20 Questions with Laurina

Sometimes new friends feel like forever friends. Laurina Kilby became our friend for life on May 6 of last year, the day she entered my daughter Reilly’s ICU room at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan. She turned our frowns upside down and instantly became our Angel nurse. She is the age of my own daughters and calmed all of us in a precarious situation. Laurina made an effort to check in on Reilly throughout her six weeks in the ICU and when Reilly transferred to a rehab hospital, Laurina visited on her days off bringing us a portable feast.

Now we are home and Laurina scheduled a visit to Baton Rouge for Reilly’s birthday. That’s on hold and our angel nurse is now out of trauma ICU and working in a COVID-19 ICU, an experience she described in a Facebook post that frankly went viral. It is hard to imagine how the healthcare teams cope during this unprecedented crisis. Now our FaceTime calls with Laurina feature the new puppy that she and her husband DJ just welcomed into their lives, planned long before the pandemic.

What’s your 20 minute recipe? We just moved into a new apartment so we are trying to get into a better routine. We are surrounded by great restaurants and our kitchen is tiny, so we aren’t always cooking at home. I do a creamy pasta dish with spinach and shrimp that’s really fast.

What’s your favorite city? Probably here, I love it! The customer service is so great, everything stays open late, I don’t get home until after 9 so I can usually find a place that’s open on my way home.

What’s your favorite restaurant in your current city? There’s a pizza place called Sofia’s, it is the BEST pizza I’ve ever had! They use these tiny pepperonis, they’re spicy. The crust is really thin and crispy. I LOVE it!. In Phoenix where I’m from there’s a burger place that makes the BEST burger with pb&j, sriracha and bacon. Sweet salty spicy. It’s delicious! The warm burger melts the peanut butter, it is soo good!

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? Probably a jar of Claussen pickles.

Who taught you to cook? Actually I didn’t start getting into cooking until I was in college. My aunt has a passion for cooking and is really good at just throwing things together. I would visit her regularly when I was in college and we would cook together. It was so fun! Cooking is really hard in New York, ingredients are expensive, then you have to carry it all home and cook in your tiny kitchen. When i do cook DJ really appreciates it!

Surf? or Turf? Turf.

What’s on your cooking playlist? Actually prefer to listen to a podcast. I like Crime Junkie, I really like it. I also like to FaceTime people when I cook.

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? Coffee. I’ve been making oat milk lattes. Oh my gosh, it’s the best thing! We bought a Nespresso machine after our trip to Italy. We had fallen in love with affogato and had to make espresso when we got back, so this is perfect!

Date night—at home? or out? Out. I like going out to eat. It’s one of my favorite things! It’s nice being served and not having dishes to wash.

Most stained cookbook? My phone! I usually go on Pinterest, really good recipes and they’re easy to find.

Indispensable kitchen tool? I have a really expensive blender that I love. It’s a Blendtec. You can make really good soups, it will crush a whole apple. Makes great mixed drinks and smoothies and it’s awesome for acai bowls in the summer.

Staple childhood comfort food? I really love meatloaf. And you know what’s funny, the other day I made meatloaf and put gravy on it. DJ wasn’t familiar with having gravy on meatloaf. He likes his with a ketchup sauce.

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? My mom. I miss her! She was supposed to come visit this week but she can’t with the pandemic. She’ll get here eventually.

Ideal grilled cheese? Sourdough bread from the deli with Gouda cheese.

How do you like your toast? Not too burnt, with butter. Just toasted enough to melt the butter.

Favorite pizza topping? I really like pepperoni and olives.

Where would you want to take a cooking class? I kinda want to learn how to make sushi, that would be fun. I feel like I could learn somewhere in the city, maybe Sugarfish? We had Sugarfish donated to the hospital last week. Each of us had our own huge container. I’ve been in the COVID ICU for 2 months now  and we have had meals donated every day!

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? I usually follow a recipe as it is the first time through and then change it up the next time to customize it.

Best thing you’ve ever eaten in an airport? I’m a sucker for pretzels, I’ll get Auntie Anne’s when I’m in an airport.

What’s your favorite sports team? I’m only into this because DJ always has them on. The Tottenham Hotspurs. We’ll go out to bars in the city when the games are on. It’s standing room only and everyone’s singing the songs. It’s so great!

Laurina’s creamy pasta dish with spinach and shrimp is lovely for a spring supper

Creamy Pasta with Spinach and Shrimp

Start your pasta water, assemble your ingredients, and you are serving a beautiful meal in 20 flat!

1 pound pasta, we used tagliatelle, borrowed from a neighbor’s pantry (I had angel hair on hand, wanted something a little sturdier. Anything goes here…use what you have or can barter for)

2 tablespoons butter

1 pound shrimp

1 1/2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning (out of Old Bay? Tony Chachere’s works great! Choose a seasoning salt that goes well with seafood)

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (definitely a treasured find in my freezer!)

5 ounce bag of fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped

1 cup cream

generous amount of freshly grated parmesan cheese

lemon wedges, crushed red pepper and chopped green onions for serving (optional)

COOK the pasta according to cooking instructions, reserving a mugful of cooking water before straining.

HEAT a large skillet over medium high heat and add 1 tablespoon of butter, swirling the skillet to melt the butter without it burning. Add the shrimp in one crowded layer, sprinkle evenly with the seasoning, and cook about one minute before stirring. Give it all a good toss and when most of the shrimp are just pink, scoop them from the skillet into a small bowl using a slotted spoon.

ADD the remaining tablespoon of butter to the hot skillet and cook the spinach just until it wilts. Stir in the cream, let it bubble for a minute, then add the shrimp back in, stirring to coat.

RETURN the strained pasta back to its cooking pot and add the creamy spinach and shrimp along with a good handful or so of parmesan and some of the reserved pasta water. Toss well with tongs or a pasta tool, adding additional parmesan as desired.

DIVIDE among 6 bowls (or save extras for later if serving fewer than 6) and top with another sprinkle of parmesan, some green onions, crushed red pepper and a wedge of lemon if desired.

20 Questions with Nancy

Nancy Bruns relocated to her hometown of Charleston, West Virginia when she and her brother Lewis Payne revitalized their family’s award winning salt business. Breaking ground in 2013 on their 21st Century version of a multigenerational industry, Nancy fully immersed herself in all things salt. We became fast friends the moment Lewis and his wife Paige introduced us at an intimate dinner party at their home. I had the good fortune of being a salt taster early on, before they had coined their name J.Q. Dickinson SaltWorks, and catered their big family feast for their website photo shoot.

Nancy blends her many talents as a formally trained chef and entrepreneur to become a salty success story. Her enthusiastic expansion of the family business earned her the accolade of West Virginia Wonder Woman. When she isn’t at work in Malden, you can find her preparing delicious meals in her kitchen or exploring the food scene outside of West Virginia traveling with her kids.

What’s your 20 minute recipe? Shrimp and sausage skewers with smoked paprika glaze. I think it can come together in about 20 minutes, or to save time you can ditch the skewers and do it as a sheetpan roast.

What’s your favorite city? New York City. I love the eclectic mix of food and the vibrancy of the food scene. I always find something interesting and new. I usually go twice a year, once each for business and pleasure.

What’s your favorite restaurant in your current city? Noah’s Restaurant & Lounge. I love that he’s raising a lot of his vegetables and he’s the one in the kitchen. You can feel the love in the food.

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? a jar of preserved Meyer lemons, always something I keep on hand. I love the flavor! Not as tart as regular lemons and it’s salty which of course I love.

Who taught you to cook? Started with my parents! They always enjoyed cooking together. Some of my fondest family memories are from the kitchen and around the family table. Someone would put the phone receiver in the kitchen drawer so we wouldn’t have any interruptions at dinner. My mom would sign me up for children’s cooking classes and in high school I went to a French cooking series in Washington, D.C. After college, I went to culinary school. I can’t forget Otis! He’s an important mentor as well. I worked for him at his shop Laury’s Gourmet two summers during college.

What’s your go-to dish for company? I love braised dishes! They’re easy to have finished in a warm oven. In the winter I’ll do a braised pork shoulder in Guinness Stout with balsamic vinegar and sour cherries. It’s not a 20 minute recipe. In the summer I like serving al fresco, something off the grill with a big salad.

What’s on your cooking playlist? I love Mumford and Sons, Avici. I love Don McLean’s American Pie.

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? I’m a coffee drinker. I love coffee! Decaf. People who drink decaf should not be ignored. I love decaf espresso with frothed milk.

Most stained cookbook? Probably my mother’s cookbook Let’s Have An Affair. My next one is New Basics. I use books for inspiration and look at recipes then throw it together to make it my own.

Indispensable kitchen tool? My chef’s knife for sure, and my Peltex whip. It’s great for turning fish and eggs.

Staple childhood comfort food? Eggs & toast. Two softboiled eggs with lots of butter and salt and pepper. It makes me feel good! You’ve gotta get the eggs just right though. I’m a big fan of egg cookery. People take them for granted. When I was a guest on Jeff Shirley’s Three Things, my ‘favorite’ and ‘future’ were all about eggs.

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? Julia Child. I would want to be in the kitchen with her and then sit down at the table with her. Just the two of us or maybe Paul could come. Can I ask for this to be in France?

Best thing you’ve ever eaten in an airport? In Spain, Iberico ham sandwich on really good crusty bread. I could eat that daily, or three times a day. The Madrid airport. American airports are getting better.

Go-to olive oil? It’s hard to have just one! I love the Villa DiTrapano for finishing and Colavita for everyday.

Ideal grilled cheese? Bread is very important. Sourdough, mix of cheeses. Swiss, Havarti and spread a little goat cheese on there, too. Lots of butter on the bread and griddle until it’s almost charred.

Favorite pizza topping? Prosciutto with arugula.

Where would you want to take a cooking class? I would love to do something in the South of France. If I can dream, I’d look for a five day intensive cooking there. Maybe I’d go with my friend April. (!!!)

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? Go with your instincts when you’re cooking. It’s okay to mess with a recipe, you don’t have to follow it exactly. This is why I don’t do a lot of baking.

Three things next to your stove? Salt and pepper and olive oil. Yes, of course JQ Dickinson salt and I like Telicherry peppercorns in a grinder.

What’s your favorite sports team? I really like the Green Bay Packers. I love that they’re owned by the fans. I gave my son one share for Christmas. It’s fun to say, ‘hey! I’m part of this team.’

Tossed with a smoked paprika glaze, shrimp, Cajun sausage, peppers and onions roast in a blazing oven for a super delicious weeknight meal. For a dressier presentation, skewer and grill the ingredients for company.

Nancy’s Shrimp and Sausage with Smoked Paprika Glaze

Nancy threads the dressed shrimp, sausage, and vegetables on skewers before cooking and suggests rice as a serving accompaniment. Oven-roasting the ingredients on a sheetpan and serving with fast cooking couscous makes for an easy weeknight meal. I placed my sheetpan on top of my oven’s pizza stone to really get things sizzling. The fresh herbs here remind me it’s time to start a windowsill garden!

For the glaze:

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

• 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika

• pinch of crushed red pepper

• pinch of salt

• 2 teaspoons Sherry vinegar

• 1/3 cup olive oil

COMBINE the garlic, thyme, smoked paprika, crushed red pepper, salt, and Sherry vinegar in a small bowl. DRIZZLE the olive oil in slowly while whisking to blend.

For the sheetpan/skewers

• 3/4 pound large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

• 1/2 pound Andouille sausage, cut into thick coin slices

• 1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch squares

• 1 small red onion, cut into chunks

• 3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley for serving

HEAT the oven to 400 and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or foil (hello easy cleanup!)

PUT the shrimp in a bowl and toss with about 3 tablespoons of the smoked paprika glaze.

PUT the sausage, bell pepper and onion on the prepared baking sheet, drizzle with about 3 tablespoons of the glaze and toss to coat. Push these ingredients over to cover about 2/3 of the sheetpan to make room for the shrimp.

LAY the shrimp out in a single layer on the other 1/3 of the sheetpan.

ROAST for 8 minutes, then turn the shrimp and roast for 2 minutes until shrimp are just cooked through. Remove the shrimp to a dish and continue roasting the sausage and vegetables until the vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes.

SERVE a scoop of sausage and vegetables with three or four shrimp, sprinkle with parsley and offer the remaining smoked paprika glaze on the side.

With thanks to Nancy for this versatile recipe loaded with the flavors of Louisiana!

Happy cooking!