Shrimp Fettuccine with Mushrooms, Red Pepper, Garlic and Scallions

1 lb. Shrimp, peeled ( can use scallop as well or instead)
1 lb. Cremini Mushrooms,  sliced

Four or five scallions, chopped fine
4 cloves garlic, minced

1 fresh tomato, diced
A pinch of Red Pepper ( or more )

1 lb. Al dente fettuccine or thin spaghetti or wide noodles 

1 teaspoon of butter

4 teaspoon Extra virgin olive oil

2 or  4 splashes Dry White wine ( Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay)

2 tablespoons of cream or half and half (optional)

1 teaspoon of lemon juice 

1 teaspoon sugar with a pinch of salt

3/4 cup of Marinara sauce to add moisture to the dish, or more

In large frying pan, over medium heat melt 1 teaspoon of butter, the optional lemon juice and heat the olive oil. When melted, sauté the mushrooms, with the sugar salt on high. When the mushrooms are caramelised, set aside in a bowl. Now fry the shrimp with the garlic and red pepper, turn as they cook until done. Turn out in same bowl as before. Spoon in cooked fettuccine and heat with a splash of dry white wine. When noodle are warmed thought, add back mushrooms, scallions, and the shrimp. Add an optional bit of cream or half and half.  If dry, add  marinara sauce.

Serve hot.

Pot-au-feu (Simmered French Coutry Soup) My Way

Pot-au-feu (pronounced FUH) is a slowly simmered meat and vegetable dish that appears on most home tables in France. Pot au Feu, which literally translates to ‘pot in the fire’, started its life in working-class homes as a way to make less expensive cuts of beef more tender and palatable. 

The long slow cooking resulted in 2 dishes: a clear nourishing broth and a rich meal of beef and vegetables.

 
There are as many variations of pot au feu as there are cooks. I have eaten pot-au-feu prepared with lamb, chicken, lobster. 

 
The broth is always served first with toasted slices of baguette crowned with morsels of fatty beef marrow, and the meat and vegetables are served second. 

Three to five cuts of beef, maybe some marrow bones,  beef neck bones, oxtails, beef tendon, short ribs, and any assortment of vegetables like carrots, garlic, onion, rutabagas, potatoes, and cabbage.

What is time consuming, if you have to have some idea of cooking times, least you spend a tremendous amount of time, test for doneness.

This is my first shot, of combining these meats and vegetables .

First we’ll make a beef flavoured soup stock out of 2-5 pounds of beef neck bones  and 8 pepper corns  5 bay leafs, 2 onions, and garlic, celery, and carrots a day ahead.

 Cook the soup stock for five hours the strain. Discard bones and vegetables. Taste and correct seasoning with salt. Now cook the beef tendon until it becomes transparent, about five more hours. Retain the beef tendons.