A Taste of Virginia in Mississippi

My husband, Todd is from Jackson and is a HUGE raw oyster fan.  Down here in Mississippi, Gulf oysters are very plentiful but it can be a bit more difficult to get oysters from other areas.  When we visited my Virginia family at Christmas, Todd ate as many local and regional oysters as he could.  And while we were there I heard about a great "Oysters for Life" www.oystersforlife.com program where for starting at $75 you get 2 dozen Chesapeake Bay oysters shipped to you.  I decided then that I was going to do that for his birthday. I did and last Friday we received an icy cold shipment of Chesapeake Bay oysters.  We invited some friends over, and I made some shrimp and pasta, cheddar biscuits and Laura's salad to go with the oysters.

Everyone said the oysters were delicious and one of the native Mississippians said they were the best they had ever tried.  I'm not a huge fan of raw oysters, so I decided to stick with the pasta.  This pasta is buttery and delicious and a great way to highlight the amazing Gulf Shrimp we get.  Here's a photo and the recipe. 

I take terrible photos- sorry!

1 pound of linguine
1 pound of  peeled and deveined shrimp

half an onion finely chopped

1/2 cup of white wine

3 cloves of garlic finely minced

1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Juice of 1/2 a small lemon (optional)

Boil your pasta according to directions.  Always aim for the al dente.  It may seem a little hard at first, but it kind of keeps cooking even after you take it out of the water so go with it.  No one likes mushy pasta.  Drain it when it is finished.

While it is boiling, start on the shrimp.  Put your fat and fat (butter and oil) in the pan together and melt them down over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook it until it starts to lighten up.  People say until they get translucent but I've never seen a clear onion so I'll just stick with lighten up.  Add your garlic and cook that for about 3 minutes or so.  Be sure to stir the whole time.  Add your shrimp and season it with the cayenne, salt and pepper.  Cook 'em until they turn pink.  About 3 to 5 minutes depending on the size of your shrimp. Gulf shrimp can get BIG.  Add a splash of the wine.  Take a sip, now add the rest.  If you like to squeeze a little lemon on shrimp to brighten up the flavor, now's the time to do it.  Just don't go overboard.  You want to taste garlic, cheese and shrimp, not lemon.  Dump your drained pasta back in and top with the Parmesan cheese and keep stirring it until it melts down.  Serve immediately with the rest of your wine or if you're a beer nerd like me, a good Belgian pairs really well.