I pulled out sausage for dinner the other night and I was about to make my usual sausage and peppers when I thought, "let's make something different".  I found this Amelia Durand recipe under the Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network website for Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya and it sounded delicious.  I made quite a few changes however to use the ingredients I had on hand and even with all the changes this came out D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!  You can view the original recipe here but I think I'll stick with the way I made it because everyone loved it exactly as is.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound sausage, sliced ( I used sweet italian sausage but you can of course use kielbasa or andouille)
1/4 pound pancetta, cubed
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup diced celery
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 can Rotel tomatoes and chiles
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons tomato paste
6 cups chicken stock
3 cups long grain rice (I used long grain brown rice and needed to increase my cooking time 100%)
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 to 8 dashes tobasco
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 pound medium shrimp, deveined (20 to 24 count)

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, add the sausage and saute for 8 to 10 minutes, until browned. Remove the sausage to a bowl, and set aside.  Add the pancetta to the same pot and cook 6-8 until crispy. Remove to the bowl with the sausage and set aside.  Add the butter, onion, celery and peppers to the same pot and saute for 8 to 10 minutes, until the onion is translucent.  Add the tomatoes, garlic, oregano, thyme, and tomato paste and cook until all the vegetables and herbs are blended well.  Add the stock and bring to a rolling boil. Stir in the rice, and add the sausage, pancetta, salt, pepper and tobasco. Return to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. (if you are using brown rice simmer covered for 45 minutes)
Add  the parsley, the lemon juice and the shrimp, and stir well. Cover the pot, and remove from the heat and allow the jambalaya steam, for 15 minutes, before serving.
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A new test recipe that was a big hit at my house with both my husband and children.  It's light and healthy and easy to prepare.  The sauce is a broth like consistency which is just enough to lightly flavor the fish and vegetables.  It's so nice to make a recipe that uses very little oil but still tastes good. Frozen broccoli works perfectly for this dish.  I also love using the foil packets to cook in.  The steam makes the shrimp and salmon juicy and of course there is the added bonus of no clean up!

Ingredients:

1/2 lb of fresh med shrimp, uncooked, peeled, deveined
1/2 lb of fresh salmon, cut into 2 - 1/4 lb pieces
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 1/2 tablespoons agave (or 2 tablespoons of honey)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
salt and pepper
1/2 lb frozen or fresh broccoli florets
2 teaspoons fresh chives, chopped
1 teaspoon black sesame seeds (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  In a small bowl mix together vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, agave and ginger.  Lightly season the salmon with salt and pepper and then add shrimp and salmon to the bowl with the marinade toss to combine and then let sit and marinate for 30 minutes.  Make two 2x2 pieces of foil place one piece of salmon and 8-10 shrimp and a handful of frozen broccoli florets on each piece of foil.  Sprinkle salmon and shrimp with chopped chives and black sesame seeds.  Fold up packets being sure to leave space at the top of the fish and fold ends in to tightly seal the packet.  Place packets in oven on a sheet pan and roast for 30 minutes.  Open packet carefully to allow steam to vent.  You can serve directly in the foil or transfer fish and veggies to a plate to serve.

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My friend Sharon is back with another delicious recipe.  Her family came over my house for a pot luck BBQ/Lunch and she brought this a one of her dishes to share.  It was so delcious so I asked her to send me the recipe so I could blog it and share it with everyone!

Ingredients:

1 pound of large shrimp
salt, pepper, olive oil
1 cup of mayo
1 stalk of celery - finely chopped
1 small red onion - finely chopped
1 T. of capers
1 T. of chopped dill
1 T. of Dijon Mustard
1 T. of honey or sugar
Salt, pepper to taste
1 package of potato rolls

Preparation:

Season shrimp with salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.  Roast shrimp on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350 F for 6-8 minutes just until pink and firm.  Let shrimp cool until warm. Chop the shrimp to a nice chunky consistency.  Mix mayo, celery, onion, capers, dill, mustard, honey, salt and pepper to make the sauce.  Add the sauce to the warm shrimp.  Refrigerate or serve at room temperature.  Spoon mixture over potato rolls.

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GUEST BLOGGER of the Week

 DEBBY

Thanks to Debby for offering to be our very first guest blogger. We are excited to have have her add to our blog of delicious family recipes.

About Debby: I am a working mother of 2. I love to cook and try to cook quick, easy meals when possible, but good meals. I love pasta dishes and chicken dishes...I want to learn more seafood/fish recipes. Love to BBQ in the summer.

Shrimp Scampi Florentine

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter **
1/3 cup olive oil **
2 tablespoons prepared basil pesto (such as Classico ™)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 large plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
black pepper to taste
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 cups fresh spinach, rinsed and stemmed
1 lb pasta -- penne, ziti or rigatoni

** You can opt to make this healthier by substituting some butter or oil with chicken stock and/or White Wine

Preparation:

Boil water for pasta. While boiling, prepare other ingredients. Combine the butter and the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in pesto, garlic, and tomatoes, and simmer until the tomatoes start to soften, about 2 minutes. Season with red pepper flakes and black pepper to taste. Stir the shrimp into the sauce, and cook just until they turn pink, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the spinach, and stir until wilted, about 1 minute. When pasta is done cooking, drain, set aside. Stir in pasta to shrimp/spinach mixture, let sit for 1-2 minutes so pasta can soak up sauce and warm up.

Serve immediately
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I was at a friend's house today and we decided to cook dinner together.  I used her husband's marinade for skirt steak which is delicious.  We found whatever vegetables were on hand which happened to be peppers and onions and decided to add some frozen shrimp and together we created these really yummy surf and turf kabobs.  It was great to grill for the first time this season even if it's still pretty chilly out. 

Can't wait for summer!

Ingredients:

2 lbs of skirt steak cut into large cubes

24-30 small shrimp

1 green bell pepper cut into large chunks

2 small onions cut into large chunks

3/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup worcestershire sauce

2 cloves of garlic crushed or finely minced

1/4 cup prepared BBQ sauce

Coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper

Preparation:

In a large ziploc bag add soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, garlic, 1 onion sliced in chunks, fresh ground black pepper and BBQ sauce.  Mix all ingredients and add steak and marinate for 2 hours or up to overnight.  Leave tails on shrimp and coat with olive oil and season with coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper.  Skewer steak, onion, shrimp, and green bell pepper alternating until all ingredients are used.  Grill on BBQ until cooked through and steak is seared on all sides and shrimp is pink.

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