Foodie Calls: Shrimp Alfredo; Beef Couscous Salad; Chicken Curry; Beef Stew with Lima Beans

We're trying to settle into a rhythm of posting two to three times a month, and I'm even having trouble keeping up with that. Of course, Melissa is cooking as much as ever, but getting the photos and descriptions up is my responsibility...

Here are some recent highlights:

First up is a shrimp Alfredo pasta Melissa whipped together last week as a last-minute dinner decision (the way she usually cooks for just the two of us). This was a really nice meal, and the tomatoes lent a special richness to the dish because Melissa reduced them in the oven before adding them to the pasta. This concentrates the sweet and tart flavors, and it's a nice touch if you've got a little extra time and some olive oil handy. We already had the shrimp and peas in the freezer, so no extra trips to the store were required. A creamy Alfredo sauce was made with cream, egg, Parmesan cheese (a staple item we always have in the fridge) and plenty of garlic. With this dish, we finally opened a bottle of Pouilly-Fuisse (white Burgundy) that Etienne and Angelique had given us some time ago, and it was perfect with the shrimp and pasta.

Melissa loves to make couscous salads with all manner of ingredients that need to be used up. This one was made with shredded beef, tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic and plenty of cilantro. The beef was cooked in a stew of canned tomatoes that Melissa often uses: she reduces a whole can of diced tomatoes in a large saucepan and lets them burn just a little to caramelize the sugars and bring out a smoky flavor for the sauce. Then she adds back the volume of water that was boiled off along with garlic, onions, salt and pepper, and stews the large chunks of beef (chuck or some other inexpensive cut) in this mixture. This time she threw in some smoked chipotle peppers in adobo sauce that we had in the freezer (originally from a can -- we didn't smoke them), then shredded the cooked beef before mixing it in with the couscous salad. This was fantastic. I may be biased since I love chipotle peppers -- Tabasco makes a thick, rich smoked chipotle sauce that we often use as a marinade for chicken and pork on the grill, which I'm sure will make an appearance soon now that the weather is beginning to warm up...

Melissa's curries are always a welcome treat, and this simple red curry uses the same tomato base described above. After reducing and caramelizing the canned tomatoes, she adds back the water, onions, a curry spice mix, and some whole peppercorns and coriander seeds. This is simmered down again while the chicken cooks through (in the same pan). Melissa served the curry with raita on a couple of homemade scallion pancakes from dough that she wisely froze down the last time she made some for a snack. She makes the raita from a plain yogurt base with a little cumin and lemon juice, some chopped cucumber, and finely chopped cilantro or mint, whatever is on hand. The curry is really quite easy, and Evan recently added this dish to his growing repertoire in his cooking lessons with Melissa. His curry was served on store-bought naans that are great when warmed in the oven and brushed with oil and garlic.

Finally, we have a simple beef stew with parmesan-tossed lima beans. The beef was stewed in a sauce of chardonnay, Dijon mustard, onions, sliced button mushrooms, salt and pepper. The lima beans were boiled and then tossed in grated parmesan cheese while still very hot. It was all topped with chopped cilantro, which we quite like, but it was really just for garnish and parsley would be great if cilantro is too strong a flavor for you.