My island holiday is coming to a close. It has been magical celebrating Christmas and New Year seaside. I am reluctant to bid the beach farewell but I know our goodbye is temporary. I will return.
Before long I will once again be scouring the beach for shells and jogging along the ocean, the breeze keeping me cool. I will again take pictures (for the hundredth time) of the same vistas, the same objects that captivate me on each visit but whose beauty I can never quite capture with my camera. But it’s fun to keep trying.
Truthfully, a part of me is ready to return home. In exchange for sun and sand, I am ready to call on the new year’s promises. I am excited about 2012. There are so many things I want to do and gazing at the ocean all day long probably won’t help me accomplish any of them.
I also miss my kitchen. One minor drawback of traveling is that I do tire of eating out all the time; I miss my own cooking. So while I was perusing the wine inventory at the Honolua Store, I was excited to spot bucatini on a nearby shelf. I planned a simple dish around it using fresh ingredients and we were happy to eat another meal from the comfort of our own balcony.
Fresh shrimp and fish are very accessible here on the islands but I can never find fresh clams. I used the canned variety to up the seafood flavor but a healthy portion of white wine, olive oil, butter, garlic and lime juice made the dish. I also threw in a few mushrooms and a jalapeño, resulting in a very flavorful seafood dish.
Oh, and I just had to share…my fellow bloggers will understand.
I have never been one to collect kitsch while traveling. My souvenir of choice is always a baseball hat (well I picked up a gorgeous new sunhat this time, too). These days, however, I find myself attracted to little items that might make a good prop for the blog. I have to be careful, though. My husband is on to me and my prop obsession. He thinks I’m out of control (that’s debatable). Still, I happily walked out of the Honolua Logo Shop with this cute little tea towel that came in handy for this post.
Happy New Year!
Bucatini with Shrimp, Butterfish and White Wine
- 1/2 pound fresh shrimp
- 1/2 pound butterfish (or any other white meat fish), in bite-size chunks
- 3-4 cup white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc)
- 1 small can minced clams with juice
- 3 mushrooms, sliced
- 1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
- 4-5 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
- Juice of 1 lime
- 2 tablespoons butter
- Olive oil (for sautéing and for garnish)
- chopped parsley (flat-leaf parsley wasn’t available)
- 1 pound bucatini pasta (or spaghetti)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Bring water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, heat up a few tablespoons of olive oil and the butter over med heat in a large pan. When hot, add the chopped pepper and cook for a couple of minutes. Next add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, being careful not to let it burn. Add the mushrooms and add another two minutes to cooking time. You can add a bit of chopped parsley at this point, as well.
- Add the clams with their juice, turn up the heat to med-high. When the mixture is simmering, add the wine and allow to reduce for a 2-3 minutes.
- Add the shrimp and cover the pan. After a minute, when the shrimp have barely turned pink, add the fish and cover again to cook for a minute or two.
- Season with salt and pepper. At this point, I also added a bit more olive oil to increase the amount of the “sauce”. I also added fresh lime juice to taste.
- Add the pasta, toss to combine, plate, drizzle with more olive oil and garnish with chopped parsley.
Gorgeous photos. This looks divine. I give you so much credit for posting while away. That’s impressive. Safe trip home!
I hear you – LOVE traveling, but eating out gets old in a few days:) When you are at a place surrounded by natural beauty, every moment is a Kodak moment. I still cannot catch my breath when I look outside my window at the glorious nature of SoCal:) I just need to practice more with my camera:)
Your shrimp dish looks divine, just perfect for the days after holiday food.
Happy New Year and welcome back to the continent:)
Your photos are beautiful – makes a change from looking at the rain out of our windows. This looks like a lovely dish.
Your photography is always stunning!
This looks lovely and lucky you spending time at the seaside. I also enjoyed your photos. Happy New Year to you.
Wow what a gorgeous dish, this looks amazing! 🙂
Oh, man, does this look spectacular! And, too, funny…my hubby has caught on to my new obsession with white dishes!
It is a cute towel, what a great souvenier! What a great way to spend the holidays! My husband would be all over this pasta!
GORGEOUS photos. Sounds like a heavenly vacation. This pasta looks wonderful I always miss my kitchen as well when ism away from it for long periods of time. I have acquired this prop obsession recently, i have to control it or I’ll have strange plates place mats and decorative pieces that don’t even make sense haha. Oh well for the art of blogging. Cheers Happy New Year
What a beautiful dish! Glad you had a great time!
We are all obsessed with good props, but few of us use them as well as you do. GREG
Yum, and Happy New Year! (I’m totally on your side – one can never have too many props. I’ve used everything from kitchen towels to tablecloths to scarves to blouses…ingenuity is part of the fun 🙂 ).
A delicious dish, perfect for the Australian summer. Love your blog posts!
I long to walk on a beach – any beach. I could do with that pasta, too. What a wonderful holiday! Happy New Year.
What beautiful pictures! Looks like you had a great holiday. This shrimp dish looks great! 🙂
Ditto! I get tired of eating out usually on the 4th or 5th day of vacation. At that point, the alcohol and the food are becoming less and less appealing. Haha! The plate looks yummy per usual. And the last photo (with the palm tree behind) screams VACATION! Love it! Happy New Year!
beautiful!
Gorgeous photos, and love the little tea towel, I like picking them up on vacation too!
What a beautiful place! But like you, I always end up missing home as my time away ends. What a wonderful dish to ring in the New Year! I am happy to have more time on my hands…hopefully it means I can create something just as delicious as this in the week ahead. Many blessings and much love from Austin. Thank you for sharing with me!
we just got home from there! amazing place to spend the holidays, sure beats the snow!