Lemon Shrimp with Garlic Rice

Rummaging through the freezer I came across a bag of peeled, uncooked shrimp waiting for inspiration. After looking through a couple of cookbooks and scavenging the Interwebs I came across a recipe similar to the one below. I made a few modifications and, presto, dinner was served.

Lemony Shrimp with Garlic Rice
Servings: 2
Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2 cloves garlic, grated
• 2 cups water
• 1 tsp. kosher salt (plus more for seasoning the shrimp)
• 1 cup chicken stock (unsalted if you can find it)
• 2 lemons, sliced into rings
• 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley
• black pepper

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add the rice and toss to coat with oil. Toast the rice for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
2. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the water, garlic and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover, return to heat and reduce to low. Cook for 15 minutes.
3. Pat the shrimp dry and season both sides with salt and pepper.
4. While the rice cooks heat the chicken stock, lemon rings and paprika in a non-stick skillet over low heat until it is simmering; about 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook for about 2 minutes.
5. Add the butter and swirl it among the shrimp to create a slightly creamy sauce. Remove from the heat, add the parsley and taste. Adjust salt and pepper as desired.
6. Serve shrimp over a generous helping of garlicky rice.

Shrimp Scampi

My husband tells me that early in our relationship I made shrimp scampi for him for dinner and he thought it was very sexy. 🙂 I, of course, have no memory of this because my memory is a bit like a sieve. Still his recollection gave me reason enough to make this simple dish once again.

Shrimp Stir-Fry II

It takes longer to cook a pot of white rice than it does to make this dish. So start your rice and then take your time prepping your ingredients. Once the rice is cooked throw a clean towel between the pot and cover to absorb steam. Then spend 3-5 minutes cooking the shrimp.

Shrimp Stir-Fry II
Servings: 2
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 13 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 tsp. dry sherry
• 1 tsp. soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp. coarsely chopped chives
• 1 clove garlic, minced (about 1 tsp.)
• 1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
• 1 tsp. plus 1 Tbsp. peanut oil, divided
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp. granulated sugar
• kosher salt & black pepper

Directions:

1. Combine the sherry and soy sauce in a bowl; add shrimp and toss until coated with the liquid. Set aside for 10 minutes to marinate. Combine the chives, garlic, ginger and 1 tsp. peanut oil in a bowl; set aside. Mix water, sesame oil, Worcestershire, sugar and cornstarch together; set aside.
2. Put the remaining 1 Tbsp. peanut oil in a non-skillet and heat over high heat, 3-4 minutes. Add the shrimp in a single layer and sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt. Cook, tossing frequently, for about 1 minute. Move the shrimp to the edge of the pan.
3. Add the chive mixture and press into a flat disk; cook until fragrant then toss/stir into shrimp.
4. Quickly remix the cornstarch mixture and add to the skillet. Mix in with the shrimp and cook until it thickens, 30-40 seconds.
5. Remove the pan from the heat and serve over rice. Add freshly ground black pepper and/or Sriracha sauce to taste.

Notes:
I try to buy already deveined shrimp because deveining shrimp is one of my least favorite kitchen tasks. Just remember that you are removing the vein on the outside curve of the shrimp, not the one that is on the inside curve. The outside one is the intestine, the inside one is just a regular blood vessel. For a nice visual on how to devein shrimp visit SimpleRecipes.com

Red Curry Shrimp and Peas

Here’s a taste of (Americanized) Thai food in your own kitchen. Yeah, that sounds a bit cheesy. Honestly this is just a simple combination of a handful of ingredients that can have a big impact. Plus, it comes together quickly so it is great on a crazy weeknight. I think it took longer for the rice to cook than it did to complete this dish.

Shrimp Stir-fry

I subscribe to a number of food company’s e-mail lists in the hopes of the occasional coupon. Mostly they send recipes using their products; there’s nothing wrong with that. This dish was inspired by a recipe from Campbell’s for what they called Asian Shrimp Stir-fry.

I took their recipe as a guide, replaced an ingredient or two I didn’t have on hand and reduced the sodium a lot. It was quite good over plain white rice.

Shrimp, peppers and onions with an Asian flavor profile.

Shrimp Burgers

A local tapas place offers shrimp burgers.  We don’t get to the restaurant that often though, and we really dig them.  So I after some web surfing I found a recipe from Chef Marcela Valladolid off the Today show website. I made a few mods to fit what I had on hand.

Shrimp Burgers
Servings: 4 burgers
Prep time: 40 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. medium frozen shrimp, thawed, shelled and deveined
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 1 poblano chile, roasted, peeled, stemmed, seeded and diced
• 2 Tbsp. chopped shallot
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 15 grinds of cracked black pepper
• 3 Tbsp.canola oil
• burger rolls, split in half

Directions:

1. Rough chop one half of the shrimp and set aside in a large bowl.
2. Place the remaining shrimp in a food processor and grind to a coarse puree. Add the egg, cilantro and garlic to food processor and process until smooth. Added the Panko and process to combine.
3. Transfer the mixture from the food processor to the large bowl with the chopped shrimp. Add the poblano, shallot, salt and pepper and mix to combine. Chill mixture for at least 15 minutes.
4. Divide the mixture into 4 parts and form patties. I used a round cookie cutter about the size of the burger buns as a guide, packing the shrimp mixture into the cutter. To remove the cutter I ran a table knife around the inside of the ring and lifted the cutter. After all 4 patties are formed chill again for 5-10 minutes.
5. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat. When hot add the patties and cook for 3 minutes on the first side. Flip the patties and cook for 2 minutes on the second side. Remove the patties and cover to keep warm.
6. Wipe any excess oil from the pan and toast the burger buns.
7. We served these with a bit of spicy mayo (see notes) and a few mixed salad greens on each burger.

Notes:
I have found that 1 pound of frozen shrimp, when thawed and patted dry, equals about 12 oz. of usable shrimp.

For spicy mayo mix 3 parts mayo to 1 part sriracha .

Chile Shrimp

My husband Ted and I learned to make this simple dish at a Tapas class. It takes maybe 10 minutes from start to finish. It was dinner tonight along with some crusty bread and a bottle of wine from our honeymoon.

Ingredients
1 lb. raw shrimp, devined (thawed if you purchased frozen)
1 or 2 small red peppers, think red jalapeno or fresno
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
6 Tbsp. olive oil
paprika (just a pinch or two)
salt & ground black pepper

How To

• Seed and finely chop the pepper. If you want more heat you can always leave the seeds in.
• Heat the olive oil in skillet over medium high heat.
• Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds or so. Keep the garlic moving to prevent buring.
• Add the shrimp, chopped pepper and paprika to the skillet. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the shrimp are pink. Stir frequently to ensure that both sides of the shrimp get a change to cook.
• Taste and add salt & pepper to taste.

This makes a nice appetizer or a main course for dinner. You could serve this with rice or noodles. The bread is great for soaking up the very flavorful oil.