The Waiting Game

Literary meanderings: It's been a month since I got the word that the agent who will "eat your stuff up" has my novel. No word. As the old saying goes, no news is good news. I have a couple other options left should she say, "thanks, but no thanks." In the meantime, I put World of Mirrors into one mega document with 2 maps of the area where the book takes place. Don't have the recipes at the back, yet (only 3 for this book). The whole business is off to an editor which I hope will give me a great chance to find an agent/publisher for the book, which is a fun romp through a Baltic backwater with a bunch of really bad but funny guys. Working on a travel article for another blog. Sending a short story to a mag. Getting back into Festival Madness.

Culinary Meanderings: discovered none of my cookbooks had a decent recipe for corned beef and cabbage. Found recipes on the web and combined two. Delicious results. Made a soup from the broth and added veggies, barley and a little bit of corned beef. It is the soup of the day.

Last night's dinner: I have made this and it is quick and good and what else do you ever want?

Recipe: Baked Shrimp in Chipotle Sauce
1/2 stick unsalted butter (no substitutions)
1/4 cup dry red wine
1 1/2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 to 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, minced, plus 1 T. adobo sauce (see note)
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 lb. medium shrimp in shell

2 - 3 qt. ceramic or glass shallow baking dish: I used 7 x 10 pyrex.
Accompaniament: baguette
You could also use white rice or corn tortillas.
I served this with a salad of lettuce and avocado with cherry tomatoes and a little cilantro and a bit of shallot, all finely chopped. Home made blue cheese dressing.

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.
Melt butter in a saucepan and stir in wine, Worcestershire sauce , chipotles with adobo sauce, garlic and salt. Toss shrimp with sauce in baking dish and bake until shrimp are just cooked through, 10 -12 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

Significant other is from the old school where one doesn't eat with one's fingers, and so I peeled the shrimp first, but no need to. The bread mops up all the good sauce.

This is from the January 2006 Gourmet by way of epicurious.com which has some dynamite recipes.

Another note: Chipotle chiles in adobo can be found here and there at specialty stores and your local supermarket. A can lasts just about forever. Use it when you need fire and smoke in a Mexican recipes.

Technical Meanderings: how to use Bookmarks in Word. Great little tool for us writers.

http://www.floggingthequill.com/flogging_the_quill/2004/11/computer_tip_ma.html