Dud of a dinner

For Christmas last year I received the cookbook "Nigella Express". This lovely book is full of easy recipes using ingredients I mostly have on hand.  We had gotten some large shrimp for dinner and I decided to make "Red Shrimp". It has red curry powder, chili paste, onions, garlic, papaya, coconut milk, broth, sweet potatoes, butternut squash (we are still eating our abundant crop from last year!), lime juice, and a few other things.  It called for being served over noodles. I found some (very old) rice stick noodles and cooked them up. They are kind of like spagettini so I didn't cook them too long for fear of ending up with mush.

Well, the noodles weren't at all mushy - they were more like long strings of rubber!  And the shrimp dish was VERY SPICY! The shrimp were good but everything else was almost inedible!

Well. Last night was the first time in 22 years that the Big Guy didn't eat all his dinner! And he's the guy who eats raw firecracker peppers! In fact, he threw half his dinner away! He was worried about insulting me but rather, by throwing his away, he gave me permission to throw mine away this a.m. when I got them out to make for breakfast!

As I always do, I made notes in the cookbook - leave out the chili oil/paste. Use mild curry. Forget the lime juice in the sauce.  Buon apetito!