - especially after a long day at work - then I'm all for it.

We found our kitchen relief in the form of a tiny crustacean and two unlikely sidekicks - cabbage and apples. The shrimp was farm-raised in Greene County, and has been frozen since this summer. We bought two 5 lbs bags from a man at the Montgomery Farmers Market, and have already plowed through the first bag. Whenever we want a quick dish, we just grab a few and saute them in the wok with a little garlic and herbs. If you like the inherent flavors of cabbage (I do!), then it can be easily prepared under 20 minutes or less in a steamer. Andy picked this cabbage up from a small produce stand in Centreville a few weeks back. While the man promised the cabbage had been grown in Cullman County, it was purchased from the Finley Avenue market in Birmingham and, like most truck farmers, the origin of his produce was of little concern - especially this time of year. But hey, I'm an optimist. After all, trust is a huge part of the farmer/distributor/consumer relationship. And, at least Andy didn't come back with the shriveled up sorry looking tomatoes the man was also offering. The apples came from the last of our stockpile from Scott's Apple Orchard in Hazel Green, and are delightful sauteed in some butter, honey, and cinnamon. Overall, I would say we spent about an hour preparing this meal from prep to finish - a record in the Grace household!

Sauteed Shrimp with garlic and cilantro
(follow the recipe for Garlic-Basil shrimp posted in June, substituting about a handful of cilantro for the basil)

Steamed Cabbage
1/4-1/2 head of cabbage, cut coarsly into strips
steam for 15-18 minutes

Sauteed Apples (Mark Bittman in "How to Cook Everything")
1-1 1/2 lbs apples; peeled, cored, and cut in slices
3-4 T butter
1/2 cup honey (Bittman uses sugar)
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Melt butter over medium heat in large skillet. Add apples, then turn heat to low. Cook, covered for 10 minutes. Add honey and cinnamon, stir to distribute evenly. Turn the heat to medium, and cook about 10 minutes more, until soft. Stir often.