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If you asked him, W would tell you his favourite foods are shrimp and pasta – and it occurred to me recently that for some reason, I’ve never thought to combine the two. Which is ridiculous for reasons beyond the fact that together, they are better than the sum of their parts – when it comes to pasta sauces, shrimp and garlic sautéed in butter is about as fast as you can get. Quicker, I think, than heating up a jar of sauce. Also – I generally have butter, garlic and Parm, and shrimp are easy to keep in the freezer, dry pasta on the shelf.

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The problem/great thing about fresh corn tortillas is when you buy a pound of them, they last all week (or so). They freeze well, but once thawed I inevitably wind up using them as many ways as possible before wrapping and returning the whittled-down stack to the freezer. Ceviche probably sounds like something you’d order in a restaurant, or on a beach in Mexico, but not something you’re likely to whip up at home. However. If I told you it required only chopping of seafood and marinating it in citrus, might you change your mind? There’s no need to turn on the oven or grill – the acidity of the lemon and lime juice alters the proteins in the seafood, cooking it without heat. You can actually see it change from not opaque to opaque – it’s very cool.

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I came back home from Miami with a pound of grits in my bag, just because I could. Grits are popular in the southern states – they’re made of cornmeal, simmered until thick, just like cream of wheat. (Did you love cream of wheat as a kid? I still do. I rarely have it, in order to preserve that taste of nostalgia.) You can simmer your grits with milk to make it creamier, and add soft roasted garlic or minced jalapenos to spice it up, or a big handful of grated aged cheddar in this case, to provide a bed for buttery, spicy shrimp. I always forget how quickly I can cook up a pan of shrimp – with butter, garlic and a shake of dry barbecue rub, they’re done in under three minutes. How much faster can food get? And while I have a pan buttery and hot, it’s too tempting to crack in an egg to catch those flavourful bits. More drippy yolkContinue reading

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