Sunday, Sunday...

I woke up at 4:30 AM and could NOT fall back asleep. So, I finally got up at 6:30 (annoyed) and made a pot of coffee. I filled in the extensive Blog entry (I lead an exciting life, you see), drinking coffee and listening to "Sunday Morning Over Easy."

I'm not sure exactly why (maybe I slept on it too long) but my right shoulder is killing me. I went to put my fishing pole and the tackle box in the car and found one of the "guides" had broken lose. My initial reaction was duct tape, but when I called my friend B___, he recommended epoxy glue.

So, after shaving and showering, I headed out. I stopped at Home Depot for the epoxy glue and then hit up Westborn for tomorrow's lunch. The guest list keeps growing. Besides me, Amy and her Carls, Melissa and Dave, we now have Jeremy, my brother Carl and Jake and Acenter.

So, I bought two pounds of 21-30 shrimp (I got a plan). Unfortunately, there was only one pack of hoagie rolls (so I bought a pack of submarine rolls - I'll cut them in half, I guess). And, they were out of Bibb lettuce, so I bought their recommended substitute, a Michigan lettuce that's similar.

Back home, I put everything away and went in to watch some TV. As I said, my shoulder is killing me. Later in the afternoon, I started to make the shrimp salad. I peeled and deveined the shrimp. Then I made up the poaching liquid (any poaching liquid is called court bullion in France, BTW). I put 1/2 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice, the four lemon peels, four cups of cold water, eight sprigs of parsley and six of tarragon all into a cold pan. Then I added the shrimp and turned the heat on medium. I rigged up my thermometer and set the alarm to go off at 165 degrees F.

After about 8-10 minutes the alarm went off, so I removed the pot from the heat, covered it and let it sit (still cooking) two more minutes. Then I took the shrimp out and shocked them in ice water. Next I dried them with paper towels and I cut them up.

Now, the preferred method of cutting them (at least in this recipe) is to cut them once, lengthwise (along the same line as your deviening cut. Put the two halves back together and cut them the other way into thirds. This is supposed to give you more even pieces.

I made the dressing next. You can make all this 24 hours in advance, but you are not supposed to dress the shrimp until just before serving.

So, remember, this is a double recipe. For the dressing I got 1/2 cup of mayonnaise, some diced celery, two finely minced shallots, two teaspoons of minced fresh parsley, two teaspoon of minced fresh tarragon and four tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. I whisked that all together and put it into a jar in the fridge. The shrimp I put into a zip lock baggie.

Then I went on to making my coleslaw. If you remember, as a single person, I have trouble with most mayonnaise-based coleslaw dressings. They tend to get watery before I can eat it up. The last time I made an oil-based dressing that was tasty and didn't get watery. This time I am making a buttermilk-based dressing.

So, I got my pound of coleslaw mix (green cabbage, red cabbage and carrots). In a bowl, I stirred together 1/2 cup of buttermilk, two tablespoons of mayonnaise, one small shallot minced (about two tablespoons), two tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves, one teaspoon fresh lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon of granulated sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, one teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves, one tablespoon of minced fresh chives and 1/8 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper. I whisked that all together, dressed the cabbage and put it in the fridge to get happy overnight.

I finally got around to making my own Sunday supper. I made a plate of Jake's cold sides (coleslaw, potato salad and the corn salad) and warmed up the ribs and the other chicken leg in the microwave. I plated it and went in to watch my Sunday night shows.

Outstanding! The ribs were "fall off the bone" tender and juicy, the spice rub was good and the warmed chicken excellent. I ate way too much and then added the plate to the mess in the kitchen.

I went to bed at 11:00 PM, after setting the alarm for 5:30 AM.