Shrimp Milanese with Lemon Cream Sauce

After looking at my credit and debit card history, and the amount of food in my kitchen/fridge I have determined that I spend way too much money on groceries for 1 person! So the idea is I will buy only fresh items like veggies or milk that complete recipes that can be made from ingredients that I already have. Sounds good, right? Of course, the first recipes will definitely be the easiest..let's see how this works 3 weeks from now! My first idea: shrimp that has been in my freezer for...um...a while, Parmesan , frozen spinach and zucchini I got at Trader Joe' last week. The recipe: Parmesan-crusted shrimp over pasta with a creamy lemon sauce, and some vegetables thrown in for good measure (and better nutrition).

For Lemon Cream Pasta:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, diced finely
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup cream
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken stock
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup frozen spinach, defrosted and drained in colander over sink
2 small zucchini, sliced horizonally into thin slices
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 box cooked pasta-linguine, angel hair, tagliatelle, fettuccine...

For Parmesan-Crusted Shrimp:
1 lb large shrimp, deveined & shells removed

1/3 cup plain dry bread crumbs
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Sprinkle of dried basil and dried parsley
2 tablespoons butter

To Make Lemon Cream Pasta:
Heat olive oil in large saute pan over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute for about 3 minutes, turning heat down to medium after adding, and stirring often to ensure they do not stick to pan and burn.

Add zucchini and saute for a minute on each side. Add in lemon juice, lemon zest and chicken stock. Whisk together and allow it to come to a boil then reduce heat. Simmer about 15 minutes; it should thicken up a bit at this point.

Add the spinach (squeeze beforehand to ensure excess liquid does not enter pasta sauce) and cook in the sauce for a few minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cream.

Stir in Parmesan cheese and pour sauce over cooked pasta.

To Make Parmesan-Crusted Shrimp:
Mix together cheese, bread crumbs, and spices over large plate. Coat shrimp with mixture.

Melt 1/2 butter in large saute pan over medium high heat. Add 1/2 of shrimp and cook for 2 minutes on each side, they should be golden. Remove from pan and set aside. Melt remaining butter and cook remaining shrimp.

Serve shrimp over lemon cream past~voila! And I didn't have to buy any ingredients to make it either...free dinner always tastes better!

What ingredients have been hanging around your kitchen for too long? Maybe with a little freezer burn, stale nature or been on the shelf and will expire if you don't use it in the next month of two...let me know your ideas! (I just may use them with my bajillion items chilling in my kitchen-pun intended)

Pastelon de Platanos con Camarones

Do you ever get a dish stuck in your head and then you daydream about its smell, texture and taste until you realize that making the dish may be a life or death situation? I'm undergoing one of these urgent matters, all whilst studying for a nursing exam tomorrow morning.

Orinoco is a Venezuelan restaurant that opened its first location at the corner of Shawmut and East Concord, near Boston Medical Center in Boston's South End. Arepas, empanadas, slow-cooked beef (pabellon criollo), sweet plantains, molten chocolate cake...these are just some of my favorite thing to eat at Orinoco. While service varies between locations, the food is simply heavenly.

On my most recent visit to their Brookline Village location, my boyfriend was smart enough to order the appetizer special: fried oysters over a bed of mashed sweet plantains, gooey cheese (Fontina perhaps? I couldn't figure it out) and bitter sauteed spinach. The contrasting sweet/bitter & gooey/crunchy nature of the dish was a-frickin-mazing. I am not a big oyster girl-never cared for them, especially not (god forbid) raw, but did enjoy this fried version. That being said, in my recreation, I am going to use shrimp; cheaper, easier to cook, pleases more people. Case closed.

To Make Plantain Pie (PHOTO up tomorrow evening):

5 large ripe plantains
1 1/2 cups chopped baby spinach (I used frozen spinach and let it defrost, then drain)
1 cup shredded fontina
1/2 lb chipotle shrimp
Canola oil (enough to come up about 1/3 inch in saute pan)

Preheat oven to 400.

Cut ends from plantains and peel. Sllice each plantain lengthwise into 4 pieces. In a 12-inch skillet heat oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking and saute pieces in batches(test 1 pieces of plantain-if oil does not mostly cover plantain, add more and heat before adding the remaining pieces), without crowding, until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes on each side (use spatulas to turn slices). With a spatula transfer plantains to a paper towel to drain. Flatten strips with plantain peel.

Place 1/2 of plantain slices alongside each other to cover bottom layer of pie dish, forming an impromptu pie crust.

Cover plantains with baby spinach. Sprinkle fontina cheese over spinach.

Spread shrimp evenly over spinach and cheese. Use remaining plantain slices to cover shrimp and press down.

Cook in oven about 25-30 minutes, until plantain is turning golden.

Let sit 5 minutes before slicing.