Thursday, January 21, 2010

Rosie Makes What She Calls A Shrimp Enchilada. But She Googled Enchilada. Tomato Sauce And Corn Tortilla Kinda Define An Enchilada. Silly Me.

Back in early-mid December, my friend,
Ange from Wisconsin, Just-Asked-Rosie a question. She wanted Rosie to come up with a good enchilada recipe Ange, I'm still working on it.
Rosie is making what she calls a "shrimp enchilada." But then I Googled "enchilada" and found out tomato sauce and corn tortillas kinda define enchilada: An enchilada (pronounced /ˌɛntʃɨˈlɑːdə/) is a corn tortilla rolled around a filling and covered with a chili pepper sauce. Enchiladas can be filled with a variety of ingredients, including meat, cheese, beans, potatoes, vegetables, seafood or combinations. So now, I'm calling it a shrimp wrap. And by golly, I'm going pan-ethnic. I have Greek Feta cheese. I have Italian Ricotta and Parmesan and Mozzarella. I have Mexican tortillas. I can offend three cultures at one fell swoop. Speaking of "at one fell swoop," do you know where that phrase comes from? If you guessed Shakespeare, you would be correct. In Macbeth, Macduff, upon hearing his family and servants had all been killed, uttered this line: All my pretty ones? Did you say all? O hell-kite! All? What? All my pretty chickens and their dam At one fell swoop? The word "fell" is an old word, in use by the 13th century, that's fallen into disuse from its original meaning. Now, you pretty much just "fell" a tree. The Oxford English Dictionary defines fell as "fierce, savage, cruel, ruthless." "Fell" is actually from the Old French "fel," meaning evil, and is a variant of "felon." The kite is a predatory bird common in England during Tudor times and known for its rapid and savage attacks. After nearing extinction in the 20th century, the kite is now making a welcome return. Shakespeare used the imagery of the kite's "fell swoop" to indicate the deadly, ruthless, and savage attack by Macbeth's minions. Over the years, we have lost the original meaning and use it now to convey suddenness rather than savagery and also to describe the accomplishment of several tasks with a single action. Enough of this fascinating trivia. What was I making? Oh yes. Not a shrimp enchilada.
Rosie's Ingredients: Rosie's Southwestern Mixture (bottom right) which I'd already used to make Moreover Quesadillas and Southwestern Spring Rolls onion garlic Mozzarella Feta Parmesan tortillas shrimp ricotta spinach
I minced the onion and garlic and added them to a mixture of hot olive oil and butter, stirring for about a minute.
Then I added in the spinach ...
... stirring to coat.
I added in a little water to steam the spinach. I cooked until the water had evaporated ...
... then I added in a bit of butter ...
... and tossed in the shrimp.
I stirred for about 30 seconds, then added in some white wine. You don't want to cook the shrimp all the way through since it's going under the broiler at the end.
Notice the shrimp is still a bit translucent. After about 30 seconds, I added in a glop of ricotta ...
... and some heavy cream ...
... and a sprinkling of freshly ground nutmeg.
Finally, I added the Southwest mixture and just heated through.
Ready for assembly.
I put a little of the shrimp mixture on my tortilla, sprinkled a bit of feta, and rolled it up.
I grated Parmesan and sliced some Mozzarella over top.
Ready for a quick trip under the broiler to melt the cheese.
Ooooh. Wait a minute.
I just espied some seedless red grapes. Why not?
Under the broiler to brown a bit.
I'm loving the ooey-gooey Mozzarella.
Feast your eyes.
I served this with some salsa and a bit of creme fraiche.
What's not to love?

6 comments:

dle1004 said...

I should not read this at lunchtime, because now my "moreovers" have lost their appeal !!!

Michelle B said...

I liked the etymology info.

And the not shrimp enchiladas look pretty darn good.

Phyllis said...

Oh my Ms. Rosie, you've outdone your bad self! I'm a friend of Mr. Hawthorne's from Corolla and found out about your blog from his office mate. I think you're just brilliant! I'm gonna try your shrimp not enchiladas and was contemplating adding calamata olives instead of the grapes? Kinda works the Greek theme a bit... Whaddya think?

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Hi Phyllis.
The olives sound excellent.
And going with the Greek thing,
artichoke bottoms sound really good, too.
Thanks for your kind words and thanks for reading!

Kathy said...

I've started making a list of all the things you have to fix for me when I come down there. I'm already into the next decade, and that's accounting for a visit once a month ;-)

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Kathy, bring it on!