today was a great day. i'm just going to lead with that. nothing crazy got accomplished. i didn't earn a bunch of money. no jobs were secured. but, it was a great day. 

after teaching my usual tuesday morning class, i headed to a swim lesson with two of my favorite little boys. we just started back up now that it is warming up and they pretty much have me in stitches for a solid hour. i followed that up with a few hours at the beach with wesley (who has a rare day off now that nobu is open) which lead into a really solid beach nap. there aren't too many things better in life than a beach nap. my nap was followed up with some really great news about a job we have coming up and finished off with one of my all time favorite dishes in the garden. with rose. mic drop. 

if you are like me, and don't give a shit about garlic breath, this is a great meal to serve for date night. it is light, zesty and delicious. not to mention, it cooks up quickly so you have plenty of time to actually enjoy yourself. 

shrimp scampi
serves: 2
prep time: 10 minutes
active time: 10 minutes
total time: 20 minutes
ingredients: .5lb peeled and deveined shrimp (i found and argentinian red shrimp at my local fish guy that was delicious). .5lb spaghetti pasta (fresh if you can get your hands on some). 4 garlic cloves, minced. .25 cup grated parmesan cheese. zest of 1 lemon. 4 lemon slices. 2 tbs lemon juice. 2 tbs butter. 2 tbs olive oil. 1 tbs parsley, chopped. 1 tsp oregano, finely chopped. 1 tsp red pepper flakes. 1 tsp kosher salt. .5 tsp pepper. 

start by bringing a pot of salted water to a boil. cook your pasta to the package instructions. try to time the completion of the pasta around the time you complete your shrimp (pay attention to the cook time on your pasta) while your water is boiling and you are cooking your pasta, work on the rest of your dish. pat your shrimp dry and season it well with half the salt and pepper. 

in a large pan, heat you butter and oil with the garlic and red pepper flakes over medium high heat. you want the butter to start to sizzle, but not burn. be careful as garlic can burn quickly. 

once the garlic is fragrant and the butter is bubbling, about 2 minutes, add in the shrimp. cook until the shrimp is cooked through (slightly firm to the touch) about 5 minutes. 

add in your lemon wedges, juice, lemon zest, oregano and the rest of the salt and pepper. stir well to combine. cook until the liquid starts to bubble. 

toss in half the parsley and the cheese. stir well to combine. 

toss in the cooked pasta and toss everything together. 

serve on a platter or plated topped with the rest of the parsley and cheese. 

xo, a

shrimp scampi
serves: 2
prep time: 10 minutes
active time: 10 minutes
total time: 20 minutes
ingredients: .5lb peeled and deveined shrimp (i found and argentinian red shrimp at my local fish guy that was delicious). .5lb spaghetti pasta (fresh if you can get your hands on some). 4 garlic cloves, minced. .25 cup grated parmesan cheese. zest of 1 lemon. 4 lemon slices. 2 tbs lemon juice. 2 tbs butter. 2 tbs olive oil. 1 tbs parsley, chopped. 1 tsp oregano, finely chopped. 1 tsp red pepper flakes. 1 tsp kosher salt. .5 tsp pepper.
start by bringing a pot of salted water to a boil. cook your pasta to the package instructions. try to time the completion of the pasta around the time you complete your shrimp (pay attention to the cook time on your pasta) while your water is boiling and you are cooking your pasta, work on the rest of your dish. pat your shrimp dry and season it well with half the salt and pepper. in a large pan, heat you butter and oil with the garlic and red pepper flakes over medium high heat. you want the butter to start to sizzle, but not burn. be careful as garlic can burn quickly. once the garlic is fragrant and the butter is bubbling, about 2 minutes, add in the shrimp. cook until the shrimp is cooked through (slightly firm to the touch) about 5 minutes. add in your lemon wedges, juice, lemon zest, oregano and the rest of the salt and pepper. stir well to combine. cook until the liquid starts to bubble. toss in half the parsley and the cheese. stir well to combine. toss in the cooked pasta and toss everything together. serve on a platter or plated topped with the rest of the parsley and cheese. 

hands down, the hardest thing to learn in the kitchen, was how to cook a chicken breast perfectly. recipes involving chicken breasts would always say something vague, leaving me with way to much room for error. so here is a breakdown of how to get that perfectly cooked, well seasoned chicken breast every time.

to execute your perfect cookery, start with a few simple ingredients. a 4-6 oz chicken breast (no thicker than .75 inch thick and as even as possible). 1 tbs olive or vegetable oil. .25 tsp kosher salt. couple pinches of fresh ground pepper. large nonstick or cast iron pan. aluminum foil. paper towel. start by trimming any extra membranes or unwanted skin from the chicken breast. using a paper towel, pat your chicken dry. this is very important to ensure that you get a nice browned, flavorful outside. once you have patted your chicken dry. 

season both sides of your chicken with salt and pepper. then, place your oil in your pan and heat over medium high heat. 

when your oil is nice and hot (it will look a little shiny) gently place your chicken into the pan, being careful to lay it in the direction going away from you, ensuring you do not splatter oil on yourself. 

allow the chicken to cook, undisturbed until you can start to see the edges cooking through. about 3 to 4 minutes. 

once you see your chicken edges cooking through, gently flip your chicken breast. 

let it complete cooking,, undisturbed for and additional 3-4 minutes. the chicken is cooked through when the internal temp reaches 165 f, HOWEVER here are the important details they fail to tell you! foods continue to cook after they are removed from heat, so you don't want to cook your chicken all the way to 165 in the pan. if you do so, when you remove it and allow it to rest, the chicken will actually over cook. so, if you are not used to gauging the doneness of chicken by look or feel (the chicken should feel like the muscle at the base of your thumb when it is cooked through) and you are using a meat thermometer, you want to cook it between 155-160 degrees f. 

so once you have determined your chicken is done (it is cooked to temp and golden brown on both sides) remove it from the pan and allow it to rest. resting is very important in ensuring a moist piece of chicken. moisture absorbs back into proteins as they cool down, so give your chicken about 5-7 minutes to rest before slicing into it. 

once it is removed from the pan, loosely tent the chicken breast with foil. 

once the chicken has rested, slice and enjoy.

xo, a