Shrimp and Pasta with Garlic Shallots and Fried Radishes

We have always eaten radishes raw until we met a farmer at our local farmers market this summer who suggested we fry them. They are sooo good fried. They taste completely different and make a great side dish!
We tried a new garlic/shallot sauce for this pasta shrimp dish and it turned out really good as well. We had bought an elephant garlic and were using it in everything because, well it's just fun, but also the elephant garlic is a little different than the regular garlic. It has a different, more soft flavor to it. Also, it's fun to cut it up like an onion, since each piece is almost as big as a small onion!

Shrimp and Pasta with Garlic Shallots and Fried Radishes

Preparing the sauce

Delicious delicious radishes!

RADISHES!

Ingredients:

8 oz cooked angel hair pasta
8 oz shrimp
1 -2 shallots, chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup white wine
salt to taste

1 bunch radishes - sliced
2 chopped green onions
salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter

Directions:

1. Saute garlic and shallots in butter until soft.
2. Add shrimp and saute until shrimp are cooked.
3. Add white wine and let cook for a few minutes.
4. Add pasta and serve.

Radsihes:
1. heat up butter and olive oil in a frying pan
2. Add radishes, green onion and salt and pepper. Saute until radishes are soft. 

What we liked:

Great weeknight meal. Radishes were delicious!

What we didn't like:

Nothing, it was great. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He liked the pasta

Next time:

No change needed

Chicken with Lemon Caper Sauce

This is one of Alona's favorite dishes. We had it at a restaurant one time and it is similar to chicken piccata at some restaurants. Alona asked Nick to replicate it at home after trying it somewhere (can't remember where) and after making it a couple of dozen times, we think it's pretty close to being perfect. The chicken can be substituted with shrimp and it turns out possibly even better (depending on what you feel like that night!). Depending on the brand of capers, you might have to adjust the amount as some brands are stronger than others. We like to buy our capers at Cafe Istanbul as they have really reasonable prices and usually always have a large jar of them. Local supermarkets normally only sell small jars (only enough for one recipe) and at much higher prices.

Alona likes lots of capers and sauce

Nick prefers less sauce on his

Pasta in the sauce pan

Cooked pasta

Sauce almost done!

Sauce cooking

Cooked chicken

Ingredients:

8 oz angel hair pasta
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 large chicken breast
2 cloves garlic chopped
2 tablespoons garlic and herb seasoning
4 tablespoons capers
1 shallot, chopped
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:

1. Boil water in a pan and add the pasta
2. Cut the chicken into thin strips. (Nick cuts them diagonally at 45 degrees)
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet
4. When the butter stops bubbling add the chicken strips to the pan. Sprinkle the garlic and herb seasoning on the chicken as it cooks.
5. Cook the chicken for 2 minutes a side until golden brown.
6. Remove the the chicken from the skillet and place on a plate or bowl (cover to keep warm)
7. Add the white wine to the skillet to de-glaze the pan. Be sure to scrape up all the brown bits.
8. Add the shallot to the pan and cook for a few minutes until the wine reduces by half.
9. Add the lemon juice, chicken stock, and 2 tablespoons of butter and chopped garlic to the pan and cook until reduced by half.
10. Finally add the capers and cook for 1 to 2 minutes to warm the capers.
11. Put the pasta and chicken into the sauce, and then serve!  

What we liked:

This dish is easy, and the sauce is perfect and light with a lot of lemon flavor. 

What we didn't like:

Nothing, it is good.

What Kaspian thought about it:

Kaspian loves the pasta and capers. He does not like the meat or the sauce. We usually reserve some un-sauced pasta for him and sprinkle it with capers. When he was smaller, he thought the capers were peas. 

Next time:

No Change