Father's Day... Belated Post...

I am still trying to get into the swing of summer and here we are nearly in the middle of July! I have some serious catching up to do... on this blog, on my work and on my R & R!

As I have mentioned a few times previously, I have not been cooking much. WHEN I actually have cooked, I either did not take photos or have not had time to upload and post.

So the deal this time (for father's day) I was asked to do an appetizer. I did a crab stuffed mushroom which came out ????? So so I would say. Mostly I think due to the Trader Joes canned crab. I DO think it would be much much better if I had used fresh crab or something to that effect.

Then at the suggestion of Peter at Kalofagas, I decided to do something with shrimp and sausage. He had put grilled shrimp and chorizo together. I happened to have some Portuguese sausage on hand and bought some shrimp. As the day was to take place at my parents and my mom prefers I do most everything in advance so as not to create too much mess and havoc with so many people around, I grilled my sausage here and had purchased the shrimp already cooked. I still wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with it though. Then I remembered this packet of mix for New Orleans style BBQ shrimp that I have had lying around since I went there some time ago. Basically it is just a bunch of herbs and seasoning and you melt a sizable amount of butter and mix it in. This was easy to do and reheat at my parents home.

Well it is not like the sausage needed any more grease, fat or flavor but... The combination of the sausage, shrimp and spicy butter mix... Really good. Amazingly good! So good that I forgot to take a picture until most of it was gobbled up.

So here is a pathetic picture of the last dregs of the appetizer. My sister gave me no end of sh** for taking this photo. She thinks I am so lame for photographing food at all let alone this sad remains. And it doesn't look that appetizing but it WAS!

Since my mother was barbecuing a London Broil, I thought the sauce that Peter made with a Spanish blue cheese (Cabrales). I also happened to have an unopened bottle of Sherry from Spain that I had gotten some years ago. But I didn't find the Spanish blue at my market and with 2 little ones, I don't often hike all over town for items as I did in my single years so I chose a gorgonzola. I followed Mr. M's instructions but for the fact I didn't have the fat and brown bits from the meat to stir up into the sauce.

I did everything at home and then reheated it on a stove at my mother's. It was rich and creamy and very good but would have been better with the brown bits. I did put a little of the meat juices from the dish into the sauce though. I will have to try it again sometime with the Cabrales and cooking the meat in the same pan.

All in all it was a delightful meal and a fun father's day.