Feels hungry. Takes a peak in her refrigerator. Scans her pantry. Thinks, “Oh man! Nothing in here to make a decent meal. Ugh, do I have to go to the store in this weather?” She notices a bag of pretzels and thinks, “Ahhh, my trusty salty snack!” She hesitates before the bag, sneering at a single potato. Thinks, “What? Another starch?” Looks in her freezer. She sees a bag of frozen fully cooked shrimp. Eying some loose lemons at the top tier of a hanging basket near the window, the ideas begin to sprout in her head. Anything to avoid the cold. She’s admonished that a tiny peak in her fridge hinted that an urgent trip to the grocery store is required if she is going to eat like a decent human being. It also suggested that if she didn’t want to have scrambled eggs – again – then it is definitely time to slip into those winter boots and hit those slush covered Brooklyn streets. She thinks, “Hmmm. I’ve got some greens here.” But she’s not in the mood for that. She’s hungry. Feeling slightly defeated, she is at the brink of surrendering to the bitter winter cold. It is that time to stock up on fridge and pantry staples, she supposes. It has been a little over a week since the last trip. It was time to do that again.  She senses the dread. A trip to the supermarket is inevitable. 

That is, unless…she postpones it for one more day. 

 

Recipe:

Wasabi Aioli

• 2 egg yolks
• 1 soft poached egg
• 3 tablespoons of water (optional)
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon wasabi (equal parts powdered horseradish and water)
• salt to taste

Poach 1 egg soft so that egg white is semi-solid and yolk is still runny, about 2 minutes. Set aside in a small bowl to cool off. In a food processor or blender, add egg yolks, water (optional), wasabi, and cooled poached egg. Blend ingredients. While food processor or blender is still running, pour the extra virgin olive oil into the mixture in a nice, slow and steady stream. Add salt to taste. Pour aioli into a squeeze bottle.

Herbed-Chili Fries

• safflower oil, just under 1/4 cup
• 1 large Russet Burbank potato, cut into sticks (like fries)
• 1 sprig of rosemary, a little extra roughly chopped
• chili powder to taste
• salt to taste

Boil water in a saucepan and quickly blanch potato strips for about 2 minutes. Strain and let cool completely on paper towel. In a frying skillet, heat safflower oil on medium heat. When oil is hot enough (place palm of your hand over oil, when it starts to feel uncomfortably hot that’s when you know the oil is hot enough), add cooled blanched potato sticks to the skillet. Fry potato sticks until golden brown, approximately 5 – 7 minutes. Do not keep unattended to avoid burning. Place fries on paper towel to drain excess oil. In a metal bowl, mix fries with chopped rosemary, chili powder and coarse sea salt to taste.

Pretzel Crusted Prawns

• Handful of pretzel sticks
• 5 thawed frozen cooked shrimp
• 1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• reused safflower oil

In a food processor, take a generous handful of pretzel sticks and pulse until it becomes a mixture of fine powder and tiny crumbs. Place the powder/crumbs into a small metal bowl and add shrimp, thinly sliced lemon, and rosemary sprig. Mix thoroughly to coat each ingredient. The safflower oil should be sufficiently hot from the fries, but if not reheat. Remove shrimp, lemon, and rosemary sprig from bowl, shaking off excess pretzel powder/crumbs very gently, and add to hot oil. Fry for approximately 2 minutes, no longer. Shrimp is already cooked, so it’s only a matter of crisping everything. Place on paper towel to soak up excess oil. No salt necessary as the pretzel sticks ares sufficiently salty.

Plating

Place fries and pretzel crusted prawns onto paper (wax paper, parchment paper, or butcher paper, doesn’t matter). Re-season if necessary. Squeeze desired amount of wasabi aioli into small ramekins for dipping. Alternately, simply drizzle the wasabi aioli over prawns and fries in a pretty fashion. Brooklyn, EAT your heart out!