Made up recipe Approx. 724 - Creamy Garlic Shrimp & Mushrooms

My favorite way to cook is to have a lot of random raw materials and then, 30 to 60 minutes before I want to eat, I look through the pantry, the fridge and the freezer and put something together. Occasionally they are flops but most of the time it’s good to fantastic. This one was on the high end of good for flavor and texture though a little low visually (very important!) so just as well I didn’t take a photo. I have to give some thought to the presentation next time, if there is one. Sun-dried tomatoes, maybe.

John was on the phone to his boy so I gave him a five-minute warning and told him I would be in the mood for a movie, if he had anything worth seeing. John’s movie addiction and his near cold-turkey quitting is another subject. Suffice it to say, it was a big deal to ask him to put in a movie.

Curiously, he happened to pick Julie/Julia. That's a movie that'll make you want to a) cook and b) blog! At some point, he asked if I could cook like that. I said “Sure!” but smartly negotiated an exchange of French cooking for a Le Creuset pot – pumpkin-shaped maybe. If I have to get one myself, at least I know he won’t object if filled with Boeuf Bourguignon!

Here’s what I made:

1 container fresh, whole mushrooms, washed and sliced

2 Tablespoons olive oil

3 Tablespoons butter

2 very large garlic cloves, sliced thinly

1 teaspoon of my home-roasted Spanish garlic

Fresh ground pepper and salt (unmeasured, of course)

Splash of very hot chile wine made by a friend (and later another splash – not quite ¼ cup)

All this was sautéed until the mushroom and garlic slices were soft. (Just found out last night I have been crowding my mushrooms! Never again!)

Meanwhile, a fistful of whole wheat angel hair pasta was put in a kettle of boiling salted water to cook until al dente.

12 ounces of cooked frozen shrimp (on sale!) were thawed and their tails pulled off. The shrimp were dumped into the mushroom mixture with 2 hefty dollops of Greek yogurt (more like sour cream), adding a fair amount of moisture. I lowered the heat a bit and cooked it down but it still looked soupy and smelled too much of my childhood beef stroganoff. More hot chile wine!

Plus a fistful of fresh parsley, chopped up and ¼ cup or better of grated parmesan.

Stirred it up a bit and dished it out over the pasta with a garnish of more parmesan. Yum!