Ki, where is your imagination? I saute or grill shrimp in massive amounts of garlic all the time. I also often just cook up a pound of shrimp in Old Bay, make my own cocktail sauce and snack on them. The only reason these big, bad boys are "special" is that they were almost the same price I usually pay for "large?" shrimp. I eat a lot of shrimp. Although I normally loath fried fish, I have a really good recipe for beer batter fried shrimp if anyone is interested. I only make it maybe once a year, but it's super yummy. Some where around here, I have a really good recipe for stuffed shrimp. I should try to find it. Did I say I eat a lot of shrimp? I've also been getting large lobster tails for $4 each, every couple of weeks, at the grocery store this summer. Been eating a lot of them too. Lobsters go really well with asparagus. (Kevin, drooling is unbecoming:) Okay, back to the quiche, I think I'll try that. Freezing small amounts is a great idea. However, although I can cook, I don't bake and don't own muffin pans. I don't even own a cookie sheet. Can I buy little pie crusts or something, maybe tart shells, or would they be too sweet? I have phyllo dough, is there some way I can use that? That's a good idea Kevin, about pre- sauteing mushrooms and freezing them but I eat mushrooms the way most people eat chips. I even put them in scrambled eggs. If they go bad, it's because they got "lost" in the back of the fridge. Yum, Vietnamese spring rolls. What is that sauce they give you with everything in Vietnamese restaurants? Now that would be super yummy too. It's the consistency of broth and maybe the color of beef broth. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? I don't think the dip included with Mark's link is the same sauce I'm thinking of. I think the sauce I'm thinking of has fish stock as a base, maybe. Mimi, Arthur can't say anything about buying food in "pounds". They sell everything by the kilo over there (2.2 pounds). The heads of lettuce in the grocery stores there were the size of basket balls. The fish market I would go to didn't sell prawns in small, smaller, tiny, super tiny, and too damn small to clean. They just sold the big, bad, super jumbo sized prawns. Okay, they still had their heads, and that may have skewed my perception of their size. Nah, I didn't eat the heads. Okay, tonight for dinner, I sauteed green onions, garlic, mushrooms, scallops and crab meat. Then I made a Marsala sauce and at the last minute added some fresh spinach leaves and gorgonzola. I served this over wild rice (pasta wasn't doin' it for me tonight, oddly) and had asparagus too. It was pretty yummy but needs some work. This weekend, I'll try the recipes you have suggested when I have more time.

Pranjal - It was absolutely delicious! I halved the recipe and ate the whole thing myself. (In fact, since shrimp is not a leftoverable meal in my book, I summoned the help of a "natural appetite enhancer" to get through the whole pot. LOL!) Thinking my wife was going to at least taste it, I went real easy on the chili using just one seeded serrano. While the raw paste was quite hot, the finished meal had no more than a mild kick. I only had 31/40 count shrimp, so I was real careful not to overcook. It wasn't a problem, and while larger shrimp would be preferable, I certainly don't think it a necessity. A nice bonus was that start to finish, it took just over a half hour to prep and cook. I'll make it again real soon (if not tonight!) to see if DW agrees it should be a new staple in our househole. Thanks so much, and please pass on thanks and best regards to Mama! Safe trip. - James p.s. FWIW the written recipe passed the critique of my UAE/Bombay colleague.

Never tried these, but someone was looking for grilled shrimp and these were shared: Grilled Garlic Cilantro Jumbo Shrimp 1 lb. jumbo shrimp peeled and deveined ý bunch of cilantro 4 cloves garlic 1/3 cup olive oil serrano chili salt and pepper skewers soaked in water for 30 minutes lime wedge 1. Grind everything but shrimp in a food processor. 2. Marinate shrimp for 30 minutes and add lemon pepper. 3. Then grill on the skewers, basting with the marinade. 4. Serve over rice. Mexican Grilled Shrimp 1 lb. large or jumbo shrimp peeled and deveined Lime Juice McCormicks Mexican Seasoning 1\. Shell and de\-vein the shrimp and place onto skewers that have soaked in water for an hour. 2\. Sprinkle the Mexican seasoning onto both sides of the shrimp. 3\. Place the skewered shrimp onto the grill and squeeze the limejuice onto the shrimp to baste while they cook to a pink color. 4\. Enjoy! Spicy Tequila Marinated Shrimp Yield: 3 servings 1 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined Marinade à1ý cups tequila, preferably 100% blue agave à1ý cups fresh lime juice àþ cup extra virgin olive oil àý cup fresh garlic, finely chopped àý cup Louisiana hot sauce, or the Tabasco sauce of your choice àý cup sugar à4 Tablespoons kosher salt, or to taste à5 Tablespoons white pepper Mix all ingredients very well. Marinate shrimp for 2-3 hours in mixture. Cook over charcoal barbecue grill, basting 2-3 times with marinade. Thai Shrimp on Lemongrass Skewers A thin, firm stalk of lemongrass makes an aromatic skewer for shrimp. Serve these shrimp with a cucumber salad seasoned with rice vinegar and fresh cilantro. For the Thai brushing sauce: 1/4 cup lime juice 1 Tbs. Asian fish sauce 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint 4 garlic cloves, minced 1/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes 6 thin stalks fresh lemongrass 2 lb. jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined 3 green onions, white portions only, trimmed to 2\-inch lengths Using a small, sharp knife, shape the root end of each lemongrass stalk into a point. Soak the stalks in water to cover for about 30 minutes. Drain. To make the brushing sauce, combine the lime juice, fish sauce, mint, garlic, salt and red pepper flakes. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Meanwhile, prepare a medium\-hot fire for direct\-heat cooking in a covered grill. Position the rack 4 to 6 inches from the fire. Carefully thread the shrimp and green onions onto the lemongrass stalks and brush the shrimp with the sauce. Place on the grill, cover, open the vents and grill, turning once, until the shrimp are cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to individual plates and serve hot. Serves 6.

Okay, post mortem. The spanakopita was good. I ended up assembling them, then freezing, and baking them at her house, with plenty of melted butter and truffle salt sprinkled on. The filling was spinach, onion, egg, garlic, nutmeg, feta, ricotta. The main problem was that the filo shells were kind of tasteless, merely crunchy and flakey and buttery. Next time I will use an herb butter when assembling the filo triangles. But people loved them anyway. The meatballs had good flavor, but were kind of dry. They were pork, beef, lamb, spinach, couscous, onion, garlic, with a spicy bread crumb exterior. But meat today is too lean. Hence the balls weren't juicy enough. Next time I'll use the dim sum trick of incorporating some gelatinous stock. The wings were fine, that is a reliable recipe. Steam wings to render fat, then toss in oil and salt, roast until browned, then toss in melted butter with salt, garlic, cayenne. My friend also had salsa, chips, celery, blue cheese dressing. People brought beer and champagne. Her kitchen is hard to work in. Her cutting board is a 4" x 6" sheet of pebbly glass. Really. Her knives are as dull as spatulas. Ugh. I'm not sure what she normally eats. Sandwiches, maybe. This friend is a cyclist. She leads groups on 100 mile bicycle rides, routinely. We met on one of her rides. For her birthday, she hosted a breakfast at her house, then led fifteen friends on a 50 mile ride in the rain that turned out to be very hilly and tough. Just six finished the ride, and they got to her house just as I was arriving with the food. So I was finishing and plating my food with these ravenous, soaking, exhausted cyclists hovering. We had to bring the food out in shifts, so that the later arrivals, who hadn't gone in the ride, would actually have something to eat. I never did end up making the shrimp mushroom dish. Time got away from me. But I'll make it later maybe this weekend. It sounds promising. I left about 8 pm, just as things were getting going. Found a guy there who knew how to cook, put him in charge of monitoring and serving the remaining shifts of food. Good group of people, some I know pretty well from bike rides, but I wasn't really in the mood for a partay.