Cornmeal pancakes I (p. 645) and Mixed shellfish in tomato sauce (p. 369)

Pancakes tend to be quick to make so I thought that Cornmeal pancakes I (p. 645) would make a tasty, quick meal, especially since I really liked Cornmeal pancakes II. The recipes were fairly similar.

In one bowl I mixed cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt. In the other bowl I combined melted butter, milk, honey, and two eggs:



The wet ingredients were added to the dry ingredients and they were briefly mixed (DON'T OVERMIX! LUMPS ARE OKAY!).



I had Josh cook the pancakes, so I forgot to take any pictures of the finished product. These pancakes were good but they weren't nearly as good as the other cornbread pancake recipe. I don't really like foods that are sweetened with honey or maple syrup--these pancakes were just way too sweet for me. Only a few more pancake varieties left!

I haven't been making great progress on the shellfish chapter. Shellfish in Colorado is expensive and usually of questionable freshness. That being said, Josh is a huge fan of shrimp and I adore scallops. I stumbled upon a few packages of shrimp and scallops on sale at the grocery store and thought Mixed shellfish in tomato sauce (p. 369) looked tasty.

I sauteed red pepper flakes, garlic, and olive oil.



TJOC says to discard the pepper and the garlic, so you are left with the infused olive oil. I thought that sounded silly--I love garlic and red pepper, why would I discard it? I skipped that step. I added tomatoes, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Once the tomatoes started to break down, I added a mixture of peeled shrimp and scallops.



After a bit more simmering to cook the shellfish, it was done! I poured it over pasta (although it doesn't have to be a sauce--you can just eat it straight).




Delicious! I really liked this recipe and it was extremely simple. It tasted even better the next day after the flavors had time to meld. Every Christmas Eve we have a no-meat all-shellfish dinner and I honestly think that this sauce could stand up against most of our holiday fish sauces (it would be even better with some squid in it). It was nicely spiced, too, so I recommend ignoring the line about discarding the spices.