Shrimp Creole, April 21, 2016

Jeannene's been on kind of a shrimp strike for several years now. She will, on rare occasions, eat it. She loves a friend's shrimp cocktail when he brings it to game night potlucks and she loves it when I make my grandmom's shrimp in beer. She certainly enjoyed the shrimp we had in Savannah last summer. However, other than that, she has avoided it since getting undercooked shrimp two weeks in a row at restaurants.

I decided to make Shrimp Creole, though, after finding it in John T. Edge's wonderful Southern cookbook, A Gracious Plenty. I figured I could just pull some fish out of the freezer for her, if she didn't want the shrimp, but she ended up really loving it. I served it with jasmine rice and a green salad.

The recipe originated with the Louisiana Farm Bureau women of Baton Rouge. I made the recipe almost as they gave it and would make modifications next time. I found it skimpy on garlic & shrimp.  I also couldn't believe they recommended cooking shrimp for 10 minutes. My modified recipe would look like this:

Shrimp Creole

1-2 tbsp. butter or olive oil

1/2 tsp. paprika

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

14 oz. can stewed tomatoes

Salt & pepper

2 cups peeled, deveined shrimp (I chopped it because the shrimp I had were fairly large, but i would use smaller, whole shrimp next time)

Melt the butter in a skillet. Add paprika and stir well. Cook the onion, pepper, and garlic until tender. Add tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook 5 minutes. Add shrimp and cook another 3-4 minutes, until pinkened and cooked through. Serves 4-6. 

BBQ Shrimp, March 11, 2016

While I've enjoyed bbq shrimp in New Orleans restaurants, I had never made it until last Friday. It was amazing! I served it with cheesy grits & roasted cauliflower. I also did some pre-seasoned tilapia Jeannene had in the freezer for her, as shrimp often gives her the heebie-jeebies, ever since 2 undercooked shrimp episodes in restaurants within about 2 weeks of each other a few years ago. This bbq shrimp is rich and sumptuous and you'll want some good, crusty bread to sop up extra sauce. It's the bomb!

BBQ Shrimp

1 stick butter

3/4 c. chicken broth

1/4 c. worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp. soy sauce

1 tbsp. lemon juice

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/8 tsp. paprika

Pinch cayenne

1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled & deveined

Heat everything but the shrimp in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until reduced and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Add shrimp & cook until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Serves 4. 

Creamy Shrimp & Fettucine

My wife has become incredibly leery of shrimp after being served undercooked shrimp in two different restaurants in the span of a week about year ago, so I was unsure whether I should make this. However, it sounded so yummy that I decided to throw caution to the wind, put it on the menu, and make damn sure the shrimp was cooked properly. It is, I admit, a thing which requires attention. Too little cooking time and you revolt your diners. Too much and you might as well serve a little log of Silly Putty. But it's really not that difficult. This turned out wonderfully and I served it with a salad of mixed greens (which I topped with pine nuts and a tarragon vinaigrette), a loaf of our favorite Pugliese bread from the grocery, and fruit salad left over from our book group gathering on Saturday. 

Creamy Shrimp & Fettuccine

10 oz. uncooked shrimp, peeled & deveined (frozen is fine, just thaw prior)

8 oz. fettuccine, cooked & hot

2 tbsp. butter or olive oil

1 small bell pepper, in thin half-strips (I like red & orange)

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup (I used 98% fat-free)

A splash of milk (skim is fine)

A splash of sherry

1/2 c. frozen peas (no need to thaw)

3 heaping tbsp. grated parmesan

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp & peppers. Cook about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, 3-5 minutes. Toss with drained pasta and serve piping hot! Serves 4.