Pickled Shrimp and Black Water Rising

I have wanted to make pickled shrimp for a while now, so when I was perusing the amazing cookbook Texas Eats to find inspiration for something to make inspired by Houston, Texas, these shrimp jumped out at me.  Pickled shrimp are not mentioned in Attica Locke's Black Water Rising, but they seemed somewhat appropriate since the book is set in Houston and the gulf and bayous of the city are a strong presence in the story.   The book is about Jay Porter, a young struggling attorney, and the mess he gets himself into by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  On the night of his anniversary, Jay takes his pregnant wife Bernadine on a boat ride on the Houston bayou that was a half-hearted attempt at romance.  The couple and their boat captain run into trouble when they hear screaming and gun shots, and then pick up a woman in the bayou who is fully dressed and shoeless.  By rescuing the woman and not reporting what happened to the police, Jay sets off on a path that will cause him immense stress and put his family in danger.  Neither Jay nor the reader knows what happened that night on the bayou or how the woman he rescued is involved, and it is the quest for answers to these questions that drives the plot forward.  This novel felt like a departure from what I usually read - it felt like a Grisham novel with more depth and less law.   I didn't love this book, but do plan on trying one of Attica Locke's other novels.  More about the book and shrimp after the jump.

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Happy New Year: Pear and Ginger Sparkler

 

One last cocktail for 2012, a simple pear and ginger cocktail with the sparkling wine of your choice 0 champagne, cava, prosecco, sparkling grape juice - whatever works for you.  I went with prosecco.  I love champagne, but when I am mixing it with something else, I think cheaper alternatives make sense, and I think a decent prosecco is way better than a cheap champagne - I am a sucker for the good stuff.  I think pear and ginger are a great combination, and perfectly seasonal for a winter cocktail.  The recipe below makes 1 cup of ginger syrup - more than you will need for a few of these cocktails, but it is very versatile and would be great in other cocktails, drizzled in tea of stirred into yogurt.  However you are celebrating, I wish all of you a happy and healthy new year!

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Cocktail Hour: Coconut Eggnog

One last gasp before Christmas, an easy lighter version of eggnog, made with light coconut milk instead of milk.  I say lighter, cause this version is still full of egg yolks, but I really liked what the coconut milk brought to the party - instant flavoring and a great combo with the dark rum.  This came together quickly and could be a real wow if you are still looking for a wow to serve guests during the holiday.  It also is the perfect treat for just you, even a treat you could indulge in after Christmas, especially as, at least for me here in Boston, a long winter stretches out before you.  For those of you that celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a wonderful holiday.  For those of you that don't, I hope you have restful day off and some delicious Chinese food!

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Vegan Enchiladas and Arcadia

Vegan Cheese is definitely not my thing, but I knew I had to use it when I finished reading Lauren Groff's incredible Arcadia.   The book is about a commune called Arcadia in upstate New York, and specifically a little boy who grows up in the middle of it - Bit Stone.  I was really happy to see the book make a few Best of the Year lists, because I really really loved it.  Through the eyes of young Bit, Groff depicts the ups and downs of commune life.  B While living on the commune can be a challenge, Bit is surrounded by nature, by other kids (the "kid herd"), and by people who love him.  The book is essentially divided in thirds - the first part is when Bit is a young child and then a teenager, the second part when he is an adult living in New York City with a child of his own, and last, Groff fast forwards to the future of 2018, where the world is a much bleaker and more dangerous place.  Each of these three parts are really different.  The most transportive section is the first, where the narrative is not quite straight and as a reader you really feel you are seeing the world from little Bit's perspective.  Bit is a vegan, and dinner in his family trailer with his father Abe, and mother, Hannah, was often Abe's soy cheese enchiladas.  I knew I couldn't make soy cheese the centerpiece of these enchiladas, so instead these are filled with a wonderful vegetable medley of onion, corn, shitakes and butternut squash.  I kept the soy cheese to a minimum, sprinkling a but on the top - and I must admit, while it wasn't great, it wasn't so bad either. 

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