Dear Blog with the Not-So-Good Pictures (aka this one),

February 27, 2010 at 12:44 am · Filed under Appetizers, Dinner, Seafood ·Tagged Bread Pudding, Fish en Papillote, Gourmet recipes, Steamy Kitchen

Today was my belated Valentine’s Day gift to Alex (who also happened to receive some amazing news today)!  Although I had initially planned on making crab cakes and lobster rolls, I frankly did not want to make the trek down to Whole Foods in my bought-from-a-kid’s-shoe-store-embarrassingly-bright-red rainboots.  So instead, I made Spicy Shrimp with Bleu Cheese Sauce (shrimp disguised as hot wings); it had great great flavor and perhaps it’s because I decided to follow the Steamy Kitchen way and leave the shells on when I cooked them.  Seriously what kind of picture is this?!  It’s sooo weird…I should think before I push the button on the camera.

I made another appetizer, Shiitake Mushroom Bread Pudding which was deeelicious!  I love bread puddings in any shape and form, and this one was no exception.  But I think what really made it great was its being paired with the spicy shrimp; something needed to undercut the unctuousness of 1/2 cup of heavy cream, cheese, and shiitakes.

For the main, I took inspiration from Steamy Kitchen (but eschewed the veggies she uses) to make Fish en Papillote.  I made this not just b/c it’s so easy to clean up but because I also like the idea of a gift/surprise that comes with this dish.  I also took a lot of liberty with this recipe, omitting the tomatoes and garlic and added in bloodred oranges (so delicious).  It was a nice, clean tasting contrast to the appetizers and very light (which was good b/c the bread pudding was very heavy).

All in all, it was fast (met my under 1 hr. 30 min. rule), delicious, and cheap ($16 for the fish, shrimp, shiitakes, bleu cheese, and lemons).

Some links:

(Recipes) My favorite bread puddings:
Arugula, Bacon, and Gruyere (so delicious, highly recommended)
Pumpkin Bread Pudding (also highly recommended)

(Videos) How to…
Make a healthier version of this dish
Butterfly shrimp

Also on a random note: Columbia be nerdy.  Geesh I went into Butler to work for 2 hours, and it was as full as ever.  It was a Snow Day for goodness sakes!

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