I was a good father. I don’t care what anybody says.
Of course, there were issues. I used to work late on my doctoral dissertation, really late. So I was not up to making breakfast for my son and daughter at 7AM. “Do it yourself,” I would say. And they did. Until the day I discovered my 10 year daughter was making strawberry daiquiris for breakfast. In the blender. With rum. There was a heart-to-heart parent-teachers conference where her inability to walk a straight line was discussed.
By then, certain patterns had been established. My son cooked at age 6 and he’s still at it. He was great as a kid. I would ask him for breakfast. That one incident with smoke in the kitchen was not his fault.
And now, with his own family, Michael is the master cook. He’s there every day doing what he loves: working on computers by day and assembling dinner by night. And he owes it all to me.
Michael lives in Austin, a culinary gem of a city. Yes, the cuisine is heavily Tex-Mex, and, yes, the restaurants all vie to outdo each other by adding heat. Michael cruises those hot spots and finds the best recipes. Here’s his take on a mouth popping combo: shrimp, avocado and chipotle.
Shrimp Chips with Avocado Cream and Chipotle Drip
Yield: serve 4
Avocado Cream:
Ingredients:
- 1 avocado
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
Preparation:
Mash or puree the flesh of avocado. Stir in the sour cream, cilantro, lime juice, and salt.
Chipotle Dip:
Ingredients:
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 canned chipotle pepper in adobe sauce
Preparation:
Puree mayonnaise and chipotle pepper until smooth..
Assembly:
Ingredients:
- blue corn tortilla chips
- Peeled, deveined and cooked shrimp
- Cilantro leaves
Preparation:
Cut shrimp in half lengthwise. Place avocado cream and chipotle dip on chips and top with a shrimp and cilantro leaf.
Source: Michael O’Rourke