Wilmington, NC Real Estate Blog

 Yes that right, I was the proud recipient of a new, huge, see through glass top wok.  I like cooking!  My specialities run from throwing a lot of "stuff" together and hoping for the best, to creating recipes from the latest Food and Wine edition.  Back to the wok.....if you have never used one before, you are missing out on a great way to steam your meal quickly, while retaining all the flavor it is meant to have.

 For our New Years Eve dinner I decided to do our traditional fare....lobster, shrimp, veggies, pasta, and a nice dessert, what happened was a meal beyond my greatest expectations.  Here it is and soooo simple and tasty!

 This new wok of mine is huge, probably about the size of a 20 inch pan, plenty of room to cook a whole meal in there....which is what I did.  Don't know where the idea came from, I guess all cooks experiment at sometime, and this was one of those times.  In the bottom of the pan put a couple cups of water and start bringing it to a boil, add some sea salt,  then add any kind of pasta ( I used about a cup of tortellinis).  Put the insides of the wok together, add 1 pound of shrimp, 2 or 3 lobster tails (we did 3 as they were on a real nice sale) a bunch of asparagus, and cook for about 3-4 minutes, with the see through cover on.  Add 2 cups of white wine to the boiling water and bring to another boil.  It is done when it boils the second time ( about 2 minutes)  Drain the pasta, put the shrimp, tails, and asparagus around the pasta....and voila...you have a great tasting all in one dish meal.

 I used a sauvignon blanc for the wine, which accompanied this meal wonderfully ( or a couple of bottles of champagne), and for desert there is nothing better than chocolate covered strawberries for lobster and shrimp.  Total cost was about $30 for everything, including leftovers for New Years Day.  A special meal for a special day!!  Thanks to Sandy for one of the nicest Christmas presents, to enjoy more and more.  Wok it, my friends!

Dick Beals