The Turn

I found it sitting in the lobby of my building two weeks ago. The box was addressed to Mr. Gastro, but somehow I knew it was really for me.

Fire Engine Red. Ten speed with a tilt back head and a 5 quart bowl. Flat beater. Wire whip. Dough Hook. The thing weighs as much as a cement cinder block, and you can bet that if my grandmother had invested in one 50 years ago, she'd still be using it today, and it would look damn near identical to the one sitting on my kitchen counter. It's my first wedding present. The Holy Grail of kitchen appliances.

The KitchenAid stand mixer.

This must be what it feels like to dream about some sweet little classic car for decades, only to find it in your garage one morning and be too afraid to take it out for a drive. Seriously, I just want to sit here and polish the thing. It's been sitting on my amazon wish list for years, and now that I have it, it's taken me two weeks to turn it on, like I'm going to dent it, or something.

And then I got over it and made croissants.

I chose croissants specifically because I'd never made them before, and because I knew they'd take me all day. I could have made up a batch of chocolate chip cookies or a simple pie crust easily enough, but I wanted to make this first spin count. Croissants are a process, I found out. They're definitely an all day commitment. Making croissants essentially comes down to a long process of taking your lean dough, comprised of flour, sugar, salt, yeast, a tiny touch of butter and some whole milk, and layering it with the "butter square" which is exactly what it sounds like-- Three sticks of butter mixed up with about an iota of all purpose flour and formed into a SLAB. You roll out the lean dough, drop your butter brick in the middle of it, fold it up in the sheet of dough like a present. A buttery, fatty, heart stopping present. To yourself. Then you roll out that envelope of butter and flour, and you fold it on top of itself in thirds. And then you do it again. This little maneuver is called the turn, and when you're done you've got what looks like a neatly folded up blanket of deliciousness. You give that tidy little thing two hours in the refrigerator, and then you do it all again. Rolling. Folding. Turning. Waiting. It sounds a little tedious, but it's actually a really soothing, ordered process, and a big departure from my normal, off the wall modus operandi in the kitchen. You have to follow the rules. You have to take your time. When you're done with the turns and you roll it out one last time, what you are left with are layers upon layers of perfectly dispersed butter and lean dough. When the croissants bake the dough expands and lifts, while the butter melts and infuses everything around it with stop-your-heart sinful flavor. And when they come out of the oven you have a dozen perfectly flaky, golden, European style croissants, and an apartment that smells like a bakery.

I am happy to report that the croissants are gorgeous, and my new mixer did the job beautifully, as if there was ever any doubt. The dough hook is a life saver, and will certainly inspire me to take on may more baked goods in the future, now that the threat of kneading-induced carpel tunnel is off the table. I am also happy to report that fresh baked croissants freeze beautifully, and with a quick spell in the oven and a large cup of coffee, infuse a little bit of bliss into an otherwise routine weekday morning.

Challenge Response: Caribbean Shrimp

So it's still hot, but not as hot as it has been; That is to say, not so hot that I can't turn on my stove for fear that my apartment would sizzle and burst into flames. Not so hot that even entering my poorly ventilated little kitchen would be inviting a fainting spell. So I decided that tonight had to be the night. It was time to stop procrastinating.

I had to meet my challenge.

Oh yeah, remember the challenge? The one that I invited, then failed horribly with my mango chutney scallop disaster? And swore that I would re-attempt? Weeks ago? That challenge.

To recap, the challenge went as follows: Create a dish that uses shellfish as the key ingredient, is gluten free, and has some sort of unexpected ingredient combo that makes your mouth go, "huh...Wow!" In addition, the whole shebang should feed 2 for under $20, with leftovers. Which is A-LOT of challenge indeed, but I felt up to the task. But then again I felt up to it last time. When i ended up ordering pizza.

So first of all...SURPRISE! That lovely peach salsa that i posted a couple days ago? Rocks a featured role in this meal. And As far as I'm concerned fulfills the requirement for the "where did you come up with that?" ingredient dance, with the unexpected but completely fun combo of peach and cayenne. The rest of it is actually fairly simple: Grilled shrimp marinated in black pepper and lime. Heat Wave Salsa. And Coconut rice. The lime gives a little zip to the shellfish without overwhelming the shrimp's own natural flavor. The acid of the salsa snuggles right up against the creamy sweetness of the rice and does a little cha-cha. And the best part? Excluding basics I always keep in my kitchen, (like spices and olive oil) using my grocery Store's rewards card and a little bit of discriminating shopping, the ingredients for this recipe cam in at just over $18. And as for leftovers? We would have had some. If Mr. Gastro and I hadn't gone back for seconds.

Caribbean Shrimp with Coconut Rice

1 Lb Shelled, de-veined shrimp

juice of 1 lime

salt

Black pepper

Olive oil

1 cup long grained white rice

1 cup coconut milk

1 batch of Heat Wave Salsa (see previous entry)

First, whip up some of that yummy peachy salsa that you learned to make just the other day, and set aside in the refrigerator. Don't eat all of it. Save some for dinner.

In a large bowl whisk together the juice of 1 lime, and an equal amount of olive oil (approximately 1/4 cup), along with a pinch of salt and a generous amount of cracked black pepper. Toss with 1 pound of rinsed, dried jumbo shrimp. Set aside.

In a sauce pan combine 1 cup of water with 1 cup coconut milk and a pinch of salt, and bring to a boil on the stove top. Add i cup of rice and immediately cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Grill the marinated shrimp on high heat for approximately 3 minutes on each side or until the tails turn pink and the shrimp are opaque all the way through. Fluff the rice, and plate with grilled shrimp and a generous scoop of peach salsa. Serve immediately.

Heat Wave

Guys. It's hot. Too hot to sleep. Definitely too hot to even THINK about turning on the stove, or god forbid, the oven. And I have not spoken to a single person this week, in any region of the country, where this isn't the case.

It's just unpleasant.

That being said, I haven't updated in several weeks. But I have had a handful of mini Gastro-adventures. A lovely mozzarella tomato basil salad with John last week. Truffle pizza with Masha and Mike. (So good! Why didn't I think of that?) Burgers on the 4th of July. And I tried rose flavored ice cream at a lovely little shop in Cambridge. (The first bite was beautiful. ROSE FLAVORED ICE CREAM! But I will not be ordering an entire bowl of it again, not even a small one. There is a reason rose is used as a palette cleanser between the big stuff, or as a sprinkle of fun on an otherwise familiar dish. A whole bowl of rose flavored ice cream crawls into your throat and your nose and under your tongue and becomes far too much of a good thing very quickly. But I'm glad I tried it.) There has been good food these past several weeks, but there has also been sweat, and bad feelings and disrupted REM cycles. Therefore, bearing the weather in mind, please enjoy the following (fire-free) foray into the world of salsa. Sweet and spicy, salty and creamy, and most importantly, best served cool.

Heat Wave Salsa

1 Avocado

1 Large ripe tomato

1 Peach

1 Lime

3 cloves garlic

Salt

Black pepper

Cayenne pepper

Dice the tomato, peach, and avocado with a medium-fine dice--Small enough that the components can easily come together as a salsa, but not so fine that they begin to break down and become mushy. (Especially important concerning the avocado.) Drain excess liquid from the tomato if necessary. Mince the garlic, and combine with tomato, peach, and avocado in a large bowl. Add the juice of 1 lime, plus salt, black pepper, and cayenne to taste. Stir ingredients together gently, turning with the spoon so that the avocado doesn't fall apart. Enjoy with pita chips and central air.