Shrimp and Grits

 

My friends that dine with me often know how much I love shrimp and grits and how often I order it when we’re out. You would think since I’ve developed my love of cooking that I would have tried out this recipe, but I hadn’t…..until now! I have another confession to make. This is a tough one to admit since I’m a southern girl. Hi, my name is Dawn and I’ve never cooked grits. I know! I’m ashamed. I’ve only made instant grits. You know, the kind where you open a single serving package, add hot water and eat? Yeah, embarrassing, right? My father would be embarrassed. He always made us real grits. Well, now I’ve made grits on the stovetop and I must admit, they were pretty tasty. Must have been that cream cheese I added in at the end!

 

I wanted my first venture into the shrimp and grit world to be simple and quick. Luckily I was home during lunch one day and caught one of my friends, Sandra Lee, making this recipe on the Food Network. I altered her recipe a bit to make it more yummy, in my opinion. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind my enhancements. I’m  happy to share my recipe with you so let’s get started!

 

Ingredients:

 

Salt & pepper

1 cup quick grits

¼ cube cream cheese

3 strips bacon, coarsely chopped

½ Vidalia onion

1 small red bell pepper

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (or frozen)

1 clove minced garlic

1 Tablespoon butter

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons hot sauce

¼ cup white wine

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

 

Directions:

 

Cook grits according to package. Once grits are ready, remove from heat and stir in cream cheese until melted. The cream cheese makes the creamy, really bright white, and delicious!

 

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the bacon until crispy, about 5 minutes. 

Turn the heat to med-high, add the onions and pepper and cook until they begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Then stir in garlic. 

Deglaze pan with the white wine…..which means, pour the wine in the pan and scrape all the yummy bits off the bottom of the pan. You don’t want all that flavor to go to waste.  Cook for a couple of minutes, until the wine reduces. Add the shrimp, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook until shrimp turns pink, about 3-4 minutes. Or you can use frozen shrimp like I did. I thawed it out first, then added to pan just to heat.

Stir in butter, lemon juice and hot sauce. Toss around in the pan to coat the shrimp. Remove from heat, stir in parsley. Divide the grits among 4 bowls and spoon shrimp mixture on top of each. Now that is quick, easy and delicious!

 Now all you have to do is enjoy the fact that you made shrimp and grits….I did this by saying over and over “this is really good”, “I made shrimp and grits”. I will say that my husband was pretty pleased and went back to scrape any remnants out of the pan. I like a happy customer!

Shrimp with Garlic & Parsley

We recently found out that we are relocating to Atlanta. Yes, we are moving back home! It's very exciting and overwhelming at the same time. Since we've been a little busy, I've been looking for quick and easy recipes. You can't eat out for every meal, right? Well, I guess you could, but you might be as big as the side of a house! No comments please. I need to find time to cook at home and make it worth our while. This is a great recipe I found on Pinterest. Quick, easy to prepare and full of flavor! I think you'll like it too. I served this with rice so I'd have a starch to soak up the sauce. You should definitely serve with rice or pasta.....and my rosemary sea salt rolls won't hurt either!

Ingredients:

• 4 to 5 Tbs. olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp. sweet paprika
• 1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used my large frozen Costco shrimp)
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 3 Tablespoons dry white wine
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

In a sauté pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes and paprika and sauté for 1 minute until fragrant.

 

Increase the heat to high, add the shrimp, lemon juice and dry white wine, stir well, and sauté until the shrimp turn pink and are opaque throughout, about 3-5 minutes.

 

Season with salt and black pepper, sprinkle with the parsley, serve and enjoy!

 

 

Easy Prawns

I love seafood, all kinds. Pretty much if it swims in the ocean, I’ll eat it. I love, love, LOVE seafood! Shrimp is one of my favorites, which means prawns are too. What is the difference anyway? Prawns are larger? Maybe I’ll look that up and get back to you with an answer. This is a quick and easy recipe that a friend of mine, Laura (I actually know her in person, not on TV), introduced me too. We were at a dinner party and Laura served these prawns and they were delicious! When she told me how she made them, I knew I had to give it a try it. I love a simple recipe that is also full of flavor. This recipe is  so easy and it looks like you went through a lot of trouble to make a fancy meal. There is a secret ingredient though.....get ready for it.....beer! I think that’s a secret ingredient in a lot of recipes. Ready to learn Laura’s secret?? Oh, and don’t tell her I told y’all her secret recipe. Here’s what you need to get started......

Ingredients:

Prawns – whatever quantity suits your needs

salt and pepper to taste

basil, thyme and/or fresh parsley
4 cloves garlic

1 beer

4-5 T butter
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Directions:

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and leave enough to cover the top with the same sheet, so pull off double the amount you need. This method prevents the liquid leaking out. Lay the prawns out on the baking sheet in rows, sprinkle with salt and pepper, garlic, our in beer, lay a few pats of butter on top, sprinkle with red pepper flakes. If you have a few fresh herbs, throw them in too. Normally I would have used parsley, but I was out so I used some fresh thyme and basil. To spice it up, you can sprinkle in a few red pepper flakes.

Cover with top layer of aluminum foil and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes. Check the prawns and make sure they beautiful bright pink. If they aren’t, pop them back in for a few minutes until they are as pretty as the picture below. Don’t they look yummy??

If you have fresh parsley, sprinkle a bit on for garnish. It makes everything prettier. Scoop out prawns, serve and enjoy immensely!  Thanks Laura!

Creamy Garlic Pasta w/Shrimp

 

As you may know, I love carbs! Did I mention that I love carbs, especially in the form of pasta and bread?! They are so delicious! I found this recipe on Pinterest a while ago and finally got around to making it. I find so many great recipes on Pinterest. One day I’ll get around to making all of them......maybe.  I was very pleased when I finally made this recipe, and so was my husband. This pasta dish gives a great punch of flavor.  Full of cheese and garlic. What could be bad about that, right? I added shrimp to the recipe to make it a more filling dinner. So now you’ve got garlic, cheese and shrimp. What a great combination. My mouth is watering, let’s get started with this recipe:

 

Ingredients:

 10-20 frozen shrimp, whatever suits your needs

2 tbsp butter
¼  tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
3 cups chicken stock (homemade if you have it)
½ lb angel hair pasta (I used whole wheat)
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
¾ cup heavy cream
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

In a pot, bring the olive oil to medium-low heat. Add the garlic and stir, allowing it to cook for 1-2 minutes. Mix in the butter until melted.

 

Add the salt, pepper and chicken stock. Raise the heat to high and let it come to a boil. 

Once it is at a rolling boil, add the pasta and cook for as long as the box’s directions indicate. Reduce the stove to medium heat, add shrimp, and mix in the parmesan until completely melted. I used frozen shrimp so I just thawed and stirred into hot mixture. Turn off the heat and stir in the cream and parsley. Serve immediately.

Adding the fresh parsley at the end makes the presentation lovely and gives it a nice freshness. I definitely recommend trying this dish.

Cilantro Lime Shrimp

Are you in need of a quick and easy and flavorful meal?? Pinterest to the rescue! I love Pinterest so much. There's no way I'll ever be able to make everything I've pinned, but it's fun to work through as many recipes as possible. I've had this one pinned for a while and I couldn't wait to make it. David loves cilantro so I knew he'd love this one. I didn't think I liked cilantro too much, but I was wrong! This was really delicious in this dish and oh so flavorful! The cilantro just gives it that extra flavor punch! Cilantro plus lime equals Delish! If you have about 5-10 minutes to spare, you have time to make this awesome meal! Now let's get started:

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 lb shrimp, shelled and deviened
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 lime
• salt and pepper 

Directions:

Heat a large frying pan on medium-high heat. I like to use my iron skillet. It just makes everything better and reminds me of my parents and grand parents. Add oil to the pan, when hot add the shrimp. Season with salt and pepper. When the shrimp is cooked on one side, about 2 minutes, turn over and add garlic. I used frozen shrimp and just warmed them in the oil with garlic. Sauté another minute or two until shrimp is cooked, careful not to overcook. No one wants tough shrimp!

Sorry it's blurry, but you get the idea...saute' shrimp w/garlic.

Remove from heat. Squeeze lime juice all over shrimp and toss with cilantro. Serve hot.

I was so excited to use my new citrus juicer! It works great!

This is such a beautifully flavorful dish! And such a low calorie treat! Next time, I'm going to add another lime and a little more olive oil and serve it over pasta. The sauce this created was so fresh and tasty. It would be awesome over some angel hair pasta so a drop isn't wasted. I served it with rice so that helped collect some flavors too.  Give that a try this time!

Delicious Jambalaya

Okay, this is one of my all-time favorite dishes! I know, I know, I say that a lot, but I have been making this one for many years thanks to a friend of  mine (Susan). We lost touch for a few years, I lost the recipe in a move, so no more jambalaya for me! I’ve been sad about this for many years and couldn’t find just the right recipe. I like my jambalaya with lots of tomato flavor and this one was just the perfect combination of that. All I could do was dream of it…..until she found me on Facebook! Thank you Facebook and thank you Susan for finding me. Of course, it’s great to be back in contact with her, but it’s awesome to have my jambalaya recipe back in the cookbook! What a sweet reunion.

There is a good deal of chopping in the recipe so make sure you have the time when you start making it. You can really use whatever meat you like, but I love this one with a combination of shrimp and kielbasa. You could use also use ham or chicken, but if I were you, I’d stick with the shrimp and kielbasa.

Sorry I don’t have pictures to show you the process. I was so excited to be making it again that I just took one when I was finished and as you can see, I didn’t do a great job with that either. I’ll be making this again soon so I’ll update this post with more pics.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup each chopped onion, green onions, celery
3/4 cup green pepper, diced (I like using red or yellow peppers)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chicken broth
2 cans stewed tomatoes, chopped (I used the ones with italian seasonings added)
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp each pepper, cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
1 cup uncooked rice
1 bag of frozen shrimp (about 25-30 medium)

1/4 lb kielbasa or cooked, diced ham

Directions:

Heat butter in large heavy skillet over low heat. Stir in onions, celery, green pepper, kielbasa (or ham) and garlic. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes or until onions are tender. Stir in broth, tomatoes, parsley and seasonings. Cover. Bring to a boil. Add rice gradually, stirring with fork. Simmer, covered for 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Mix in shrimp. Cover. Simmer for 5 minutes longer. Yield: 6-8 servings.

This is such a flavorful dish. I’m sure you are going to love it. I usually double the thyme and garlic because I like tons of flavor so you might want to start off with the correct amount, taste and decide for yourself.

Delish!

Shrimp, Tomato & Feta Bake - My Fav!

Okay, this is one of my all time favorite recipes! Yeah  yeah, I might have said that a couple of other times, but this time I REALLY mean it! Anytime someone asks me for a suggestion for dinner, this is my go-to recipe. I’ve pretty much shared this one with everyone I know. Hopefully there are many more readers who will fall in love with this one too. If you like the flavor combination of tomatoes with feta cheese, then you will love this one!  If you don’t like tomatoes and feta, stop reading! I found this on cooking.com many years ago and made a few changes until I felt it was perfect. I’d say it’s pretty darn perfect now. Give it a try and let me know if you feel the same way.....I think you will. Man, this is a good one!

Of course, I recommend serving with some crusty french bread so you can sop up the sauce. You definitely do not want that going to waste! Okay, let’s get started.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used about 20-25 large frozen shrimp)

salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 small yellow onion, chopped, or 6 green onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely minced

Pinch of ground cayenne pepper, optional

2 tablespoons dried oregano

2 cans diced tomatoes (I used the seasoned ones) 1 small can of tomato sauce

1/2 pound feta cheese, crumbled 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley Angel hair pasta

DIRECTIONS

Preheat an oven to 450 degrees F or preheat a broiler or grill.

Sprinkle the shrimp with salt and black pepper. In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the shrimp and saute, stirring briskly, until pink and beginning to curl, 2-3 minutes. I also do this step with frozen shrimp so it warms it up a little. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the shrimp to a oven proof dish. Of if using a pan that go go into the oven also, reserve the shrimp and put them back in the same pan. This is what I did so it was a one pan meal. Easy clean up!

In the same pan over medium heat, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the yellow onion or green onions and saute until tender, about 8 minutes (I used yellow onion). Add the garlic, cayenne (if using), and oregano and sauté for 2 minutes longer. Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes and simmer until thickened slightly, about 2 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Meanwhile, bring pasta water to boil and cook angel hair pasta. I prefer the angel hair, but you can serve over spaghetti squash to be healthier or the pasta of your choosing.

Pour the sauce over the shrimp or put shrimp back in pan with tomato mixture if using the same pan. Then sprinkle the feta over the top. Bake or broil until the cheese melts, 5-8 minutes if baking or 3-5 minutes if broiling.

Sprinkle the dish with the parsley and serve over pasta. You will definitely thank me for this one! Here's a close up, look how delicious it looks. My mouth is watering! Enjoy....

Super Easy Parmesan Risotto

OMG, you aren’t even going to believe how easy it is to make this risotto recipe! I love, love, love risotto, but never made it because I don’t have the patience to stand over it, constantly stirring. Well, wait no more people! This is your lucky day!  No constant stirring in this recipe. Yes, you heard me correctly. You do NOT have to stand over this and stir. It starts with the rice, chicken stock and dutch oven. Stick it in the oven and walk away. How easy does that sound?? You guys are so lucky that I watch a ton of the Food Network these days and can find these fabulous and easy recipes for us to try. I saw one of my friends, Barefoot Contessa, make this earlier  this week and could not wait to give it a try.  My husband is my official kitchen tester and he says this is one of the most flavorful dishes I’ve made yet. I think I’ve made some pretty tasty dishes lately so you should know that he is giving this dish super props!

I’m sure you are dying to know how I made it so here we go.....

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
• 5 cups simmering chicken stock, preferably homemade, divided
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese – make sure it’s not the cheese in the jar, use freshly grated. It makes a difference.
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 small package fresh mushrooms
• 15-20 medium frozen shrimp, thawed

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the rice and 4 cups of the chicken stock in a Dutch oven. Cover and bake for 45 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente. I checked on mine at 40 minutes and it was done.

While rice is cooking in the oven, sauté your mushrooms and set aside. I sautéed them lightly in just a little butter (no additional seasoning) and removed with a slotted spoon.


Remove rice from the oven, add the remaining cup of chicken stock, the parmesan, wine, butter, salt, and pepper, and stir vigorously for 2 to 3 minutes, until the rice is thick and creamy. Add the peas, mushrooms and shrimp, and stir until heated through. Serve hot.

Serves 4-6 (depending on how hungry you are!)


I think I’ll mix it up next time and try it with some pancetta. Yummy, right?


Make this.....seriously, do it very soon!

The BEST Dinner Ever!

I’m so excited to finally have my blog up and running after so MANY of my friends have been after me to do this. You’re welcome Allison and Michelle. I love to photograph my food and share it on Facebook so why not blog about it and have a space where I can give you all of the juicy details?? So here I am, posting my second blog about food on the same night. Can you tell I’m excited to write about food??

Let’s talk (okay, I’ll be the only one talking, but I didn’t want to sound rude) about my dinner tonight. The hubby was quite pleased. No, that doesn’t do it justice, he thought it was DE-licious!! Just so you know, I was laid off 6 months ago and since then have been watching a lot, and I mean A LOT, of the Food Network and experimenting in the kitchen.....with cooking. I’ll have to say, I’m pretty proud of myself. So, let’s chat about tonight’s dinner. My friend, Giada De Laurentis, taught me how to make Linguini with Shrimp, Asparagus and Cherry Tomatoes one day while I was overdosing on the Food Network. Sure, Giada has a few TV shows, many years of experience, and is a Chef to the stars, but I still took the liberty of making some changes to her recipe. I mean, I’m practically a Chef after watching the Food Network non-stop for six months. This turned out to be one of the best dishes I’ve ever made! It was such a light and flavorful sauce and so colorful! Like my other friend, Paula Deen, says, you eat with your eyes first and this dish was gorgeous! I highly recommend!

Like I mentioned in the recipe below, I used linguine because Giada told me to, but next time I’ll use spaghetti or rotini.

Ingredients

• Kosher salt
• 1 pound linguine (I used whole grain linguine, but think I’ll use spaghetti next time)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Two 12-ounce bags cherry tomatoes, stemmed and halved
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• 3 large cloves garlic, flattened and chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 pound asparagus, trimmed, stalks cut on a diagonal into 1 to 1 1/2-inch pieces (or one bunch of kale like I used)
• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used frozen shrimp from Wal-mart – fancy)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil ( I used about 5 fresh basil leaves and 2 teaspoons of dried)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint (I omitted because I’m not a fan of mint)
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano (used dried - remember to rub in your hands to release the oils before adding to pot)

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and place in a large bowl.

Heat the oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 2 minutes. Smoosh all the tomatoes with a fork. Add the crushed red pepper flakes and garlic. Cook for 30 seconds until aromatic. Add the wine and asparagus (this is where I added kale. Cook just enough to wilt). Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle the shrimp with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Add the shrimp to the pan and continue to simmer until the shrimp is cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the basil, mint and oregano.

Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss to combine. Serve immediately.