Shrimp Scampi

I'm not sure how I feel about the Print This Page button at the bottom of this post. When I tried it at work, it only printed half of the page. I'm not sure what purpose that serves. So I'm going to leave it on there for the time being, but I want to find one that works better. 


I said I would be back with recipes this week and here I am. A few weeks ago Tom told me that he and C were tired of pork chops. Of course this was after I just bought another family pack of them, but that's another story. He said that they'd much rather have a pork tenderloin or to have some type of fish or seafood. I have no problems with seafood, I just don't have very many recipes to cook it. 


I guess its a Maryland thing. We steam crabs and shrimp. That's pretty much it. I honestly can say that aside from raw or steamed, I don't think I've had seafood any other way. Well...that's not true, I've had baked and broiled fish, but not very often. 


I found this recipe on Annie's Eats and thought it was simple enough that I would probably like it. Actually, the directions were so easy to follow that Tom made everything while I stood there and supervised. If I would have thought about it, it would have been this week's Cooking for Beginners Recipe.


Shrimp Scampi
Servings: 4
Adapted from: Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 box fettuccine (or linguine)
4 tbs. butter
2 tbs. olive oil
3 tsp. minced garlic
3 tsp. parsley
1/4 tsp. lemon zest
1 tbs. lemon juice
salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Bring a medium to large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the directions. (In our case it was 11-13 minutes)
2. Add butter and olive oil to a skillet and heat over medium-high heat.   
3. Add the garlic to the butter and olive oil and cook for about a minute. 
4. Put the shrimp in the skillet, in an even layer and season with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook the shrimp until lightly pink on one side. 
5. Toss the shrimp to cook the other side. They will take about 2 minutes per side depending on how hot you have the heat. 
6. Remove the shrimp from the heat and add in the parsley, lemon juice and lemon zest. We added more salt, pepper and red pepper flakes at this point too.
7. When the pasta is done cooking, drain the water and add the noodles to the shrimp mixture. Toss/stir until well combined. 
8. Serve immediately and enjoy!


I ended up liking this more than I thought I would but next time I'm going to up the amount of lemon juice and red pepper flakes. I didn't taste very much seasoning or acidity and I think it would really make a difference in the dish. I tend to go light on anything that says lemon because I had a horrible Rachael Ray recipe experience where everything tasted like an lemon slice that sat in liquid too long. It was disgusting!! Next time I want to serve this with a green salad (that only I will eat) and some crusty bread broiled with a bit of olive oil and Italian seasonings.

Shrimp Bisque

When I first found this recipe, I was really excited to try it out. I'm from Maryland and if you know anything about Maryland, its that we sure love our seafood. First in line is steamed crabs followed closely by steamed shrimp.

If you're not from Maryland and you've never visited here, then you have never had a Maryland crab cake. I don't care if they called it a Maryland crab cake on the menu, I'm telling you, there is no way you had a Maryland crab cake. Just believe me! While steamed crabs is what Maryland is known for, you absolutely can NOT have steamed crabs without their awesome seasoning, Old Bay.

A former Maryland knottie friend once said that people from Maryland just like to put Old Bay on stuff, and well, its true. Seafood, french fries, in mashed potatoes or potato salad, on chicken...basically whatever you can think of. I don't believe I could live in a state that didn't sell Old Bay, but luckily, with the invention of the internet, I'd at least be able to order it.

So, what in the world is Old Bay is what you non-Maryland natives are thinking right? Well its this awesome zero calorie seasoning that makes seafood, well, seafood. The ingredients list is celery salt, spices (including red pepper and black pepper) and paprika. Yeah if I was McCormick, I wouldn't allude too much to the ingredients either. But let me just tell you, its great. Really great!

Ooo, can I tell you a funny story about crabs? I swear, I really am getting to the recipe, but you just need to hear this first. So, my friend Cassidy is from here and she moved to Virginia Beach for a while and was dating a guy from New York. He came and visited her family during the summer while they had steamed crabs. His response when they pulled one out "Don't you wash that thing off first?" I laughed so hard I almost cried when she told me that story. I'm sure its not quite as amusing if you're not from here, but just imagine this crab, covered in clumps of Old Bay spices, resembling dirt and this poor boy thinking that you actually ate the shell and legs of the crab. Not funny? Oh well, I'll try again later.

Here's proof that I am by no means a perfect cook. We purchased cooked shrimp in a two pound bag from the grocery store last week because they were ridiculously cheap. Now all day I've known I was going to cook the shrimp bisque. But for whatever reason, I didn't bother to look at the bag and I didn't bother to take them out to dethaw either. So, after I had my veggies chopped, I pulled out the shrimp and realized not only were they frozen together, but they still had their tails on. Sigh. So, with the use of a really sharp chef's knife I managed to chop off their tails, cut them into bite sized pieces and toss them in the microwave for a minute and a half to get some of the freeze off. However, I don't suggest that you do this.

When you go to make this recipe, you either need raw shrimp that you are going to steam, or frozen shrimp that have been dethawed and their tails removed.

If you plan on steaming them yourself, follow the directions on a can of Old Bay. Honestly, I'd have no idea how else to steam said shrimp. So, do that. Or, if you live in the middle of nowhere and only have Emeril's Essence, its a pretty close taste that you could use.

Oh yeah, to make this you will need some form of a blender. Preferably one that can really chop things up and make them smooth. It creates a better texture for the soup.

Shrimp Bisque
Adapted from: www.allrecipes.com
Servings: 6 as a starter course, 3-4 as a main course

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tbs. olive oil
1 red pepper, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
1/2 lb. shrimp
2 cups fat free half-and-half
1 cup no-salt-added tomato sauce
1/4 tsp. hot sauce
1 tsp. Old Bay
1 tsp butter
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
parsley, for garnish

Directions:
1. In a large pot, add oil, red peppers and onion and saute for 15-20 minutes over low heat, or until soft. Stir occasionally. Add in the shrimp, tomato sauce, half-and-half, hot sauce, Old Bay, and salt and pepper. (If you have never used Old Bay before, skip the salt and pepper until serving to make sure you don't make it too salty. Oh, and adding the half-and-half will turn it a funny orange color, but I swear its okay.)
2. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the butter and stir until melted.
3. Pour the mixture into a blender and switch it to pulse. Let it run for 15-20 seconds or until no large pieces remain. (I tried this with a stick blender and it made it really frothy, so I put it back over the heat for a few minutes to boil off the bubbles because it looked pretty unappealing.)
4. Transfer the soup into bowls and sprinkle Parmesan (or mozzarella works too) over the soup and garnish with parsley. You could also save a few shrimp and stick them around the bowl for a garnish, but I forgot to do that.

Another note: If you want the soup to be thicker, I recommend a blender. If you don't mind some shrimp chunks and a thinner broth, the stick blender works perfectly fine.

Its also a pretty versatile meal. You could serve it as a first course, a main course, or even in shot glasses as shooter soup.

Pan Seared Scallops with Mushroom Risotto and Garlicy Green Beans

You could expect to read this on a restaurant menu, right? That's one of my favorite things about cooking; making something that sounds complicated and intricate when its really just simple ingredients that create an awesome meal.

If you read my first risotto post, you'll know that I think everyone should learn how to make risotto because well, its not difficult at all! It takes a bit of time, yes, but its definitely not rocket science. Hell, I even think that with the right cooking utensils, some close supervision and a better kitchen, even my mother could make risotto. And that speaks volumes!

Also, you may have noticed that I don't blog about just the main course for dinner. Why? Well, because I can usually figure out what to do with the chicken, steak, pork, ground beef on my own, but the side dishes are where I'll sit there and flip through my recipes trying to figure out what to make for sometimes 30 minutes. So, I like to be a well rounded blogger and include the side dishes. Does it make the blog longer, sure, but at least you get an idea of an entire meal instead of just 'cream cheese chicken' because really, what does one serve with cream cheese chicken?

Pan Seared Scallops

Source: google and allrecipes.com reviews

Servings: 2-4

Ingredients:
1 lb. bay scallops
sea salt
1 tbs unsalted butter
1 tsp olive oil

Directions:
1. Rinse the scallops in cold water. Scallops are usually packed in an ingredient that keeps them white. You want to wash that off.
2. Put scallops on a paper plate and pat dry with a paper towel.
3. Season liberally with salt.
4. Add olive oil and butter to a pan (unsalted works best, but if you don't have it, don't worry) over medium-high heat. Wait until the pan just begins to smoke.
5. Add the scallops to the pan. Now DON'T TOUCH THEM! I know its hard to resist the temptation to peek and see if they are searing or not, but trust me, just leave them there.
6. In about 2-3 minutes (2 if you have tiny scallops) its okay to lift them up and see if there is some searing going on there. If they are at the pretty caramelized color, turn them over and repeat the process.

A scallop is cooked through when its still squishy to the touch. If its firm, you've overcooked it.

Mushroom Risotto
Servings: 3-4
Source: Adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
3 cups chicken stock
3 tbs. olive oil, divided
1 package mushrooms (I use Shitake or Bella)
1/4 cup onion, diced
3/4 cup Arborio rice
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tbs butter
2 tbs Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Pour the chicken stock into a small pot and put over medium-low heat. You're just going to warm it up.
2. Put 1 tbs. olive oil in a large pan and put it over medium high heat. Dice the mushrooms and add in. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until mushrooms are soft.
3. Remove the mushrooms from the pan and put into a small bowl or on a plate, just keep them nearby.
4. Add the rest of the oil to the pan and the onion. Cook until the onion is soft.
5. Stir in the rice and toss it around until it is coated with the oil. Add the white wine and stir until it is completely absorbed by the rice.
6. Add the chicken stock to the rice in parts, no more than 1 cup at a time and wait until the rice has fully absorbed the stock (and it looks like its going to stick) to add in more.
7. Once all of the stock is in the rice and absorbed, put the mushrooms, butter and Parmesan cheese into the risotto and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt.

Garlicy Green Beans
Servings: 2-3
Source: my brain, again

Ingredients:
2-3 handfuls green beans, ends trimed
1 tbs. minced garlic
1 tsp. butter
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Melt butter over medium high heat.
2. Add in garlic and let cook for 2 minutes.
3. Add in green beans and salt and pepper.
4. Cook, covered for 5-7 minutes or until green beans are soft.

To cook as an entire meal, start the green beans and scallops when you add in the second cup of chicken stock to the risotto. If all goes well, you should have everything done at the same time.

Shrimp Creole

I found this recipe on Food Network. Instead of serving over rice, like most recipes, this turns it into a soup. Honestly, I wasn't too impressed but that might be because I couldn't find seafood stock and used vegetable instead.

Shrimp Creole 
 Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:
 2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs minced garlic
2 large onions, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced ( I forgot to pick this up at the store so I just omitted it)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cups seafood or shrimp stock
1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp hot sauce
2 lbs. large shrimp, peeled and deveined
green onions for garnish

Directions:
1. Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add oil.
2. Cook garlic, onions, celery and green pepper. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
3. Add cayenne pepper and let caramelize.
4. Add the seafood stock, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and bay leaves.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Simmer for 35 minutes.
7. Add shrimp and cook for 4 minutes, until shrimp are pink and cooked through.
8. Garnish with green onion.

I toasted some hamburger rolls and served them with this. It might also be better with diced tomatoes and maybe some cheddar cheese on top. I'll probably try this again.