Simply shrimp: Pan seared shrimp with veggies and liquor

Ragazzi, your favorite Italian, Annalena, has been woefully under the weather this week. That has not kept her from cooking, but her attention span has been limited, as she dosed herself with over the counter decongestants and cough syrups, antibiotics, tea, and enough Vitamin C to prevent scurvy to an entire navy. A visit to her doctor has resulted in some improvement, and hopefully, back to recovery. Let us hope, recipe seekers that you are.

During this period of illness of the physical type, Annalena found herself in a bit of a dilemma. She was planning the traditional Tuesday night fish dinner for herself and the Guyman. A trip to the Monday market to buy fish from the redoubtably handsome Wade was not in the cards, as it was bitterly cold and Annalena was clearly auditioning for the role of Violetta in Traviata, what with her consumptive hacking. No problem, thought she, since there are two wonderful fish markets in competition at Grand Central Station.

Except... when she made her tour on Monday, Annalena saw nothing that appealed to her. And by Tuesday, when the fresh halibut appeared, it was too late. She had committed herself to using the reserve shrimp that she keeps in the freezer, just in case....

In fact, half of the shrimp was in the freezer, as Annalena feared that this might be the case, and so half was kept fresh. Hence, she had the protein ready. What, however, to do next?

Ah, an excellent question, as the fogged mind of the physically indisposed Annalena did not admit of too much creativity. She pulled in some of her past ideas on cooking shrimp, however, and the need for something simple, and .. this followed. It is, in many respects, inspired by a dish Annalena learned called "gamberi buon giusto," but it is ultimately rather different. And it admits of variation. So, ragazzi, let us proceed.

You start with a couple of stalks of celery , a carrot, and a large clove of garlic. Scrape the carrot, and if there are any uckies on the celery, cut them away. Peel and smash the garlic. Now, put all of those veggies into your food processor, and pulse until you have a very fine mixture. If you are absent a food processor, chop to as fine a consistency as you can.

You will also need a pound of shrimp. Annalena favors what are called "medium" shrimp, as many of you know. If you want the larger ones, by all means, but as we all know, there is a contradiction in the phrase "large shrimp," and for this dish, it really makes no difference. Annalena buys her shrimp peeled and deveined. They cost about a dollar more a pound, but at this point in her life, Annalena finds it worth the buck. She hopes you feel the same way. You will also want a tablespoon of tomato paste. Finally, you will need three tablespoons of a liquor of your choice. Here, you need to consider your taste buds, as well as the fact that shrimp are rather delicate in flavor. When Annalena first made the buon giusto, the liquor called for was dry marsala wine, and indeed, that dish is wonderful. It also contains much more tomato, and no vegetables. If you are predisposed to this beverage, please feel free to use it. Annalena used some VSOP brandy, but you could use any non-sweet liquor , or even mildly sweet ones. (Indeed, she can envision the use of an anisette with this, but the diners must be selected carefully).

Now, we cook. Put about three tablespoons of vegetable oil into a large pan. You can add the chopped vegetables immediately, and turn the heat to medium high. When they begin to sizzle, move them around a bit, and also add a nice teaspoon of salt. You will note the veggies beginning to soften, and when that happens, add the tomato paste, in a spot on the pan that is cleaned, such that it may fry for about thirty seconds (a technique Annalena learned from Lidia). Then mix that in with the other vegetables. Now, add your shrimp to the hot mix (which you may of course call a hot mess), and do nothing for two minutes. Then, stir everything together. You will notice the shrimp beginning to "pinken," if that is such a word (and if it is not, it should be. It has many uses). Keep stirring, until you see that the shrimp have almost completely pinkened . When that happens, take the pan from the heat and add your liquor. You MUST do this with a "high test" liquor like brandy, or risk burning your uni-brow or other facial appurtenances. It is wise to do it with lower powered materials, like the aforesaid marsala. Now, put it back to the heat, and lower that heat. Gently mix everything together for about another minute and a half, simply to reduce the liquids.

And, you are done. Finito. In less than half an hour. Ananlena served this forth with polenta, her own version of "shrimp with grits," Italian style.

Had she thought of it, Annalena may have put some fennel in, in place of the celery. Maybe next time. Perhaps you will try it this time around. Also, if you wanted to bulk up the dish, why not add some very quick cooking greens, like spinach or chard.

Go to it, ragazzi! Make Annalena even prouder of you than she is already.