Jan 9, 2008 By Jen Harr 4 min read

There’s little more satisfying in this life than preparing a good meal.

And sharing that meal with someone else is even nicer.

A few weeks back, in the absence of good television to write about, I suggested throwing a get together, sharing my idea for an after-holiday party. True to my suggestion, that’s just what my sweetie and I did. I laid out a Mexican buffet complete with blackened chicken in my homemade spice rub, citrus marinated flank steak and shrimp. To serve it up I put out hard and soft taco shells and all the fixins, including homemade guacamole and salsa.

Sam’s part in this whole fiesta? The drink menu. Mr. Creative made up one (literally – he put out a menu) that included martinis and margaritas.

Throw in a ping-pong table and good music, and a good time was had by all.

But in the wake of the party for 20-odd of our pals, Sam and I decided that somewhere along the line, cooking has become a lost art.

Now, I lucked out with a guy who knows how to lay down a meal like nobody’s business (on one of our first dates, he cooked me pork loin with apples and fresh sage), but there are far too many folks who don’t, won’t or can’t be bothered to cook.

I’ve never understood that, because there’s nothing all that complicated about it.

So, while I wait for good television to return, I’m going to fill my SpinIt space with stuff that will hopefully inspire the non-cooks to get into the kitchen, and delight the foodies who already have a handle on home cookery.

As my first order of business, might I echo the thoughts of director Robert Rodriguez (“From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Sin City”): learn how to cook what you like to eat.

Perhaps even more basic than that, identify the main ingredient in the dish (generally the protein) and learn how to cook it to perfection. In other words, if you’re favorite dish is chicken parmesan, figure out how to cook the main component (generally a chicken breast). The key is to cook it enough to avoid salmonella, yet not dry it out so that it tastes like saw dust.

My favorite protein to work with is easily shrimp. There are a million and one ways to prep it, it takes no time to cook and it can stand on its own as a lazy day meal, or combined with pretty much any veggie for a complete dinner.

In the spirit of showing the simplicity of cooking (and hopefully getting you non-cooks into the kitchen), here’s a shrimp dish that is super simple. It’s become a staple at family gatherings, and my brother and nephew can eat pounds of shrimp prepared this way:

1 pound of uncooked shrimp, peeled, with tail left on

½ stick unsalted butter (real butter!!)

salt

pepper

red pepper flakes

Toss the shrimp with a bit of salt and pepper. Add red pepper flakes to your liking. Crank up the broiler. Put the shrimp in a single layer in a baking dish, and cut up the butter into small pieces. Dot it over the shrimp. Pop them under the broiler for about 2 minutes. Pull them out, turn them and leave them under for another minute or two. The butter will brown up a bit, and the shrimp with brown a little too.

They can be served warm or at room temperature. Just put them in the microwave for about 10 seconds if the butter starts to get solid again.

Viola. Now you have your first simple recipe. What are you doing still reading? Get into the kitchen or go to the store so you can start on your way to feeling like you’ve mastered your (food preparation) domain.