Tuesday, April 12, 2011

oopsies!

Oops I did it again.

There I was again. I stepped out of the grocery store and I was ready to load the bags of groceries into my car. As I approach the trunk, my fingers quicken their search through my belongings and I frantically think to myself, "where are my keys?" 

So  I start to look for it. With one hand holding up the purse, my other hand is free to dig into the purse and jumble through all my stuff. Frankly, I don't know why we ladies love to carry around big purses all the time when we know it just leads to painful shoulders and lost belongings; but we do it anyway. Just as I begin to panic, I notice out of the corner of my eye that the cluster of keys are in my other hand. Yay! I found them.

I don't know about you, but I get these types of episodes more often now that I'm in my 40's. This may just be what you call forgetful at 40? Oh now I know, that probably the reason why people say that life begins at 40 is because you tend to forget what happened before that age... LOL!

My forgetfulness has even affected me in the kitchen. My plan was to make paella sans meat, as it was a Friday during Lent, so I had my rice soaked and ready in a separate bowl. For some reason, I took out a package of noodles from my pantry and without thinking, I grabbed a pot, filled it with water, and cooked it. I realized too late that I was, in fact, cooking paella and not pasta. Since I had already cooked pasta, I discarded the initial plan and had to use the pasta. Sometimes accidents do happen for a reason and in this case, it was a blessing in disguise since this accidental pasta (as we love to call it) is now without a doubt one of my family's favorite dishes. And so I'd like to share with you my seafood pasta a la paella.



Seafood Pasta a la Paella:


Ingredients:

Seafood mix (mussels, shrimp, squid, etc.)
3 tbsp olive oil
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup shrimp broth (boil shrimp heads, crush the head or use an Osterizer, then drain)
1 pkg pasta linguine (cook as directed but use shrimp broth to boil pasta)
1 medium red/green bell pepper (cut into strips)
1/2 tsp saffron
100 grams sundried tomatoes (optional)
1/2 can tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a skillet, add olive oil over medium heat.  Saute onions and garlic. Add the seafood and shrimp. Brown the edges and set aside leaving a little amount on the skillet.  Reduce heat to medium.

Using the same skillet, add tomatoes saute until tomatoes get limp. Add saffron, make sure not to burn it.  Stir in tomato paste.  Bring back the rest of the seafood mix.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Add a little of the shrimp broth.  Toss the pasta together.  Add sun dried tomatoes and pepper make sure not to overcook them.  Season with salt and pepper.




18 comments:

  1. Thank God I can buy a bag of seafood mix here. It makes me so happy that I don't have to shell the shrimps, clean the squids, etc. Makes life so much easier. Paella with rice or pasta will always make my day!

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  2. Ok, now I'm craving for this and yet I have no clue how it taste like.
    Another recipe to try Malou

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  3. As the hubby says, it's the twilight zone in my huge bag. Nice pasta, Malou!

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  4. Beautiful pictures and a delicious looking dish!

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  5. Laura: I love the bag of seafood mix, it surely is very handy. Making seafood dishes is so simple because of it.

    TagaTugue: make some, it's not that hard. You'll be enjoying a plate in no time.

    Annie: I like that "twilight" we surely come from the same genre haha.

    Angela: great to meet you and thank you for stopping by.

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  6. Malou, can you imagine how much more forgetful you'll get in your 50's? Now you can say, an accident can be the mother of invention. Must taste so nice. Like fideua.

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  7. Hi! This looks great. Nice pictures. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to seeing more.

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  8. Hello Malou! I came to your site from Foodbuzz. You have so many delicious recipes here that I'd love to try! I started to follow you on Facebook and Twitter. Looking forward to your yummy recipes and interesting stories! :-)

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  9. Hi lou,
    Daddy O here, Wonderful recipe! will surely try this one, i used to cook tuyo flakes in annato/olive oil with angel hair pasta and realized, just now, that it could be better so much better with saffron. Thanks for the idea and btw, congrats on your Summa grad from Berkeley! you tiger mom you :)Ate Heather Rocks!

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  10. Adora: oh no I don't want to think about getting there yet. Haha. Definitly it's a mother of invention indeed.

    Christine: thank you for stopping by. Glad to meet you.

    Nami thank you for stopping by. I definitely like your happy space too. Here's to our new friendship... cheers!

    Daddy O: to get a comment from you is such a pleasant surprise. I will try to cook your concoction. I've been cooking pasta a lot lately and yours is a must try.
    Thank you for all the love and support you and Donna gave for us. We can't be wherere we are without you guys. I'm sharin mykids' successes with you and
    Donna

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  11. Ehehehe I can relate to the key issue. ;)

    Beautiful dish.

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  12. At least you found them :-). We' of a certain age, have been there and done that. Your paella looks wonderful. I love everything you've used in your recipe. It sounds delicious. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  13. Welll, I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm fast approaching my 4th decade but the forgetfulness began long ago. I don't dare imagine what the next 10 years will do, LOL!

    In this case, for you, it meant discovering a new, tasty pasta dish. How rich in flavor is that plate? I wouldn't have missed the rice at all. :-)

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  14. I loved your post- great looking food and funny! Thanks for the Food Buzz request - looking forward to checking more of your recipes out.

    http://homestyleworldcookblogspot.com

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  15. I do not think that you are forgetful just have too many things on your mind at once as so many of us do!! Sometimes I look for my glasses and they are right there attached to the buttonhole on my shirt!! Well, the paella and pasta does look like a wonderful creation. Delicious! Blessings, Catherine xo

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  16. Looks really good, especially for being a spontaneous idea -- I love both paella and pasta with seafood -- even risotto. Great solution to your dilemma! It's all about making great food with what you have at hand and you sure did that here.

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  17. LOL! I always write things down so I don't forget them (but I had to do that even in high school:)
    It's a bit more pronounced lately, though:)
    Several days ago I put my mixer beaters in the freezer, as I intended to make meringue. Tonight, my husband asked me how long I intended to keep them sequestered there! I completely forgot!
    I make my own seafood stock, heads and all, but I have never tried grinding the fish or shrimp heads. People think I am weird even without that step:)
    Forgetful or not, your pasta looks delicious:)
    BTW, I have not forgotten about our deal. They are killing me at work these days, but I plan on making your adobo next week.

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