The Ultimate Recipe Thread!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
61

Spamdammit JavaMaven1, that’s one fine recipe! I may have to try it with some Danish squash (what else?), and I’m wondering if the apples might retain their color a tiny bit better with a small splash of lemon juice. Not enough to taste, but merely to acidulate the apples.

As for you Ukulele Ike, I will now direct your attention to the above recipes that do not contain numbers and ask you to provide us with something like that. If you’re half the cook I think you are, you’ll be able to come up with something. So, it’s time to share, or don’t you play well with others?

PS: Ike, I agree with you completely. I once tried to teach an acquaintance how to cook. The poor sap was routinely whining about how I never measured anything. This poor anal retentive nitwit just didn’t get it. I only provide measurements so that the rest of the world can attain true enlightenment.

62

Six and a half hours I wait for someone to beg. Six and a half fucking’ hours. Ah, well, I have no pride. Here you go, Zenster. Chicken Under a Brick. Ancient Italian recipe.

Get yourself a chicken. You know, three pounds, four pounds, somewhere in there. Take your big ol’ butcher knife and hack out the backbone, then split it through the breast so you have two chicken halves.

The backbone goes into a saucepan with the neck and heart and gizzards. While you’re at it, you can chop off the wing-tips, too, and add them. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil, then turn down to a slow simmer.

Now take a good-sized shallot and three or four garlic cloves. Mince them together (throw the skins and end-pieces into the simmering saucepan) and stir them into two tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, along with a teaspoon of salt and a half-teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. And a teaspoon of dried rosemary. And a quick shot of a good red wine vinegar. (Alternatively, you can put all the stuff into your little food processor and whip them into an oily pulp.)

Take this savory mush up in your fingertips and stroke it lovingly into the split bird, both sides. Get your fingers up under the skin and massage it into the thighs and breasts. (This can all be done the night before. The longer you leave the stuff on the chicken, the better the end result. Put it in a plastic bag and refrigerate overnight. If it’s more of a spur-of-the-moment deal, don’t worry. It’s still good. But let it rest for about 20 minutes anyway to absorb the flavor. You should be making some side dishes, anyway. What, you were just going to eat a chicken for dinner? What are you, a wild animal?)

Preheat your oven to 450-500 degrees.

Now go out and find a couple of bricks. Wrap the bricks in aluminum foil.

Take a skillet large enough to hold the chicken halves, perferably non-stick, and place on a medium-high flame for about three minutes. Add a tablespoon of olive oil. Let the oil heat for a minute or so.

Now lay the chicken halves in the hot pan, skin side down. What the hell, sprinkle on a little more salt and pepper and rosemary. Take the foil-covered bricks and place one on each chicken half. The idea is to weigh down the meat, pressing as much of it to the hot metal as possible. Cook over medium-high heat for five minutes.

Now pick the whole thing up and bung it into the oven. Use oven mitts. The pan is REALLY HOT, and the weight of the bricks makes it extra-unwieldy.

Roast for fifteen minutes. Remove from the oven (CAREFUL!), remove the bricks, put them back outside to use again on next week’s chicken, and turn the halves skin-side-up. Return to the hot oven for another fifteen minutes.

Revove the chicken to a cutting board and cover with foil. Let rest for at least ten minutes…it can also be served at room temperature. Lemon wedges on the side are nice.

The Russians used to cook chickens this way, too…substitute minced onion for the shallot/garlic and paprika for the rosemary.

Hey, what smells so good back in the kitchen? By golly, you’d forgotten about that saucepan, hadn’t you? By now you’ve got a nice pot of homemade chicken stock, which can be strained, chilled, defatted, and turned into soup or sauce or gravy later on!

63

And for dessert:

Psychedellic California Strawberry Shortcake
(My own invention stolen from nowhere.)

Serves four

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 Pint high test vanilla ice cream
4 White chocolate Macadamia nut cookies
1 Basket of fresh blueberries

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Wash and pick over bluberries
Place cookies in hot oven
Remove cookies once they are soft
Place one cookie in each of four bowls
Top each cookie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream
Garnish with blueberries

Scarf while making animal noises.

The reason that the is called Psychedellic California Strawberry Shortcake is because there are no strawberries or shortcake, yet this tastes even better. Use only the specified ingredients. No others work with the correct effect. If you only have chocolate chip cookies, use raspberries.

64

“Maui Power Bars” (Spam Musubi)

Cook some Japanese short grain rice. DON’T YOU DARE COOK IT IN TWICE AS MUCH WATER! Here’s the way to make it come out like in a Japanese restaurant: Soak 2 cups of raw SHORT-GRAIN rice in water to cover for 30 minutes. Drain out the soaking water. Add 2 cups of fresh water. Bring it to a boil, uncovered. Cover the pan, reduce the heat, and simmer it for TEN MINUTES, not half an hour. Do not lift the lid to check. Take if off the heat and let it rest for twenty minutes.

Open a medium-sized can of Spam (retain the can), and slice the Spam lengthwise into slices about 3/8" thick. There should be 6 slices, if I got the can size right. Fry the slices slowly with no added fat until they are brown and slightly crisp and most of their fat is rendered out. Drain them on paper towels. Let the slices sit in a little teriyaki sauce for a short time.

Cut sheets of nori seaweed (the kind they use with sushi) into long strips about 3" wide. Pack hot cooked rice into the Spam can to form a cake of rice about the size and shape of a bar of soap. Remove the rice from the can, top it with a slice of Spam (it should fit neatly), and wrap it snugly with the strip of nori seaweed. Let them rest a little to cool off and firm up a bit. Tip: a little salt water on your hands will keep the rice from sticking, and rinsing the Spam can in salt water will keep rice from sticking to it, too.

These things are awesome for carbo-loading before a long bike ride, and they taste terrific, too. They’ll keep for one day without refrigeration, wrapped in saran wrap.

65

[rant] Aaaahhh! Pugluvr, what were you thinking? Bringing Spam… Spam… Spam… Spam… into my heretofore virginal recipe thread! Actually, racinchikki introduced Cheese Whiz so I guess that, and the fact that you’re seriously considering going to Denmark in the near future, let’s you off the hook, just this once though. [/rant]

That said, I actually want to thank you for mentioning food from a totally wacky cuisine, namely that of Hawaii. That place is such a melting pot for American and Asian foods (as your submission proves) that it is almost scary.

[hijack] Anyway pugluvr, get your butt down to Solvang, CA and tell me what you think. More details to follow in your thread.[/hijack]

66

Listen oh foolish ones, and I will tell you how to be wise in the ways of the Lobster.

If you are not fortunate to live by the coast where you can acquire your own lobsters, you must learn when the lobsters are delivered to your local market.

On this day, go and check the tank.

Usually they deliver one giant lobster into the tank. He makes people come and look. Lets say he’s three pounds.

Now there’s two things most people don’t know about Lobsters.

  1. A 3 pound Lobster has probably 3 times the meat of your basic 1 1/2 pounder. Why? The smaller lobster is mostly shell.

  2. Lobsters don’t live too long in those tanks.
    On the day the lobsters are delivered go and see if they bring a giant. If they do, make a note of it, and come back three or four days later. If the lobster is still there, now is the time to make your move.

You: “Wow, look at him, he’s pretty big!” to the fish-monger guy.

Fishmonger: Grunt grunt snort.

You: “How much does he weigh?”

Fishmonger: “3 pounds, whaddaya want?”

You: “Wow, that’s big! How long have you had him?”

Fishmonger: “I dunno a couple of days. doya want something or what?”

You: “Gee, I wonder how long they can live in there before they die? What do you do with them when they die?”

Fishmonger: (If you’ve done it right) "Yaa, were not supposed to sell him if he dies. Could make somebody sick or something. COme to think of it he’s been in there a while. Does he look sick to you? (Now the fish guy is getting scared. He gets in trouble if they die and he hasn’t sold them.)

You: (checking wallet) “Gee I’ve always wanted to treat my poor sick wife to a giant lobster, but I only have enough money for a two pounder.”

With a little luck you are now in posession of a giant discount lobster (I’ve actually done this)
Now here’s how you cook him:

Since you haven’t caught him fair and scare you don’t deserve this lobster. You must assert your manhood. Put the lobster in the sink and cut those girly rubber band things off his claws.

He will now attack you.

Grab your biggest knife and wrestle the lobster onto his back. Watch out that he doesn’t snip off a finger with one of those claws!

Once he’s on his back, place the knife in the seem on his chest going lengthwise between his legs. Place the widest part directly over his head.

WIth all your strength slam the heel of your other hand down on the end of the knife (make sure the sharp side is facing the lobster. THis will kill him instantly (Ok, he may jump around and fight a bundh but keep hitting the knife with your hand, and eventually it will die.)

Congratulations, you’ve slain a lobster now you are a man! (Don’t let them do this for you at the store.)

Use the knife and continue to split the lobster all the way down the inside of the shell.

IF the monster had roe, leave it you are lucky.

Place butter pads inside the lobsters body cavity (If you want you can add a touch of chopped garlic, but I wouldn’t,) and put him back together (sadly he won’t come back to life. He’s really dead. You killed him.)

Stretch his claws over his head and wrap him up in tin foil. One layer only.

You should have a nice BBQ going by now. Start your french fries (as described in the steak post,) start your creamed spinach, and wrap your corn up in tin foil.

Place corn and lobster on BBQ and cover.

Melt butter.

Depending on the heat, of your BBQ your lobster will be ready to flip in five or ten minutes. Do not overcook your lobster. He will turn into galvanized rubber.

WHen done, serve on platter with aforementioned accoutrements. Crack claws, and tail, dip meat in butter. You are now in Heaven!

Do not boil your lobster, please don’t. Remember this being gave its life for you. You owe it to that lobster to cook it properly.

When finished save all the shells and boil them for an hour or so with an onion and a celery stalk. Drain the liquid discard the shells and freeze your stock. It is useful for all kinds of things.

Drink beer. Be proud of yourself.

67

[Peter Lorre] You idiot, look what you’ve done! You fat bloated English toad, you’ve ruined it all!", [/Peter Lorre]

You left out the small filet mignons (edges dredged in cracked black pepper) from the menu. Other than that is the fact that three pound lobsters tend to be four times tougher than nice little Maine lobsters (half-chickens, as they are called in the trade) of 1 to 1 1/2 pounds weight. Trust me Scylla, jab your fork into a chunk of lobster and then a nugget of filet mignon. Then drench the entire gobbet with melted butter and you will hear the angels sing. (Yeah, I know you’re having a coronary, but so what?).

We will talk about the bottle of champagne, “Lobsters on their noses”, recipe at another time.

Keep Firin’ Scylla!

68

You are only half right Zenster. Yes the Surf n turf combo is to die for (damn you I was going to get to that, I’ve been building,)

but the larger lobsters being tougher is a myth perpetuated by us large lobster lovers.

Ask the head chef at the Palm Too restaurant in New York. Better yet, try it yourself. I once had a four and a half pound lobster and he was heavenly. What affects the inherent toughness of the lobster is where he is in his growth stage. If you ever had a lobster that had that pink pseudoshell inside his real shell, than you know what I mean. As the lobster prepares to molt this shell material builds up in the meat. At this point the meat is the toughest. Then it actually becomes the pseudoshell (the meats pretty tough right here too. After it molts, the lobster goes into hiding and won’t come out for anything so is rarely caught, but here it is very tender indeed. When the lobster’s shell has hardened and he comes out to eat again, he is ravenous, and it is here that he is most often caught(and also right before they molt.) Smaller lobsters molt more often so you are likelier to get a small lobster at this relatively delicious stage, than a large lobster. But if you examine your loster’s shell carefully prior to purchase it is possible to determine how recently he molted. Look for scars, and a deeper red almost black texture. This will signify an old shell, and therefore a tough lobster, but get one with a clean almost pink shell and he will be very tender regardless of size.

It is true that it is easy to overcook the large lobster, and hence make it tougher. Great skill is recquired when one attempts greatness, but it has always been so.

69

Zenster: I know Spam Spam Spam Spam is usually an abomination, but you know, these things are seriously addictive. I did a 'net search about them once, and read about Hawaiian kids who are going to college on the mainland developing powerful Spam musubi cravings. Every couple of weeks, Mr. Pug makes a plaintive request that I fix some for breakfast before a long bike ride. They’re relatively easy to do, so I oblige. They’re really into Spam in Hawaii, and do a lot of creative recipes utilizing it. Go figure.

And yes, I’ve been to Solvang and the Santa Ynez Valley many times. We loved riding our bikes throughout the valley, especially on Foxen Canyon Road. Afterwards, being thirsty from the exercise, we’d repair to one of the places in town that served Carlsberg on tap, and on our way out of town, we’d stop at a bakery and I’d stock up on almond horns. Yum yum num!

70

Hommards sur les neige
(Lobsters on their noses)

Preparation time: 1 1/2 Hours

Serves 2-4 people

Ingredients:

2 Medium size Maine lobsters (1.5-2 Lbs. each)
1 Bottle of decent Brut Champagne
4-6 Ribs of celery (plus some of the leaves)
2-3 Carrots
2-3 Shallots
1 1/2 Cubes of butter
1 Lemon
1/8 Tsp ground white pepper
Salt to taste
Preparation:

Remove the strings from the celery by breaking the top part backwards and pulling it down the length of the rib, removing as many strings as possible. Peel the carrots and shallots and pull out a few of the leaves from the bunch of celery. Cut all of the vegetables into fine dice (4mm cubes). In a pot large enough to stand the lobsters on end, melt the butter over medium heat. When the butter begins to foam, add the vegetables and reduce the heat. Stir occasionally and be careful to avoid browning the vegetables. Once the shallots are translucent add the bottle of Champagne. Bring the pot to a simmer. Wash off the lobsters and remove their antennae and any rubber bands from their claws (beware getting pinched!). Stand the lobsters on their noses in the pot. If they are still thrashing around a bit you may need to go in and retrieve them after they have fainted and stand them up again. Reduce the pot to a low simmer. Cover the pot tightly and refrain from peeking too much. Once in a while ladle some of the broth over the lobsters. It is important to have the lobsters on their noses so that all the delicious juices drain out of them into the vegetables. Once the lobsters have turned a bright pink wait another twenty minutes for them to cook through (~30-40 minutes total). When they are done cooking, remove them and allow them to rest while you reduce the stock with the cover off of the pot. You should have a few cups of rich, delicious vegetables. Add a little salt to taste and maybe a pinch of white pepper. Cut some lemon wedges and melt some butter to serve with the lobsters.

Serve with rice or toast points with herbed butter.

Note: I am not overly fond of the “coral” from lobsters, yet this dish was one of the best I’ve ever had. For those of you who insist upon only broiled or steamed lobster, please try this recipe. Until I tried this I used to feel that way too.

71

Carnitas
(Little Pieces of Meat)

Serves 4-8 people

Preparation time: 1-2 1/2 hours

Ingredients:

2-3 Lbs. streaky unsmoked pork picnic
2 Dozen fresh white corn tortillas
1-2 Tbs salt
1/4 Cup vegetable oil or lard
Preparation:

Start warming the oil or lard in a medium cook pot over low heat. Bone out the pork shoulder starting with the skin first. Be sure to leave a lot of the feathery fat on the meat as you remove the skin. Turn up the heat to medium high and start frying the skin in the hot oil/fat. Be sure to add some salt as the skin crisps. Continue to bone out the meat in the largest chunks possible. Once all of the skin is fried, remove it and drain on paper towels.

Bring the pot back up to high heat and slowly add the chunks of meat. Wait for the fat to sizzle before adding another piece, otherwise you will release too much juice into the fat and begin stewing the meat. Beware of spatters as you do this. Add all of the chunks of meat and turn them occasionally, adding salt if necessary. The meat should have a good crust to it before removing it from the fat. Reserve the fat for later use.

Here is where the options begin. For a more tender type of meat, take the fried chunks and cut them into one inch cubes. Place them in a small pot and add enough water or chicken stock to barely cover them and bring to a simmer. After about an hour they will fall apart when you merely look at them.

For crispier meat, simmer the chunks for about half an hour and then return them to the hot fat for another round of crisping. You will be sampling this often enough to find the exact point of perfection, trust me on this.

Warm a flat iron (comal) over medium heat and, one by one, warm the tortillas. When they begin to bubble, turn them over and heat the other side. Place each heated tortilla on a plate with a lid or bowl over them to keep in the heat. Periodically turn the entire stack over as you add a heated tortilla to keep the whole stack warm.

For the most authentic flavor I strongly recommend using either homemade salsa or Herdez brand Salsa Casera in the small can imported from Mexico. This is hands down one of the finest salsas anywhere. Sadly, the same brand in the jars has been hit or miss, so I stick with the cans.

Both the Herdez salsa and the fresh tortillas should be found at any Mexican Market. If you have difficulty finding the salsa, please post to that effect and I will post the recipe for it. If you are unable to find fresh white corn tortillas, use yellow corn tortillas and deep fry them in oil to get a good hard shell. Using flour tortillas will ruin the flavor of this recipe.

There you have it. Carnitas, tortillas and some salsa. Pure heaven on a plate. Let me know how it works for you and I will be happy to help you fine tune your recipes.

72

Oh man, Carnitas! I had forgotten. It should be against the law to do anything to a pig but cut him up into little square chunks of Carnita.

Thanks Zen, Your a good guy for reminding me of this, even if you don’t know shit about lobster.

73

I’ve never had any complaints about my lobster cookery. From your post Scylla, I can only suppose that you refuse to eat pate, bacon or sausages. Mon pauvre petit, self deprivation is such an ugly thing.

(We’ll be nice and ignore the redundancy in your post.)

74

You will need a huge pot, a coat hanger, 3-4 gallons of oil, a very hot outside burner, a long meat thermometer, a 14-18 pound turkey. Go to Agway or a livestock store and by an intramuscular horse needle.

Melt butter, add seasoning (My mix again is secret) Suck spiced butter up in syringe and inject all over turkey. Rub a little bit of salt and black pepper on skin.

Put oil in pot and heat to 400 degrees. Some like peanut oil, others vegetable. Since you are using so much oil, go with the cheap stuff or your oil will cost more than the turkey.

Hang turkey on coat hanger so the neck opening is facing down (If you do it the other way you’ll get a geyser when you drop it in the oil.) Be sure the hanger is secure.

Take other end of hanger and attach it to a broomstick.

Turn the heat off and dip the turkey all the way into the oil.

When splattering stops, clean oil off outside of pot, and bring heat to 375 degrees. Cook 3 minutes a pound.

For God’s sakes don’t try this with one of those self-basting turkeys, get a fresh one. Don’t trust those Pop out when their done breast inserts your modern turkeys seem to come with. The oil seems to short circuit them.

While turkey is cooling now is a good time to make french fries. Throw whole potatos into the oil. they will cook in 5-7 minutes. What I like to do is make mashed potatos the traditional way. Then I take a big gob and throw it in the oil. Fried mashed potatos! MMMMMMMMMmmmmm! MMMM good!

You will need to make your own gravy and stuffing if you want them, but it will be one of the freshest most tender and juicy turkeys you’ve ever had.

It’s al;so quite an impressive thing to do, when you have guests, which is half the fun.

75

Zenster said:

"From your post Scylla, I can only suppose that you refuse to eat pate, bacon
or sausages. Mon pauvre petit, self deprivation is such an ugly thing. "

Oh no, it’s just that carnitas are the highest achievement you can attain with a pig. I haven’t had them for years, but I will this Friday thanks to you!

Get the big lobster buddy. Don’t be afraid.

76

BTW I must be going insane, cause I don’t have any idea what you mean by redundancy.

77

Ignoring the internal plural singular conflict, “little square chunks of Carnita” is redundant in that carnitas already means, “little pieces of meat”.

Hey, not to split hares (giggle) in a recipe thread Scylla. Besides, you’re the only one who contributes a single recipe for every three that I submit. Anyone who bumps my thread that much gets a little slack from me.

78

Ok, I got it.

Now I would like to discuss a very controversial topic: the omelette.
You are allowed to cook your omelette with two or three eggs. There is a lot of controversy as to what you should add. Some people add milk. DON’T do this. You may add a very small amount of water or preferably stock (pork stock works good) if you feel you must. I like to add a dash of black pepper, a dash of salt, and a hint of tabasco. I whip the egg until it’s frothy, but I don’t overwork it.

At this time you may begin to consider what you will add to your omelette. There is a tendency to overload the omelette. This is wrong. Remember, less is more. There is also a tendency to overuse meat and cheese. Again this is wrong.

I use thinly sliced onion, thinly sliced mushroom, Jalapeno, and green pepper (a hint of garlic is good too). Tiny cubes of exceptional ham are also acceptable. I fry these in the barest bit of butter until they are translucent, but still crisp. I use a large black cast iron frying pan. You NEED one of these if you wish to cook ANYTHING at all well. They hoild heat like nothing else, and properly seasoned, they are as stick free as teflon.

To season a cast iron pan, clean it thoroughly, take a paper towel and a little bit of olive oil, and wipe the pan until it is thinly coated inside and out. Chop some garlic very fine and add a teaspoon of olive oil into the pan. Heat on medium stirring occasionally for several hours. Let cool. Wipe pan out with a paper towel, and then repeat this process at least once more.

Whenever you are finished cooking with this pan you should only clean it very briefly with a wire brush, water and a towel. Reheat it to sterilize.

Back to the omelette:

At this point some people pour their batter over their sauteed veggies. This is a mistake. Remove your veggies from pan, than add batter. Let it cook on medium for 30 seconds or so, and then add your veggies. As your omelette starts to firm around the edges you may add a small quantity of shredded cheese. Use a sharp cheddar or a monterey jack.

Now you must flip. You know your omellette is ready to flip when you have confidence that doing so will not cause the interior to come sliding out. You must flip at this moment. Not before, and not after.

Flipping wil determine your manhood. Use a spatula? You are a pussy. Use a wooden spoon? Hey you are ok. Do it by giveing the pan a tilt so the omellete almost slides out and then a quick flip of the wrist to fold it neatly in half? You are a God.

Allow the omellette to cook very briefly in this position then flip it over for a lick and a promise on the other side. Again your flipping style will determine your quality as a human being.

Slide onto a plate, and serve with hash browns, dark coffee, two slices of bacon, a New York Garlic Bagel with cream cheese, and half a grapefruit.

79

ahem… Pardon me. I know I’m just a newbie, but I’d like to contribute something too, if I may:
Linguine with Shrimp, Spinach and Lemon
1 cup water
1 1/4 pounds medium shrimp – shelled
6 Tablespoons olive oil – devided
3 garlic cloves – minced
1/4 teaspoon dried chili flakes
juice of 1 lemon (about 3-4 Tbsp)
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh mint – finely chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper
2 ripe roma tomatoes – chopped
10 Ounces fresh spinach – wash, trim & tear
1 pound linquine – uncooked

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta. Meanwhile, in a small pot, bring the cup of water to a simmer. Peel the shrimp and put shells in the water, setting aside the shrimp in a bowl. Let shrimp shells simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Then strain the broth and reserve 1/2 cup.

To the reserved raw shrimp, add 4 tablespoons olive oil, garlic, chile, lemon juice, zest, mint, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to coat shrimp and set aside to marinate.

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet, add the tomato and cook over high heat, stirring for 5 minutes. (it will pretty nearly disolve in that time) Add reserved shrimp broth and cook 3 minutes longer. Add shrimp mixture and salt to taste. Then add the spinach and cook, stirring often, until the shrimp are cooked through and the spinach is wilted, about 5 to 7 minutes. Meanwhile, add the linguine to the boiling water and cook until al dente; drain. place in a serving bowl and pour sauce over top. Serve immediately.
NOTES : If you use peeled cooked shrimp instead of raw shrimp, chop 2 shrimp and combine with 1/2 cup boiling water to use in place of broth. When using prcooked shrimp in this recipe heat the shrimp, when mixed into tomato broth mixture, for just two minutes. Do not over heat.
ALSO: I like to marinate the shrimp a little longer, so I usually peel them ahead of time.
Another also: If you object to bits of tomato skin in your food you can peel them but dropping them in boiling water for 30 seconds to a minute and immediatly plunging them into ice water. But you knew that, didn’t you?

80

Hi Bumbazine! Thanks for your contribution. I’m glad that you posted at this thread so early in your boarding career here at Straight Dope. Since your recipe calls for a lot of shrimp, I’d like to breakaway from my critique of Scylla’s omelette posting and bump in a quick recipe. This one is very obscure but really tasty. Please refer to the ramen thread for more about sesame chile oil.

Tokyo Popcorn

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Serves 2-4 people
Ingredients:

2-6 Tbs shrimp or prawn legs
1 Tbs butter
4-8 Drops sesame chile oil
Preparation:

Warm a small skillet or sauce pan over low heat. Harvest the legs of the shellfish you are peeling. The lower the count (per pound) the better flavor this dish will have. To harvest the legs, merely clasp them between your thumb and forefinger and pull smartly all at once. Then proceed with the regular peeling process. Once you have all of the legs separated, add the butter to the pan and raise the heat to medium. Once the butter begins to foam, add the legs and sesame chile oil. You may turn off the heat almost immediately as the pan will finish cooking without it. Scoop the legs to one side and drain them in the tilted pan. Serve hot.