Shrimp & Crab Claw Scampi

Looking for a nice seafood dish? One that is easy to make but tastes like it took forever? If so, scampi is a good choice. I usually make it with just shrimp but I had some crab claws in the freezer so I threw those in as well.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. shelled, deveined shrimp, large
• 1 lb. dungeness crab claws
• 2 sticks of butter
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• Fresh lemon
• Tarragon
• Salt, Pepper
• Red Pepper Flakes
• White or Brown Rice, steamed

Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add garlic and saute until transparent. Crush a teaspoon of tarragon between your fingers and add slowly to the mix, add juice of half a lemon, a dash of salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and set aside.

 Place a single layer of shrimp and crab claws in the bottom of a shallow baking pan. Pour the butter mixture over top and 'stir' the seafood until liberally coated.

Place the pan under a pre-heated broiler for approx. 2-3 minutes. Stir, and place back under the broiler until shrimp is done. (about 5-7 minutes total)

Serve over rice with garlic bread.

Yum.

Dry Rubbed Ribs

Okay, yum! Nothing is better than ribs that are dry rubbed with seasoning and baked until crispy. These ribs taste like you spent hours cooking . . . and you did (spend hours cooking)! But trust me, they are worth it. 

All you need is a couple of pounds of ribs and some seasoning. Seasoning is important, but the secret is how long - and how you cook the ribs. 

Here we go -

Boil the ribs (yes, boil) in a large pot with garlic cloves, black pepper, red pepper flakes and salt. I use about 4-5 cloves and a teaspoon or so off everything else. Ribs should boil AT LEAST an hour - I generally try to boil an hour and a half to two. 

Once boiled, lay flat in a shallow baking pan and rub with a mixture of:

• Garlic Powder (2-3 tablespoons)
• Sea Salt (2 tablespoons)
• Cayenne Pepper (1 tablespoon)
• Chili Powder (1 tablespoon)

Don't be shy - apply the rub liberally and sprinkle any extra over the ribs. Drizzle the ribs with a mixture of olive oil and Tabasco sauce (75/25 mix) and set under the broiler approx. 10 minutes. 

Once brown - flip and broil another ten. 

These ribs are so delicious, so tender, so mouth watering that I guarantee you will think twice about going back to barbeque. 

Enjoy.

Quick & Easy Pizza

Okay - this should not even count as a recipe, but sometimes the simplest things to make take a bit of time to figure out! This is so SIMPLE that I am not even going to list ingredients - you just have to read down.

So go to your grocer - or local Italian market and buy either fresh or frozen pizza dough. Make your own? Why bother . . . much easier this way.

Sprinkle flour on a cutting board or flat surface and roll out the dough. Don't toss it - that only works in the movies and certain pizza shops. I tried it, it wasn't pretty.

Once dough is flat, place on a round (or rectangle baking pan). Cover dough with pizza sauce, again available at your local grocer. Make sure you buy PIZZA sauce, not tomato, big difference.

Cover liberally with shredded mozzarella, asiago, and provolone. If you don't care for all three, just do the mozzarella. Cover with mushrooms, bacon or sausage (pre-fried), black olives, whatever . . .

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes until golden brown.

Simple right? Sure is . . . and delicious.