Spicy Saturday Night

I love when I get nights at home, ALONE with Spencer. It's few and far between but they are really special and fun when they do happen. I wanted to make a fun dinner for the two of us and really didn't want to go to the store if I didn't need to. So, kitchen challenge for myself, I used what I had on hand and came up with this spicy Asian* dish (I say Asian because there is no real regional or national cuisine that I am pulling this from, it's a combination of Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and Korean flavors and spices the result of which I am usually happy with).

Spicy Asian Stir Fry:

1/2 lb of frozen shrimp, raw, de-veined shell off or on is up to you, I like on and I peel them myself.
*2 carrots, peel and julienne
*celery tops and inner ribs, chop roughly
*1/2 yellow onion, rough chop - scallions too, I had a couple on hand.
*( save all the bits from the trinity that you don't use for cooking / eating and freeze in a bag, saving for making a pot of stock/broth)
cauliflower floretts and the green leaves at the bottom, they have a great bitter / bright / spicy flavor, much like bok choy, great for this application

2 tbs peanut oil

cook shrimp in 1 tbs oil in large skillet until just barely done, remove and set aside
stir-fry veggies in the other tbs of peanut oil, carrots and onions first, then the rest of the veggies

prepare the sauce while these are cooking in a separate bowl

( I also made a batch of mung beans, but they are not necessary to make this dish.)

Sauce:

4 cloves garlic, smashed and rough chopped
2 tbs red chili pepper paste
1 tsp fish sauce
2 tbs soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp rice wine vinegar

Place the shrimp back in the pan with the veggies after they have cooked through for about 5-7 min, toss lightly with the sauce and serve over a bed of brown rice.

This was such a good dish, and just the right amount for the two of us.

We topped it off with a piece of chocolate tiramisu cake and Hardywood's Mocha Stout. My god was that a perfect combo.

Then on to the rest of the Spicy Saturday night; Reading on the couch and mine craft.