shrimp, chipotle, habanada, saffron, cumin; tomato, leek

shrimp_tomato_leek

It looks like I had forgotten how red-ish shrimp get once cooked, since I the vegetable I chose to accompany them comes with a similar palette, and the touches of green on/under each only emphasized the similitude.

But, color choices aside, they turned out to be a great pairing.

heirloom_tomatoes

leeks

  • one teaspoon of chopped garlic from Stokes  Farm heated inside a (13 1/2″) cast iron pan over a very low flame until the garlic had colored nicely, then one finely-chopped no-heat Habanada pepper from Norwich Meadows Farms added and pushed around with the garlic, followed by a pinch of Spanish saffron (DO La Mancha from Antonio Sotos), 2 smaller whole dried chipotle peppers from Northshire Farms in the Union Square Greenmarket (unpunctured, left whole) and a teaspoon of freshly-ground cumin seed added, all stirred for a minute or two, after which 14 ounces (11 by count) of Hudson Valley farmed shrimp from Eco Shrimp Garden were added (I had cut them all along their backs, from head to tail, to ease shelling once they were served), seasoned with salt and pepper, the heat brought up a bit and the shrimp cooked until firm while turned twice, served on 2 plates with a generous squeeze of lemon, finished with purple micro bronze fennel from Two Guys from Woodbridge [both the peppers and the micro ‘greens’ are my additions to Mark Bittman’s recipe]
  • one small leek from Willow Wisp Farm, cut lengthwise down the center, rinsed well under cold water (although there was none of the soil usually found between the leaves this time), dried, chopped into small pieces, cooked in heated olive oil until wilted, two dark-red heirloom tomatoes from Cherry Lane Farm, sliced, then slipped into the pan and barely heated, a generous amount of chopped thyme from Keith’s Farm, salt, and sugar added, stirred into the vegetables, served with additional uncooked finely-sliced parts of leek sprinkled on top
  • the wine was an Argentinian (Mendoza) white, Santa Julia Viognier Plus Mendoza 2015 from Chelsea Wine Vault
  • the music was from a recording of 6 works featuring violin or viola, by Bach and Schnittke, performed by Sarah Nemtanu and Deborah Nemtanu, with Sascha Goetzel conducting the Paris Chamber Orchestra in 4 of the pieces