No Skimp Shrimp Tacos

 Got my creative juices flowing again, thinking of different dishes to make for dinner. I get tired of the same old thing all the time.  Summer is almost here, so I am starting to plan new things to cook outside on the grill.

Cooking outside is one of my favorite things to do.  No messes inside, no hot kitchen, very little cleanup, everything tastes better on the grill, and weather permitting we always eat outside on the deck. It's the best!  I put together these Shrimp Tacos with Pineapple-Mango Salsa the other day, unfortunately it rained outside so I had to cook them inside.  They were very tasty, the hubby gave a thumbs up, that means I will be making them again, hopefully outside!

Recipe Below.

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To make my salsa I used fresh pineapple, mango, red pepper, onion, lime zest and fresh cilantro.  Everything tastes better when it's fresh.  I always try to use fresh, and now is the season for it.  There is an abundance of fruits and vegetables out there to try, explore them and the possibilities of new dishes to use them in. 

 The colors are so appetizing, looks pretty too!

 Mix a little honey and lime juice into it. If you want the salsa spicy, add a minced jalapeno.

 I used raw, peeled, deveined shrimp tossed with taco seasoning and extra cumin for added smokiness. 

 Toss those tortillas on an open flame to warm them up and blacken them a little, just a little for color.

 Stuff them with the shrimp, top with salsa....

.........and drizzle a little Lime Crema and serve.  Awesome and tasty!

TASTY SHRIMP TACO'S

Ingredients

2 limes zested and juiced, set aside

For the Salsa:

1 diced ripe mango
1/2 fresh pineapple, remove core and dice
1/2 diced red pepper
1/4 cup diced sweet or red onion
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 diced Jalapeno Pepper, optional

For The Crema
1/3 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest

For the Shrimp

1 1/2 lbs peeled, deveined salad shrimp (tiny shrimp)

1 tablespoon of canola oil

1 packet of taco season

1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon lime juice

Directions

In a medium bowl, toss diced mango, pineapple, red pepper, onion, cilantro, honey, lime juice and lime zest.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

In a small bowl mix the sour cream, mayonnaise, salt, lime juice and lime zest.  Place the mix in a resealable plastic bag.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

Rinse shrimp under cold water and drain.  Heat canola oil in a frying pan over medium high heat.  Add drained shrimp to the pan, taco seasoning, cumin and lime juice.  Cook until shrimp are pink, remove from heat.

Over open burner flame, hold tortillas over the flame for a few seconds on each side to brown/blacken them up a little.

Fill tortillas with shrimp.  Stir the salsa up and top each tortilla of shrimp with salsa.  Knead crema bag, snip off a corner of the bag and drizzle on top of each tortilla and serve.  Makes 4-6 tacos.

Sweet & Spicy Garlic Shrimp

Cooking for two is getting easier these days, I've become better at fast homemade cuisine for the hubby and I.  The house is just about empty of kids all the time now, so no more big meal cooking for me.  I am happy and sad about that, but I knew this time would come.

Shrimp was on the menu for dinner and I didn't want to make the old standbys - shrimp with pasta, fried shrimp, grilled shrimp, so I stepped out of the box and made Sweet and Spicy Garlic Shrimp.  It was so good and the aroma in the house was wonderful! 

 Recipe Below.

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Sweet and Spicy Garlic Shrimp for Two

Ingredients

1/3 cup honey

1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce, could also use teriyaki sauce

2 large cloves of fresh garlic, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated

1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes, more if you like heat

1 lb uncooked jumbo shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 servings of uncooked white rice, I used sticky rice

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/3 cup water

Chives or green onion for garnish

Directions

To make the marinade/sauce, whisk together honey, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes.  After cleaning the shrimp, place them in a resealable plastic food bag.  Pour 1/2 of the marinade/sauce mixture over the shrimp.  Seal the bag and massage it lightly, flatten the bag, put in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. After 10 minutes of marinating, flip the bag over so both sides marinate evenly. Reserve other half of marinade/sauce in the fridge. While the shrimp is marinating cook the rice. When rice is done cover with a lid to keep it warm.

Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over high heat.  Place the shrimp in the skillet and discard any used marinade. Cook shrimp until they are pink on both sides, about 1 - 1 1/2 minutes, stirring as they are cooking. Reduce heat to medium, pour remaining marinade over the shrimp and cook until all is heated through.  To thicken the sauce, thoroughly mix the cornstarch and water to make a slurry.  Stir the mixture quickly into the shrimp to thicken.

To serve - In a bowl, mound rice on the bottom, shrimp and sauce on top, and sprinkle the top with either snipped chives or green onion tops.  Makes 2 servings 

We're Goin' Surfin'

Haven't had scallops in a very long time, the price of them has been up, so I don't buy!  While shopping I found some at a reasonable price, and surprised the hubby when he came home from work to a nice seafood dinner.  After all, he does work hard and pay the bills.

Rather than putting them in a pasta dish, I made the scallops with shrimp in a white wine butter, garlic and dill sauce.  YUM-O!  He loved them, but then again he loves everything I make, I'm a lucky girl I guess, or he just says that so he doesn't have to make reservations! Whatever....

Recipe below.

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Rinse the scallops and pat them dry on paper towels.

 Season with salt and pepper.  Over medium high heat add 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter to a skillet until it melts.

 Add the scallops cook for a 1 1/2 minutes on each side, remove from pan. Drain some of the liquid off.  Return pan to the heat.

 Here comes the flavor!  White wine, garlic, butter, lemon and fresh dill.

 Mix a slurry of flour and water to thicken the sauce or you could use heavy cream.

I served the scallops and shrimp with roasted fresh french green beans and grape tomatoes, seasoned with olive oil, himilayan pink salt and pepper.

 

My other side dish, roasted purple and red potatoes with herb seasoning and olive oil.

So, this was dinner last night.  Tender, juicy, scallops and shrimp.  If I do say so myself, it was fabulous and looks pretty good too!

 I also served multi grain dinner rolls, trying to keep it healthy.

Sea Scallops and Shrimp In White Wine Lemon Sauce

Ingredients

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoon butter

1 lb sea scallops

1 lb cooked, peeled, deveined shrimp

3 cloves minced garlic

Juice of 2 small lemons

1/2 cup white wine

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
salt and pepper

2 tablespoons flour mixed with 1/2 cup water (or use Wondra)

Directions

In a large skillet over high heat, heat 1 tablespoon each of the olive oil and butter.  Rinse the scallops and pat them dry. Rinse the shrimp and set aside.  Add the scallops to the hot pan and cook for 1 1/2 minutes on each side. Remove from pan.  If there is a lot of water from the scallops drain some of it off. Lower heat to medium.   Add the other tablespoon of olive oil and butter, saute garlic until fragrant, but do brown. Add the lemon juice, white wine (I usually remove from flame to do this, it's safer), chopped dill and salt and pepper. Cook for 15 minutes.  Whisk in the flour/water slurry to thicken the sauce.  Add the scallops back in along with the cooked shrimp and simmer until heated through, about 2 minutes.  Makes 4 servings.

What Am I To Do With All This PAELLA? Eat it of Course!

Here is a new dish I have never tried before, Paella, a Spanish dish of rice, saffron, chicken, sausage, seafood and spices.  I usually don't venture too far out when cooking dinner, but this dish was so easy and it's all in one pan.  The family loved it, although they wanted it to be spicier, I don't like too much hot and spicy foods, but I passed the test with them and will make it again.

What started this dish is a little kitchen store I purchased the spices in when we were in Lititz.  I thought what the heck I'll try anything once, and I did and it was so delicious.  I combined a few recipes together to make it and it turned out great.  It's not hard to put the dish together so don't shy away from making it, you're using one pan.  Recipe below.

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So here are my ingredients - olive oil, chorizo sausage, chicken, shrimp, onion, garlic, parsley, saffron, my spice packet, salt, pepper, tomatoes, rice, lemon and peas.

For those who don't know what saffron is or looks like, this is it.  Saffron threads, as they are called, are the stamens from a small purple crocus.  I purchased my saffron from a spice store in Philadelphia.  As you can see you don't get much for the price, but also don't need much of it to color or flavor your food.  Saffron when steeped turns food a golden color, that's unique about it and what it's used for.  You can also purchase saffron in a powder form.

 Cooked up the chorizo, set aside.  Chorizo is a somewhat spicey Spanish sausage.

 Rub spices on the chicken and cook skin side down until crispy.

 The whole house smelled so good from the fragrance of the spices!

Sweet onion, garlic, parsley and lemon.

 Sauteing onion, garlic and parsley.

 Add in the tomatoes until caramelized, looking so good, and smells even better!

 Toast the rice and add water.  Put the chicken, and sausage back in and let simmer.

 In the last few minutes add the shrimp and peas.  Garnish with lemon slices and serve.

 See, I told you it was easy!  Look how good this looks for a weeknight dinner, AND it's something different to serve your family.

 PAELLA

Ingredients

Spice mix, recipe below

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 chicken thighs, skin on
3 chorizo sausages, cut in thick slices

2 tablespoons Paella spice mix 

salt and pepper

1/2 sweet onion, diced

2 big cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley

1 - 15 oz can diced tomatoes, drained

3 cups medium grain white rice

5 cups water

pinch of saffron threads

1/2 lb raw jumbo shrimp

1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed

lemon wedges for garnish

Paella Spice Mix Blend - If you don't have paella spice on hand

a generous pinch of saffron threads

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

2 teaspoons oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/8 teaspoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, more if you like more heat

Mix together and store in a tightly sealed jar.

Directions for Making Paella

Heat the olive oil in a large shallow pan over medium high heat.  Rub about a teaspoon of spice mix on the skin side of the chicken thighs, let them sit.  Saute the sausage until it is browned.  Remove from pan, set aside. Add the chicken skin side down in the pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper on the side that is up.  Cook until the skin is crispy, all sides are browned, and juices are clear, turning as it is cooking.  Remove from pan and set aside.

Saute the onions, garlic and parsley for about 2 minutes, then add the tomatoes and remainder of spice mix and cook until all is caramelized.  Toss in the rice, stir to coat with juices and toast it. Pour in the water and add the saffron threads, simmer for about 10 minutes, gently stirring as it is cooking, so the rice absorbs the juices. Add the chicken and sausage back in and tuck the shrimp down in the rice so it cooks, they don't take long to cook, 7-8 minutes. Gently shake the pan and let it simmer, do not stir, and let it cook for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, toss in the peas to heat them through. Garnish with chopped parsley, fresh lemon slices and serve. There will be a nice crust of rice on the bottom of the pan that tastes wonderful! Makes 4 servings.  

Steak And Shrimp On The Barbie!

The majority of my food shopping is done at Wegman's and BJ's Wholesale.  I fill in through the week when I run out of food items at my local grocery store and farmer's market.  My farmers market has all kinds of exotic fruits and vegetables, which I love, because I get to try new things that I have never had before.  I live in a small town, and to have our own farmers market is wonderful.

I picked up these nicely portioned petite sirloin steaks at Wegman's.  They are so tender and juicy, just like Filet Mignon.  The rub I found at BJ's.  I combined them together for an awesome tasting steak.  The shrimp was also from BJ's, and I used my trusty seafood rub, fresh lemon juice and rosemary to marinate them in a bag for 30 minutes.

 Playing nice side by side on the barbie.  

 Wow, look how pretty they are!

And oh what a dinner we had, cooked to perfection!  Served up with a nice field greens with fruit salad and warm rolls.