Lemon Shrimp On Rice

By Paul Briand

One way or the other, I planned to do a shrimp recipe for this week.

And I had two in mind: This Lemon Shrimp On Rice, which came as part of a coupon book from the supermarket where I food shop; and a Puff Pastry-Wrapped Jumbo Shrimp recipe that I found cruising the web.

My wife Jane preferred the pastry-wrapped shrimp -- with its garlic and herb spread and bacon and buttery puff pastry.

I decided on the lemon shrimp for the simple reason of getting on on the scale Monday morning and not liking what I saw.

This is pretty simple and low fat, and I adapted it here from the original.

I’m sure I’ll get to the puff pastry shrimp recipe soon.

Ingredients

1 cup of your favorite rice (enough to make for four servings)

1 cup of low-sodium chicken broth

1 ¼ cup water

1 tablespoon butter (or olive oil)

2 cloves minced garlic

Red pepper flakes to taste (1/8 to ¼ teaspoon)

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 pound prepared cooked shrimp (the larger the better)

1 lemon, sliced

1 tablespoon fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Make sure the prepared shrimp is fully thawed, at room temperature and dry;

2. Cook the rice according to normal instructions, but bringing the cup of broth and the cup and a quarter of water to a boil;

3. Add the butter, garlic, red pepper and lemon zest, stir;

4. Add the rice, stir, cover and turn the heat to low;

5. Simmer rice the normal cooking time until done;

6. Stir in the shrimp and lemon slices;

7. Cover, remove from heat and let sit for three minutes;

8. Top mixture with cilantro and serve.

Click here for recipe card.

Shrimp with Mustard Sauce

By Paul Briand

While visiting my sister Ella and her husband Tom not too long ago, I was at their kitchen table browsing the "Super Suppers Cookbook 2" by Judie Byrd. I figured this recipe for shrimp and mustard sauce would be a keeper, especially for my wife Jane, because it combined two of her favorites: shrimp and mustard.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
36 shrimp (for ease, I use pre-cooked frozen shrimp that I thaw in a bath of water)
4 shallots, minced
2 tablespoons of tarragon or thyme (I used a tablespoon each)
1/4 cup sherry or chicken broth (I used half sherry, half broth)
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 cup of butter, cut in pieces
Pepper

Directions
1. In a skillet heated to medium high, cook the shrimp until it starts to become opaque, set aside;
2. Add shallots and tarragon/thyme to skillet and cook for two minutes;
3. Add sherry/broth and cream and stir until the sauce starts to thicken;
4. Stir in the butter a piece at a time;
5. Stir in the mustard and season with pepper to taste;
6. Return the cooked shrimp to the skillet and stir into the mixture until hot.

Certainly the dish can stand alone, but goes well with rice or, as we did, angel hair pasta.

Shrimp, Mushroom and Onion Quesadillas

By Paul Briand

Continuing from last week's exploration of recipes in a new diet that I'm testing out, this quesadilla recipe caught my interest.

I liked what the new book "Flat Belly Diet! For Men" did with the shrimp in this recipe, draping it with onion, mushroom and cheese -- how can you have a quesadilla recipe without cheese?

Yet it still falls within the Flat Belly parameters of not going overboard with calories (this has 401 calories per serving). And it has a so-called MUFA -- monounsaturated fatty acids -- which the Flat Belly diet champions as being an aid to overall good health and a flat belly. The MUFA in this case is the olive oil.

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
12 ounces peeled and deveined medium shrimp (I bought mine precooked and frozen)
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 8-ounce package of mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 7-inch flour tortillas
2 ounces shredded reduced fat Cheddar cheese

Directions
1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat;
2. Sprinkle the shrimp with chili powder and 1/8 teaspoon salt and add to the skillet, cooking 2-3 minutes until opaque. Transfer to a plate and reserve;
3. Add remaining oil and cook the onions and oregano until the onions soften;
4. Add the mushrooms and remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt and cook until the mushrooms start to brown;
5. Stir in the garlic and cook about 2 minutes;
6. Transfer entire mixture to a bowl and reserve;
7. Arrange tortillas on a work surface and build the quesadilla on one half of the tortilla -- add some cheese, then onion/mushroom mixture, then shrimp, then some more cheese;
8. Fold the tortilla over to form a semi-circle;
9. Repeat with three remaining tortillas;
10. Heat tortillas two at a time in the skillet until lightly browned and the cheese is melted;
11. Transfer to a cutting board and cut each tortilla in two.

You end up with eight pieces. The hard part, since it's so good, is not overdo it by two or three of these bad boys at one sitting.

Honey-Mustard Dipping Sauce for Shrimp Cocktail

By Paul Briand

I've been assigned an appetizer for our Christmas Day dinner and am bringing the shrimp cocktail.

But instead of the usual cocktail sauce, which I'll also bring, I wanted to offer an alternative dipping sauce.

Here's one I found at Cooks.com:

The yield for this recipe is about a half cup of dipping sauce, which is probably enough for a dozen shrimp. So make adjustments as necessary depending on how many shrimp you intend to serve.

Ingredients
2 teaspoons chopped scallions
2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons honey

Directions
1. In a small saucepan over medium heat combine the ingredients and heat through, stirring with a fork until warm;
2. Transfer to a small serving bowl.

Mediterranean Fish Stew

By Paul Briand

This recipe has been kicking around in my sister Margaret's recipe book for many years, and it's a family favorite.

And I'm being literal when I use the term "kicking around" because an important part of this recipe is a topping that adds some real kick to the stew. The topping is sour cream based and includes cayenne pepper -- the more cayenne the heartier the kick.

Ingredients
(For stew)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion chopped
1 large green pepper chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
2 16-ounce cans of kitchen ready tomatoes
1/2 to 3/4 cup of white wine
8-ounce bottle clam juice
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1/2 teaspoon each of basil, oregano and thyme
2 pounds total of white fish, shrimp and/or scallops
(For topping)
1 cup sour cream
3 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions
1. Make the topping ahead of time starting with the sour cream in a mixing bowl and add the garlic, cayenne, lemon and salt and mix. More cayenne equals more kick. Cover and refrigerate to give the ingredients an opportunity to marry;
2. In large pot with oil heated over medium high heat, sautee the onion and pepper until limp;
3. Stir in garlic;
4. Add the tomatoes, white wine and clam juice;
5. Stir in bouillon cubes along with basil, oregano and thyme;
6. Simmer covered for 15 minutes;
7. Bring to boil and add fish, shrimp and/or scallops;
8. Simmer for 8 minutes;
9. Serve with crusty bread.

I used a pound of fish (cod) along with a half pound of pre-cooked shrimp and a half pound of scallops. I gave both the shrimp and scallops a quick frying pan searing in hot oil before they went into the stew.

Cajun Shrimp and Crab Scampi

By Paul Briand

Last week I bought horseradish as part of a Bloody Mary Burgers recipe. Which begged the question: Now what do I do with the horseradish?

I could drink Bloody Mary cocktails on a regular basis. I could make more Bloody Mary Burgers.

But in an effort to expand my culinary use of horseradish I went to the horseradish experts at Horseradish.org.

I'm impressed by how much is on the web site for appetizers, side dishes, main dishes and evens kids' dishes that use horseradish. I settled on this recipe for Cajun Shrimp and Crab Scampi.

Ingredients
1¼ pounds shrimp
½ pound crabmeat, flakes (imitation works fine)
4 tablespoons margarine
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
½ cup white wine
1½ teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon minced garlic and thyme
½ teaspoon black, white and red pepper
4 cups cooked rice
1 cup diced green onions

Directions
1. In large saucepan over medium heat, combine and simmer margarine, horseradish, wine and remaining spices
2. Add shrimp and crabmeat and cook until shrimp is bright pink;
3. Remove from heat, add green onions and mix well. Serve over rice.

Shrimp and Bacon on Polenta

By Paul Briand

This recipe grew from a desire to use up some leftover polenta and the serendipity of finding a shrimp, bacon and polenta recipe while trolling through an Associated Press feed on my BlackBerry.

We had about a half pound of leftover polenta in the refrigerator, and I hated just seeing it sit there and I hated the idea of tossing it. The AP recipe calls for you to make a batch of instant polenta, jazzing it up a bit with milk instead of water and shallots and Parmesan cheese.

What I had in the fridge was about a half a pound of the rolled, prepared polenta that you can slice to fry or grill. I crumbled it up and cooked it in a wok in the bacon fat, which flavored up the otherwise bland polenta.

Also, because it's easy, I use frozen cooked shrimp, the biggest I can find at the store, a 16 count in a 1 pound bag. Thaw the shrimp by placing them in a large bowl of water.

Ingredients
1/2 pound of prepared polenta
1 pound of shrimp
1/2 pound bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 cloves minced
1 shallot, chopped
1 red bell pepper, sliced
2 ounces Parmesan cheese

Directions
1. In a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until it's crispy;
2. Add the pepper, shallot and garlic;
3. After about three minutes add the shrimp and cook until pieces are heated through and pepper is tender;
4. Using slotted spoon remove mixture from wok and set aside; drain about half of bacon fat and return wok to heat;
5. Crumble polenta into wok and work it around to heat through and absorb bacon drippings;
6. Return shrimp and bacon mixture to wok;
7. Top with Parmesan cheese;
8. Heat through and serve.

Firecracker Shrimp

This recipe won the party food contest sponsored by Marx Foods.

The contest attracted 95 entries (including my Easy Spinach and Artichoke Dip), and the winning Firecracker Shrimp garnered 353 votes from the readers of the Marx Foods blog.

The Firecracker Shrimp recipe came from Jaden at Steamy Kitchen: Modern Asia.

Ingredients
24 medium tail-on shrimp, shelled (leave tail on) and deveined
Salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch or flour
1/4 cup (65 ml) water
12 egg roll or fresh spring roll wrappers, cut in half and covered with plastic wrap or a damp cloth
Oil, for frying
1/2 cup (125 ml) sweet chili sauce , for serving as a dipping sauce

Directions
1. Lay the shrimp flat on a cutting board and using a sharp paring knife, cut a few nicks on the inside curve of the shrimp to flatten the shrimp out. Be careful not to cut through the shrimp. Season the shrimp with salt,
2. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with the water to make a slurry,
3. Lay one egg roll wrapper so that the long side is vertical (short side should be closest to you),
4. Lay the shrimp with tail sticking out to the right and roll the shrimp up (tail should be sticking out),
5. Make sure that the roll is nice and tight. Big air pockets and holes will allow oil to seep in and shrimp to fall out. Dab your finger or pastry brush in the cornstarch slurry and brush on the wrapper to seal the final edge,
6. Lay the firecracker shrimp, seal side down in a single layer on a dry surface and keep covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying,
7. In a wok, deep fryer or large sauté pan, add 1-1/2 inches (3.75 cm) of oil and heat it to 375°F (190°C),
8. Add the firecracker shrimp a few at a time to the oil and fry until golden brown on each side, about 3 minutes,
9. Drain on a baking rack and serve with a side of sweet chili sauce for dipping.

Serves 4 to 6 as appetizer.

Shrimp in Garlic Sauce

By Paul Briand

This story and recipe caught my eye recently while poking through some news stories from the Associated Press.

Gloria Estefan, pictured at right, is best known for her music, of course. So it's interesting to see how she extends her interests beyond the studio and stage by publishing a cookbook.

Estefan and her husband Emilio own restaurants -- Larios on the Beach and Bongo’s Cuban Cafe -- in Miami Beach, Orlando and Mexico.

"We have a big hardcore following of the Cuban food, and we were getting so many questions from people that go to our restaurants, asking us ’How do you make this?’ and "How do you do that?’" Gloria Estefan said to the Associated Press. "We knew we had to come up with something."

What they came up with is a cookbook: "Estefan Kitchen".

One of the recipes is Shrimp in Garlic Sauce, a scampi really that they call Camarones al Ajillo. The Cuban twist here is the cumin.



Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
20 extra-large shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup dry white wine
Pinch salt
Pinch dried oregano
Pinch cumin powder
4 sprigs fresh parsley

Directions
1. In a large skillet over medium, heat the olive oil until fragrant,
2. Add the shrimp and garlic and saute until the shrimp starts to turn pink, about 4 to 5 minutes,
3. Use tongs to turn the shrimp once during cooking,
4.Reduce the heat to low, then add the wine, salt, oregano and cumin,
5. Cook for another 4 to 5 minutes,
6.Use tongs to transfer the shrimp to serving bowls, then pour the sauce over the shrimp,
7. Garnish with parsley.
Serves two.

The cookbook is dedicated to older Estefan family members with a long cooking tradition.

According to the AP story, Estefan’s great-grandfather served as the chef for two Cuban presidents, while her paternal grandfather managed one of the first Cuban restaurants in Miami. Meanwhile, her grandmother, Consuelo Garcia, shortly after arriving from Cuba in the 1960s started a business serving homemade pan con lechon (roasted pork) sandwiches, ham croquettes and tamales to little leaguers at a Miami park in Miami.

Skillet Shrimp and Rice

I'm constantly on the prowl for recipes to try at home, and I'll draw inspiration from just about anywhere.

There was the Chicken Pepperoni from a Goldie Hawn movie from 1980. And, in an upcoming post, I'll write what I learned about cooking from Spenser, the detective of the Robert Parker series of books.

This one hit me the minute I walked through the doors of the Shaw's market where I often shop. Shaw's doesn't have the cooking show in a box meals offered by Hannaford's and reviewed here not too long age. Shaw's instead has a rack of 30 minute or less recipes; I pocketed a couple and experimented this week with the Skillet Shrimp and Rice.

A word about shrimp. Maybe it's me but when I cook with shrimp -- or more specifically when I eat a shrimp dish -- I hate to wrestle with the tails. I know you can just snip the tails off with a flick of your knife, but I don't like leaving that little morsel of meat behind. So in addition to making sure the shrimp is deveined and peeled I'll make sure it's peeled right down to the tail.

Now a word about the choice between the chorizo or kielbasa that's called for in this recipe. Chorizo packs a little bit of heat. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but for this recipe and bowing to wife Jane's preference for the road less spicy I opted for kielbasa, which is a Polish sausage usually made of pork. I opted for the leaner, weight friendly turkey.

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds extra-large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
Salt and pepper
4 ounces chorizo or kielbasa, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 onion chopped fine
6 garlic cloves sliced thin
1 1/2 cups medium-grain rice
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
2 cups water
1 (8 ounce) bottle clam juice
1 cup frozen peas

Directions
Please note: This recipe calls for the use of a large ovenproof skillet.
Part I
1) Heat oven to 350 degrees
2) Toss shrimp with 1 teaspoon of oil, paprika and 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a bowl
3) Heat 1 teaspoon oil in large overproof skillet over medium-high heat until smoking
4) Add half of shrimp and cook until lightly browned all over
5) Transfer shrimp to clean bowl and repeat with remaining shrimp. Cover bowl

Part II
1) Reduce heat to medium and add remaining tablespoon of oil, kielbasa (or chorizo), onion and garlic
2) Cook until sausage begins to brown, 5 to 6 minutes
3) Add rice and cook 1 minute
4) Stir in tomatoes, water, clam juice, and 1/2 teaspoon salt
5) Bring to boil over high heat, cover, and transfer skillet to oven
6) Cook until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes
7) Remove skillet from oven, stir in peas, and scatter shrimp over top
8) Cover and set aside until shrimp and peas are heated through, about 5 minutes
9) Season with salt and pepper and serve directly from the skillet
Serves 4 to 6.