Hurricane Shrimp

I suppose everyone remembers Irene, the much-overhyped hurricane of last week. Here's what we had for dinner the night she swatted at us. Yes. That's how far behind I am.

But first, this is what Irene looked like.

Jim Cantore was nowhere to be seen.

And here was the "devestation".

The horror.

Needless to say, we got off light.

Meanwhile, back in the house, where we still had lights and air conditioning and all the creature comforts, this is what I cooked. We weren't exactly roughing it, but I didn't have a whole lot of time, since we'd spent a good portion of the afternoon putting our outdoor furniture in the shed and prepping the yard for heavy wind and rain.

I diced a small onion and some pancetta and sweated that in some olive oil, then added a can of Great Northern beans. Then I chopped a bunch of kale and put that in to simmer with the beans.

Once the kale was cooked, I added some artichoke heart quarters, a diced tomato, and some black olives.

I let that simmer and got the shrimp ready. I'd gotten them fresh from Carolina Farmin', our new grocery around the corner. MAN, that's going to be convenient.  We even bought a little wheelie cart so we can walk and buy our groceries. Just like the big city people do! Except without the noise and all the people.

Anyway, I put a pan over medium-high heat and let it get hot, then drizzled in about a tablespoon of olive oil, then tossed in three minced garlic cloves and a pound of peeled and deveined shrimp. You have to devein those guys - there's nothing worse than chomping down on a bunch of sandy grit. A generous pinch of kosher salt and a pinch of red pepper flakes is all they needed, along with a little tossing around.

Then I served the beans, topped them with the shrimp, and added a sprinkling of fresh-grated parmesan cheese. Because there's not much parmesan cheese can't improve.

Serve with unnecessary candlelight. (We didn't lose power until 4:20 AM.)

It got the Pootie Seal of Approval.

He was more enthusiastic than it looks.

Here's the .pdf, if you want to have your own hurricane. (I'd recommend skipping the weather part.)