For those of you who were anxious to hear, Paul did finally make it home yesterday after he got stranded at a diner with no gas and no money to pay for his lunch. Thankfully, his business partner was 20 minutes behind him on the same highway and met up with him to pay for his lunch and buy him a tank of gas. Otherwise, I would have had to drive down to meet him.

He was pretty bone-weary and bedraggled when he got home. I had dinner (shrimp scampi) and wine waiting. We sat at our outdoor fireplace and relaxed. He loved the new golf shoes I got him for his birthday.

RECIPE FOR SHRIMP SCAMPI (for two)

Ingredients:

3/4 lb. large shrimp or prawns, peeled and deveined leaving tails on

3 T good olive oil

2 T dry white wine (for drinking and marinating shrimp)

kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened

several gloves minced garlic

1/4 cup minced shallots

3 T  minced fresh parsley

2 tsp. minced fresh rosemary

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp. grated lemon zest

2 T fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 egg yolk

2/3 cup panko bread crumbs

lemon wedges for garnish

Place shrimp in large bowl and toss with wine, olive oil and dash of kosher salt and pepper.  In a separate bowl, mash the softened butter with the garlic, shallots, parsley, rosemary, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolk, panko and dash of salt and pepper.

Arrange shrimp in a single, circular layer in a round baking or gratin dish placing the tails in the center of the dish. Pour the remaining marinade over the shrimp and then spread the butter mixture evenly over the shrimp. Bake at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes. If you like, you can place the dish under the broiler for 1 minute to brown. Be careful to watch though. Don’t want to burn it. Serve with crusty bread.