last night's surprise dinner

Here's a little cooking tip my mom never taught me: There's a little sandwich of time between 2-4 PM when you can make a brand new dinner recipe without fear, because if it doesn't turn out, you have time to throw it all away, take out the garbage, and spray air freshener everywhere before the husband gets home and no one knows a thing. Or, if it turns out to be spectacular, you throw it in Pyrex and into the fridge, clean up all the dishes, and voila, dinner's ready at 6 and no more work is left to be done. 

Thankfully, last night's dinner ended up in the latter category. 

Minus all the dishes being done. But I digress. 

While I don't eat shrimp "naked" (that means anything without breading isn't an option), I like the smell of shrimp and garlic and tomatoes and all that wonderfulness. I was really scared making this recipe because I've never cooked shrimp before in my life. After intense Googling, it sounded like walking a tightrope: undercook it and everyone will die of bacteria-related causes; overcook it and no one will be able to get it down their goozle pipe because of its tasteless rubber texture. GIMME A BREAK. I decided to make it anyway. (See first paragraph.)

You can find the recipe along with Natasha's beautiful tutorial photos here. I used chili powder instead of chili flakes because I didn't have any, and neither did Meijer. I also used a cup of chicken broth instead of dry white wine. (I won't judge you if you cook with alcohol. It all cooks out anyway. *cough sarcasm cough*) 

I think this would be best served over angel hair pasta. Make sure you wash your strainer out immediately after draining all the pasta, however. (See third paragraph.) 

So let me tell you how the story ended. I hesitantly made the recipe knowing that if I botched it, it was like throwing $18 into the garbage because that's how much a pound of shrimp costs these days. No pressure. The sauce was easy and smelled great. I dumped the angel hair into the hot water right when Chris got in the door. He walked up to me as I was stirring the sauce with the (cooked?) shrimp in it and said, "Is that...shrimp??" I nodded, and the next words out of his mouth were: "I love you!" SO, just saying, this could make your husband (or boyfriend or family or cat) REALLY happy so just go ahead and make it. The end.