Because She Told Me I Had To

That’s right, I am posting today under strict orders from my friend Mendi. See, its like this. We had our monthly book club meeting this past Friday at Mendi’s house, and naturally, as frequently happens when I’m around, talk turned to food.

At which point, Mendi emphatically protested about my last post STILL being up on my blog.

Clearly, I have been neglecting my foodie friends.

Admittedly, my blog posts have taken a hit recently, as I have noticed a steep incline in the pressure I’ve been putting on my bathroom scale at home. And so, I’ve been cooking more for the hubs, and much less for me, in the hopes that I can reverse the trend.

So, apparently, I will have to start cooking again – just with a healthier twist, if I’m going to keep people happily returning to my little corner of the blogosphere.

And so I promised Mendi that on Monday, she would see a bright, shiny new post on my blog. And here it is.

Sadly, I don’t have much enthusiasm for this recipe. I was excited about it when I ran across it, sure. I even made the special oil it calls for over a week ago. Truth be told, I’ve had shrimp in the fridge (ok, TWICE) already for this dish and had to throw it away because time got away from me. And that’s just wrong.

Thinking of Mendi, I settled onto my new ChefMat last night (thanks to a lovely birthday gift I received from My mother in law and sister in law) and got started. After all, the hubs was off in “Guy Land” watching the Big Game last night, so I had the house to myself.

The recipe is exceedingly easy. Chop about ¼ cup of jarred pepperoncinis, and simmer them in a skillet with about a half cup of oilive oil until it is fragrant, and then let it cool to room temperature.

Toss some shrimp in a few tablespoons of the oil and let it sit for a few minutes. Then sautee the shrimp in a hot skillet just until done, after which, you give the little guys another toss in the oil (I used fresh oil the second time even though the recipe didn’t say to).

Easy peasy, right?

And it was. Maybe I should have gotten the pan hotter before putting the shrimp in, or maybe I shouldn’t have crowded the pan (it is my perpetual fatal kitchen error, this I admit) so the shrimp might have gotten a nice sear to them.

I served this with a bit of angel hair pasta tossed with more of the oil and topped with breadcrumbs.

And it was....satisfactory.

Yeah, that about sums it up. I ate it. Not gonna lie. But frankly, I wouldn’t make it again. Well, let me take that back. I MIGHT make it again.... except with some nice hot chiles instead. It really needed more flavor. I expected it to have more punch to it, I suppose. And it saddens me that this was a Giada recipe that I was hoping to post to I Heart Cooking Clubs. But, alas, I won’t be doing that. Because I’m just not that proud of it.

So, why am I even posting it out here, you ask?

Because Mendi told me to.

Enjoy!