Citrus and the Super Bowl

Today was crappy; there's no getting around it. Other than having little in the way of a voice and taking almost zero pleasure in motherhood (sad but true; these days happens but suck), I also scalded my left forearm with some boiling water. It really, really hurts. For whatever reason, I attempted to ameliorate my woes by going gangbusters with citrus. I made two-orange marmalade for a friend with a serious yen, a lemon cake with lemon glaze for us, lemon-ginger-honey tea for me, and citrusy shrimp tacos for dinner.

www.em-i-lis.com

I'm not a marmalade gal, but this is a lovely concoction (Cara Caras and Valencias with a bit of candied ginger and St. Germain), and I hope my dear pal likes it.

www.em-i-lis.com

The cake is fab (Oliver would have eaten the whole thing if I'd let him), and while I always love the shrimp tacos, the accompanying avocado creme was the real star for me tonight.

www.em-i-lis.com

www.em-i-lis.com

The Super Bowl has been such a vicarious battlefield pleasure. Chris Matthews?! What an incredible story- working at a Foot Locker when the Seahawks picked him up as a free agent. He was on fire tonight- wow! And the Pats' Julian Edelman? Equal wow!

But does anyone else find the nearly-naked cheer-dancer girls on the sidelines vaguely depressing?

Yes! Back in the kitch! Delish!

1) The Knick is such a fabulous show. My Cinemax-oriented prayers were answered because, indeed, a Knick played last night and waited patiently for us on our DVR. 2) Inglourious Basterds is a great film. Is Christoph Waltz not a brilliant actor? He is so simultaneously charming and full of shit. Love.

3) It was so great to make a real dinner once more. This rapini so floats my boat, and these shrimp -from my Shrimp Tacos- are fab as a stand-alone dish.

Shrimp tacos to die for

Oh.my.god.

Tonight's dinner, contemplated while at the market earlier but not begun until much later, was one of the very best, most delicious, can't-wait-to-make-again dishes I've cooked in a long while. These are the shrimp tacos of my dreams. Tom's too.

I started by making a marinade: freshly squeezed orange and lime juices; toasted and ground cumin and coriander seeds; garlic; minced habañero; honey; and some critically important supporters. Into that I folded shrimp and diced red onion and let everything marry while I made a cilantro-avocado creme with the ever-sublime crème fraîche. I also julienned some jicama and toasted some corn tortillas.

Do you know and/or use crème fraîche? It's like souped-up, top-shelf, Grade A sour cream. I like it better for many reasons but in part because it has a vague element of sweetness to it that I fancy. It's great in baked goods like scones, delicious stirred into pastas, lovely used in a marinade for chicken and, as I discovered tonight, a dear friend of the avocado.

I am feeling incredibly happy that A) I meticulously took notes while cooking tonight so that I can write this recipe up tomorrow, share it with you and make it many more times for us, and B) that Tom got home in time to enjoy it all at the peak of fresh. He was beside himself with pleasure: "This is absolutely delicious, Em."

Indeed.

Aah! *We also enjoyed the perfect side: watermelon, feta, cilantro, olive oil and Maldon.