Innie or Outie

I think this may only be the second time I have ever attempted a fresh squid dish. The inspiration came from a Portuguese soup recipe by Alan Leonetti found on Recipezaar, Curried-Squid Pasta:

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Equipment and All Ingredients Needed

1 Knife 1 Cutting board 2 Medium pots 1 Small pot
2 Stovetop burners 1 Toaster 1 Strainer

2 Pounds squid

6 Cherry tomatoes

3 Medium dried laurel leaves

½ Large white onion

1 Cup fish stock*

½ Cup white wine

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 Tablespoon minced garlic paste

1 Tablespoon white pepper

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

1 Teaspoon dried curry powder

½ Teaspoon minced ginger paste

Whole grain bread slices

Fresh parsley sprigs

Long pasta of choice

Minced garlic paste

Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

*1 Packet shaved bonito flakes if you don’t have premade fish stock

View video with further details.

Here’s another absolutely delish seafood dish by hubby, Papa’s Spicy Seafood Soup:

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The ingredients consisted of squid, shrimp, potato, carrot, asparagus, bonito stock, olive oil, canned whole tomatoes with liquid, crushed garlic, white onion, and cayenne pepper garnished with fresh chopped parsley. Accompanying the soup, a whole wheat dinner roll and butter.

This home cooked meal could be called a variety pack of small portions, Mini Meal:

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This non-bento mini portions meal consisted of a mini pizza made with a six-inch toasted tortilla topped with olive oil, minced garlic paste, curried shrimp bits, chopped fresh homegrown basil and cherry tomatoes, dried oregano flakes, and Parmesan cheese; a small salad of iceberg lettuce, chopped fresh home grown basil and cherry tomatoes, and bacon bits topped with creamy cheese dressing and chopped chives; leftover PineNut Pasta with chopped homegrown cherry tomatoes; and canned chunk-style minestrone soup with mixed beans and pasta.

The experimental mood is still flying around the house, TexMex Ramen:

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I was having a busy day and almost forgot that it was my turn to prepare the grubs. Since hubby was still in an experimental mood, we decided to try this dish which consisted of regular Japanese dried ramen, frozen shrimp, toubyanjan sauce, chili pepper, cumin, scallions, chicken broth granules, avocado, lime juice, and dried cilantro flakes. As an accompaniment, hubby whipped up some leftover spring rolls with dipping sauce. The timing on the two dishes was a bit off and resulted in slightly over-done noodles, but still tasty.

This was a quickie meal of leftover Tomato Shrimp Pasta and local take-out pizza with sliced Spanish olives and dried oregano flakes added, Simply Rosso:

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For the V-Day finale, I cooked this simple and tasty meal for hubby, Tomato-Shrimp Pasta Dinner:

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The meal consisted of minced garlic paste, minced ginger paste, and frozen shrimp sautéed in olive oil; with tomato paste, canned diced tomatoes with sauce, toubyanjan sauce, canned mushroom slices, sliced black olives, chopped frozen green beans, white wine, dried oregano flakes, dark brown sugar, and cooked pasta added; and topped with a fresh basil sprig and grated Parmesan cheese. Accompanying the dish, toasted tortilla with melted almond baby cheese and chopped fresh basil, and a glass of California white wine.

Here is one of hubby’s home cooked versions of a classic, Papa’s Shrimp Risotto:

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For the dish, hubby used butter, white pepper, shrimp, shungiku, mizuna, enoki mushrooms, rice and parmesan cheese.

Here’s another simple seafood meal, Confetti-Shrimp & Ginger-Bean Dinner:

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Equipment and All Ingredients Needed

2 Frying pans 2 Stovetop burners 6 Toothpicks

1 Knife 1 Cutting board

20 Frozen shrimp

30 Frozen green beans

3 Slices bacon

1 Small red pepper

1 Large Shitake mushroom

½ Medium white onion

½ Cup white wine

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Tablespoon minced garlic paste

1 Tablespoon sesame oil

1 Tablespoon butter

1 Tablespoon white pepper

1 Teaspoon dried oregano flakes

1 Teaspoon minced ginger paste

Whole wheat dinner rolls

Fresh chives

View video with further details.

Hubby decided to try something new, Papa’s Seafood Surprise:

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For the meal hubby used chopped bell pepper and carrot, shrimp, Shitake mushrooms, julienned squid, red miso paste, sesame oil, white pepper, minced garlic paste, minced ginger paste, scallion, and rice topped with cracked black sesame seeds.

This meal makes use of the last of the New Year leftovers, New-Years-Platter Pasta Dinner:

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For the dish, I chopped leftover New Year’s platter goodies into bite-size pieces; sautéed 10 bite-size beef chunks and 8 shrimp in olive oil and minced garlic paste; added the New Year goodies, 2 cups leftover pasta salad, a dash of white wine vinegar, and 1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes; and sprinkled with a light layer of parmesan cheese.. As an accompaniment, reheated leftover deep-fried quails eggs on-a-stick with a soy sauce dipping sauce.