Shrimp Fried Rice

I have to be honest here. Up until now I haven't found a fried rice recipe that compares to good old Chinese take out... until now. This one definitely takes first place. It was very easy and came together quick. It can serve an army but great for lunches over the next few days. I made two cups of uncooked rice which makes something like 6+ cups of cooked rice. I found some great tips from Simple Recipes about not touching the food so much as it cooks in the wok. I tried my best to follow this rule and the final outcome was delicious little browned rice bits that remind me of, yes, the fried rice at our favorite little Chinese restaurant in town. Take a look at this recipe to follow her step by step guide to cooking fried rice. I think you can add what ever vegetables you want. I didn't have peas in the freezer and subbed edamame and added mushrooms and napa cabbage because I had some left over from making pot stickers over the weekend. I had scallions but forgot to add them so maybe add them to your ingredient list.

Shrimp Fried Rice

10-12 raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/2 t kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 t cornstarch
2 T canola, divided
3 eggs, beaten
6 C leftover rice, grains separated well

2 carrots, diced

1 C shelled edamame

5 mushrooms, chopped

1/2 a small napa cabbage, chopped

1 t fresh ginger, small diced

2 T soy sauce

1 1/2 t sesame oil

1 T butter

Toss the shrimp with the salt, pepper and cornstarch. Let sit for at room temperature for about 10 minutes.

Heat a wok or large sauté pan on high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil and swirl to coat pan. Add the shrimp, quickly spreading out around the cooking surface area so that they are not overlapping. Let fry, untouched for 30 seconds. Flip over and let the other side fry for 30 seconds, or until just cooked through. Remove the shrimp from the pan onto a plate, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible. Turn the heat to medium, let the pan heat up again. Add the eggs, stirring in a quick motion to break up and scramble the eggs. When the eggs are almost cooked through (they should still be slightly runny in the middle), dish out of the pan into the same plate as the cooked shrimp.

Use paper towels to wipe the same wok or sauté pan clean and return to high heat with the remaining 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, swirling to coat. When the oil is very hot, add the mushrooms and carrots fry for 1-2 minutes. Add the ginger, edamame and cabbage and cook for 30 seconds. Add in the butter and rice and stir well to mix in with the vegetables. Spread the rice all around the wok surface area and let the rice heat up, untouched until you hear the bottoms of the grains sizzle, about 1-2 minutes. Use the spatula to toss the rice, again spreading the rice out over the surface of wok.5 Drizzle the soy sauce all around the rice and toss. Add the the cooked eggs, shrimp and sesame oil, tossing to mix the rice evenly with all of the ingredients.

Let everything heat back up again, until the rice grains are so hot they practically dance! Taste and add an additional 1 teaspoon of soy sauce if needed.

BBQ Shrimp Po' Boys

I have been craving Shrimp Po Boys for a long while now! I'm not even sure I have ever had the real thing before but for some reason I knew we would love it! I have seen lots of renditions on a few different sites and finally added it to the weekly menu. I took my inspiration from this recipe Cooking Light. The shrimp marinade added great flavor. This is a simple dinner sandwich. Make sure you use a nice crusty baguette!

BBQ Shrimp Po' Boys

1 t garlic powder

1/2 t of the following

onion powder

dried thyme

dried oregano

paprika

salt

black pepper

1/4 t red pepper flakes

2 t onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

2 T lime juice

2 t Worcestershire sauce

1 T butter, melted

1/4 C light mayo

10-20 medium shrimp, deveined

sliced tomato

sliced red onion

bib lettuce

baguette

Combine garlic powder through butter in a medium bowl. Take 3 T of garlic mixture and combine it with mayo in a small bowl and refrigerate. Add shrimp to garlic mixture and coat well. Let the shrimp marinate for about 30 minutes. Heat grill to high and barbecue shrimp for 2-3 minutes flipping half way though. (You can use skewers if you want.) Assemble sandwich: spread a thin layer of mayo on each side of cut baguette. Top with shrimp, lettuce, sliced tomato and onion.

Sweet & Sour Shrimp

This is Dave's go to Chinese take-out meal. He always orders this and I always get Sesame Chicken but have been trying Lo Mein more often. Our favorite little Chinese Restaurant is Henry's China Gourmet. I have a hard time ordering Sesame Chicken for other places because I really like his. Its not too "fried" and the chicken is always white meat. Sometimes you get nasty brown chewy chicken and its just gross. It has a nice spice and a great sauce. Hmm, somehow I have gone off on a tangent on a different recipe here. Back to the Sweet and Sour Shrimp! I've been wanting to make this at home for a long time. Since the Shrimp is typically fried this has never happened. I finally found a few recipes that didn't involve deep frying anything. Much healthier on our hearts and I just don't like to fry in our house. I really worry about a grease fire. This dish is comparable but just on a different level. We really enjoyed it and will be making it again to satisfy our take-out urge! Our camera was out of batteries when I made this and I really wanted to get a picture of the beautiful orangish sauce. It really would have been a lovely picture. Oh well, when we make it again I'll post a picture.

Sweet & Sour Shrimp

1.5 C rice
3 C water
3 T cornstarch, divided
10-14 peeled shrimp
1/4 C fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/4 C low-sodium soy sauce
2 T brown sugar
3 T white vinegar
1 T chile paste
1 T ketchup
2 t sesame oil
2 t canola oil
1 C onion, large dice
1/2 C red bell pepper, chopped
1 T ground fresh ginger
1/2 C pineapple chunks

Cook rice according to package directions. Combine 2 tablespoon cornstarch, and shrimp in a bowl and stir to coat. Combine remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch, broth, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, chile paste and ketchup and whisk to dissolve sugar and cornstarch. Heat sesame oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Remove shrimp to a bowl. Heat canola oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, ginger, and pineapple to pan; sauté 5 minutes. Add shrimp cook 1 minute. Add broth mixture to pan; cook 2 minutes. Serve over rice.

inspired by this Cooking Light recipe

Shrimp Quesadillas with Smokey Guac

This is a great, quick weeknight meal. Dave created this delicious version and it will definitely become part of the quesadilla rotation. This is a perfect example of throwing together a meal when nothing is planned! We always have shrimp in the freezer and they seem to come in handy when we haven't taken anything out to defrost.

Quesadillas are so versatile and easy. I guess you really don't need a recipe to follow for this kind of meal because you can throw just about anything into a tortilla! We made the original recipe only once. Now we make a different version ever since I read the ingredient list on a package of chorizo. Now I am totally turned off of it and can't even think about the combination of ingredients. Uck! We use turkey sausage in replace of the chorizo or just leave it out.

Shrimp Quesadillas with Smokey Guacamole
4 10 in. tortillas
10-15 shrimp, shell and tail removed(depending on the size)
1 slice of red onion
1/4 C goat cheese
1 t evoo
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt & pepper
1 ripe avocado
1 chipotle pepper in adobo
1/2 lime
3 T light sour cream or cottage cheese

For the guacamole: Place avocado, chipotle pepper, lime juice, cottage cheese or sour cream salt and pepper in food processor and pulse until smooth. (I swore we bought sour cream but we couldn't find it when were were making dinner so we used cottage cheese. It worked out great! Of course I open the fridge to put the cottage cheese away and see the sour cream! Oh well. I'm glad we found a successful substitute. )

Pat shrimp dry and toss with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a medium skillet. Add shrimp, red onion and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes or until no longer pink. Transfer shrimp to cutting board and roughly chop. Heat 2 tortillas in same skillet until warmed through. Cover 1/2 tortilla with 1/4 of the goat cheese and shrimp mixture and fold over. Cook until lightly toasted and the cheese had melted. Transfer to cutting board and repeat with remaining ingredients. Cut each quesadila into five wedges and top with smokey guacamole.


adapted from this Rachel Ray recipe

Lemony Shrimp with White Beans and Couscous

Dave made this dish last night while I prepped our pot roast for Wednesday. I have the fear of having the crockpot on while we are out of the house so I cook my meals at night while we are sleeping so make sure that if something goes wrong we are close by. I know its wierd but I think- better safe then sorry. I also think that it just tastes better after it has sat for a while and the flavor get a chance to meld. Its kinda like reheated pizza. Better the second time around!

On to this dish. I didn't realize that it was a Real Simple magazine recipe until last night. I haven't had much success with these recipes. I think they are just that, real simple. They seem to lack the flavor punch if left alone. I reflected my doctored up modifications below. I realized that the Spanish Chicken and Rice recipe is also a Real Simple recipe and we doctored up that one as well. I think my changes make each of these dishes more flavorful. This was a good dish, not a great dish but a good.

Lemony Shrimp with White Beans and Couscous
Recipe adapeted from Cooking Light / Real Simple (picture from Cooking Light/Real Simple)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat couscous
Kosher salt and black pepper
2 T butter
3 cloves garlic, chopped
4 scallions, chopped
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 15.5-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed
1/2 C fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 C chicken broth
zest of one lemon

In a saucepan, bring 2 cups water to a boil. Stir in the couscous and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cover and let sit off heat for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 the lemon zest to the couscous and fluff with a fork before serving. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and scallions and cook for 30 seconds. Add the shrimp and cook, stirring, until they begin to turn pink, about 3 minutes. Stir in the beans, parsley, lemon juice, the remaining butter, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, broth and zest. Cook until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve with the couscous.

Orzo its snowing

Once again, we had a wonderful weekend! Yesterday we worked all day blowing out sprinkler systems. I like to say we but I guess this is all Dave. His business is really taking off. We got a glimpse into the second homeowners of Summit. The houses were pretty amazing. Then we came home just in time for the rain to start. Go figure. As soon as work is done and its play time the weather turns. It didn't stop us, we got on our bikes for a quick ride across the street came home showered and headed to the the Guinles for some amazing barbecued pulled pork. It was so darn good! We got to catch up with some friends and had a very nice night. Woke up this morning to snow on the peaks and headed down to Golden to better weather for some more biking. It was the perfect temperature down there and we had a great ride. I've got a nice purple bruise to show for it on my rear end. The drive home really sucked. We knew it would be snowing at the tunnel. As soon as we hit the west side of the tunnel we started sliding down the highway for about 100 yards. I was screaming and holding on to the "oh shit handle". Dave did a very good job of keeping us on the road just in time to see a huge pile up and a mangled SUV on the side of the road. Great. Winter is slowing tightening its grip on the Rocky Mountains. Anyway, we are all fine and made it home safe and sound. After a little recuperating we started our fabulous dinner. I was a nice way to end the weekend and snuggle in for a cold night.

This week I made our entire menu out of the Gourmet Cookbook. It never fails and is always tasty. As you can see by the picture, Dave really enjoyed the Orzo!

Baked Orzo with Shrimp, Tomato Sauce, and Feta
2 T evoo
1 medium onion finely chopped (I used the mini prep)
3 minced garlic gloves
1/2 t dried oregano
1/4 red pepper flakes
1/2 c dry white wine (used chicken stock)
1 28oz. can of crushed tomatoes
1 t salt
1.5 large shrimp peeled and deveined
1 pound orzo
1/2 chopped Kalamata olives
1 C give or take of feta

Heat oven to 425. Lightly oil a 13/9 baking dish.
Heat 1 T oil in heavy skillet and add onion, garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes. Cook until onions are translucent. Add wine/broth boil and reduce by 1/2 about 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and salt, reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened- 8 minutes. Stir in shrimp and cook until just cooked through.
Meanwhile cook orzo in salted water until al dente. Reserve 1/2 C cooking water and then drain. Return orzo to pot and toss with 1 T evoo.
Stir sauce and reserved cooking water into orzo, then add olives. Spoon half of pasta into oiled baking dish and sprinkle with half of feta. top with remaining pasta and feta. Bake, uncovered for 15 minutes or until it bubbles. (Page 224)

EL Part 3

Wow was this a good dinner! We love going to the restaurant outside of Vail called The Minturn Saloon. Its pretty much a cowboy bar slash hole in the wall Mexican place with wide wood planked worn floors. Its carries some history so the vibe is pretty cool. My Dad is the first person in the family to visit. He was there back in the early 80s or even the 70s when he came out to ski with some friends. So he wanted to go there the first time he came out to visit us over 7 years ago. Dave and I loved this place! When we go out for dinner we tend to hit the less fancy but always dependable places. This is one of them. We only get to visit about twice a year and come to think of it I think were due for anther visit. So our favorite entree is the Shrimp Del Mar. Its a unique but delicious dish. I finally found a recipe that comes as close to the real thing. This definitely isn't a regular meal for us since it has a cream base. But it was worth it! Dave really enjoyed this!

Shrimp Del Mar

1/2 C red pepper diced
1/2 C green pepper diced
1/2 onion diced divided
3 t butter divided
1/4 oregano
1/8 t garlic powder
1/8 t cayenne pepper (or more)
salt/ pepper
1/4 heavy cream (I used half & half and would try milk next time)
1 1/2 T flour
2 C xtra sharp chedder cheese shredded
1/4 C light sour cream
1 lbs or less peeled, deveined shrimp
1 C diced tomatoes
flour tortillas

Preheat oven 350. Melt 2 t of butter and a dash of evoo in large skillet over medium heat. Add 3/4 of the onions and saute 4 minutes. Add peppers and saute until onion are translucent. Add flour and stir to coat 1 min. Add oregano, salt, black pepper, cayenne, garlic powder saute 1 min. Lower heat and add cream. Stir until slightly thickened add half of the cheese and stir until melted. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream.

In another skillet melt butter and remaining onion until softened and add shrimp. Salt and pepper and cook until just cooked through. Remove shrimp with a slotted spoon and roughly chop. Return to cheese sauce and pour just enough of the shrimp liquid to sauce. Do not over dilute the thickness. Add tomatoes and stir to combine.

Grease baking dish. Spoon shrimp mixture onto tortilla and roll, place in backing dish. Repeat until only the sauce remains. Pour remaining sauce over tortillas and shredded cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes.