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Take My Plastic Wrap, Please

Photo by LYNN KESSEL

One of Andrea Freebody's favorite recipes is Scampi Provencal.

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By LYNN KESSEL

Tribune correspondent

Published: May 21, 2008

There is one kitchen item I can live without - plastic wrap. Well, maybe two.

There's also the V-blade mandoline slicer I received last year as a Christmas gift.

After unwrapping the sucker, my guests and I spent several hours trying to assemble and operate it. Building my expectations, the deluxe, nicer-slicer claimed to straight cut, crinkle cut and julienne, cube and dice.

A pound of annihilated potatoes later, we gave up and relinquished it back to its box.

I'm not going to dazzle you with my plastic wrapping abilities either. Give me a roll of cling wrap, as it's sometimes called, and suddenly I'm spiraling into a frustrated plastic-wrapped psychopath. It's enough to scare everyone out of the kitchen.

I don't get it.

Moving on, I recently talked with Apollo Beach resident Andrea Freebody after she responded to one of my columns. Andrea's a former flight attendant who learned how to make soup using a coffeemaker and has collected recipes written on air sickness bags, during 18 years of flying around the world.

Among the scads of kitchen tips Andrea enthusiastically shared with me was the value of a shower cap. Andrea has bought theses handy cover-alls from beauty supply stores for years. At just a few dollars, the price is right and she uses them to cover salad bowls, plates, cut melons and the like.

You can wash, air dry and reuse them many more times.

According to Andrea, "waste not, want not" is her modus operandi in the kitchen.

The proof is inside her workhorse freezer, too. Leftover pesto sauce is stored in ice-cube trays that have first been sprayed with nonstick cooking oil. Unused lemons and limes are juiced, and then put into ice trays. Once frozen, the cubes are removed and tossed into a freezer bag. The same method works to salvage milk that teeters on the verge of going bad.

Another thrifty habit of Andrea's includes freezing ginger root, and then grating it while it's still frozen. Or, when French or Cuban bread is on sale, she throws sliced pieces into the freezer and uses it for garlic toast, croutons or with aioli.

This rich, delicious shrimp and pasta dish is one of Andrea's favorite for guests. She serves it with salad, bread and a light dessert.

SCAMPI PROVENCAL

2 pounds jumbo shrimp

14 ounces sliced mushrooms

1 teaspoon minced shallots

12 ounces tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped

3 ounces beef bouillon

1 lemon

Salt and pepper

4 ounces olive oil

1 clove minced garlic

2 ounces white wine

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

4 ounces grated parmesan cheese

3/4 stick butter, room temperature

1 pound fettuccine

Flour

Cook fettuccine according to package directions, adding salt, pepper and the juice of half a lemon to the cooking water. Cook al dente and drain well.

Dust shrimp with flour. Heat olive oil in large skillet or saute pan, then saute shrimp until golden brown. Add mushrooms, garlic and shallots. Saute 2 minutes and add white wine, juice from the remaining lemon half, tomatoes and chopped parsley. Simmer 3 minutes. Add beef bouillon and parmesan cheese; remove from heat. Just before serving, fold in butter and season to taste. Reheat fettuccine if necessary, serve shrimp and sauce over fettuccine.

Lynn Kessel can be reached at lkessel@mac.com or P.O. Box 286, Ruskin FL 33575. Readers are invited to send in their favorite recipes, comments and suggestions.

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