Spanish Chicken, Rice, Shrimp & Chorizo turned into a mock Paella

This dish began as a simple Spanish chicken and rice dish and by adding some saffron, Spanish chorizo and shrimp I was able to turn it into a party friendly version of mock Spanish paella. It’s a flavorful one dish meal that comes together in less than an hour. To round out the meal, serve with a crusty baguette, a lightly dressed green salad and pour a good Spanish red wine from the Rioja region.

If you research paella on the internet, you’ll find many versions. I found this one from Tio Peppe’s restaurant in Greenwich Village very attractive and a doable presentation for a home cook. If you look at their paella picture here, you’ll see that the Chef garnished his paella with well placed slices of roasted red peppers, then sprinkled green peas atop the red peppers and a few slices of Spanish chorizo were strewn about to give the dish a big pop of color and flavor. I noticed that he chose to serve the paella in a dark bowl, which I also found appealing from a color standpoint. So there’s no stopping what you can do with a simple base of chicken and rice simmered together in a tomato and wine sauce.

Spanish Chicken, Rice, Shrimp & Chorizo turned into a mock Paella
Adapted from Real Simple – serves 4
Printable Recipe

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat & cut into 2 ½” inch pieces
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 cup dry white wine
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, crushed & torn into pieces, including liquid
¼ teaspoon dried saffron, crumbled (optional)
1 cup long-grain white rice
¾ pound peeled & deveined wild caught shrimp (optional)
1 cup frozen green peas
¼ cup pimento-stuffed Spanish olives, cut in half
4 to 5 ounces Spanish chorizo, roughly diced (optional)
¼ cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped + extra sprigs for garnish

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook until golden brown, 2 minutes per side.

Add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the wine, tomatoes and their liquid, saffron, rice, salt, and freshly ground black pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, or until 5 minutes before the rice is done. Stir in shrimp and continue to cook for 5 more minutes until rice & shrimp are done.

Stir the peas, olives, & chopped chorizo into the rice and chicken and cook, covered, until heated through, about 2 minutes. Spoon the chicken and rice into a platter or onto individual plates and sprinkle with the parsley. If desired, garnish with a sprig of parsley.

For better viewing, click photos to enlarge.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm and Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Spicy Coconut Shrimp Soup

This soup has a bit of spice yet a good balance of Asian flavors. Adding a big squeeze of lime juice and slivers of fresh basil just before serving always brightens a dish. It’s a wonderful way to welcome spring into your kitchen.

While ginger, fish sauce and spicy red curry paste bring the flavors to this dish, the shrimp is the real star. I encourage you to seek out wild caught shrimp, even if it has been frozen, and try to avoid foreign shrimp, which to me has a strange “off” flavor and often the texture of the shrimp is soft. It’s the quality of the shrimp that counts, not the fact that it’s been frozen.

For many years we were spoiled living near the Gulf of Mexico where some of the best shrimp in the world is harvested. I can remember buying freshly caught shrimp with their heads still on packed in lots of fresh ice from big Igloo coolers in the back of pick-up trucks on the side of the road in south Louisiana. Heads on shrimp are THE very best of the best and you can’t fake freshness when you can see their heads. We’ve now discovered that the coast of the Carolinas also has wonderful fresh caught wild shrimp. I’m not saying only buy Gulf of Mexico or Carolina shrimp or never buy frozen. What I am saying is ask your fish monger where the shrimp is from or read the label so you’ll know what you are buying. Try to avoid those bags of frozen shrimp that come from who-knows-where. Good quality seafood is not cheap, so buy the best you can find. Cheap seafood is just that, cheap.

Spicy Coconut Shrimp Soup

Adapted from Cooking Light – serves 4 

Printable recipe

3 ½ cups fat-free, low sodium chicken broth
1 cup sliced button mushrooms
¼ cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
½ teaspoon peeled and grated fresh ginger
¼ teaspoon red curry paste, more if you like it really spicy
1 cup light coconut milk (shake well before measuring)
1 pound large shrimp, preferably wild caught, peeled and deveined
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
Slices of lime and cilantro sprigs for garnish if desired

Combine chicken broth, mushrooms, chopped red pepper, brown sugar, fish sauce, grated ginger and curry paste in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in coconut milk and cook for 2 minutes until hot. Add shrimp, cook for 3 minutes or until the shrimp are done. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the cilantro, basil and lime juice, garnish if desired, and serve right away.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, Comforts of Home Tasty Tuesday & Food on Friday at Carole's Chatter.   

For better viewing, click photos to enlarge.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Spicy Black Bean, Corn and Shrimp Salad – a simple supper, ready in under 30 minutes

The spicy black bean salad with the corn & tomatoes, the base of this dish, is one of my all time favorite beans salads. Not only is it colorful and full of flavor, the recipe can easily be doubled or tripled. It’s bursting with summer flavors and is great for a covered dish affair. People ooh & ah over it at a party and always want the recipe.

When I saw a very similar bean salad on the internet that was garnished with shrimp and served over a bed of chopped romaine lettuce with crunchy tortilla chips on the side, it inspired me to try my version of the bean salad in the recipe. By the way, the salad that inspired this used an avocado. My recipe does not normally include an avocado. If you are taking the salad to a party where it will sit out for a while, I would omit the avocado as it might turn brown.

The recipe calls for cooked shrimp. We seasoned our peeled shrimp with Hungarian paprika, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and sautéed them in a tiny bit of olive oil. Grilling the shrimp would also be very nice. Ina Garten has a super easy recipe for shrimp that I’ve used many times. She seasons the shrimp, then roasts them in a preheated 400 degree F oven on a sheet pan for about 8 to 10 minutes and they turn out perfectly every time. So you have lots of choices on the shrimp.

I find that cutting corn off of the cob to be messy. Invariably a few of the kernels fly across the counter or end up on the floor. Some recipes tell you cut the corn into a bowl, but that can be tricky with the knife and worse yet, damage your knife blade. So I’ve been cutting the corn directly onto a paper plate and found that not only did it not damage the knife blade, but most of the kernels actually stayed on the plate for a change. Give it a try the next time you need to cut corn off of the cob and see how it works for you.

Spicy Black Bean, Corn and Shrimp Salad
Inspired by All You, serves 4

2 ears of freshly cooked yellow corn
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained & rinsed
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro (or fresh basil if you don’t like cilantro)
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons canola oil, or other neutral tasting oil
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons minced red onion
2 tablespoons chopped scallions, including some green tops
½ cup chopped tomatoes, well drained, grape tomatoes cut in half are nice
1 avocado, preferably Hass, peeled, pitted and cut into ½” dice (optional)
Kosher salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper
¾ pound cooked, peeled shrimp, cooled, either left whole or cut into chunks
4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
Tortilla chips for garnish, either purchased or homemade

Cut kernels off ears of corn and add to a large bowl, along with the beans, cilantro, lime juice, oil, cumin, red onion, scallions, tomatoes, and avocado if using.  Season the mixture with salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper to taste. If preparing in advance, add the avocado & tomatoes at the last minute. Arrange lettuce on a serving plate, spoon bean salad on top, garnish with the shrimp, and serve with tortilla chips.

Printable recipe

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, and Seasonal Sunday at the Tablescaper.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Herbed Shrimp and White Beans with Arugula – dinner in 30 minutes

This herbed shrimp and white beans dish with arugula can be on your dinner table in less than 30 minutes and even less if you ask your fish monger to peel the shrimp for you.

The month of October has been extremely busy for us. We’ve taken two driving trips, one to see old friends in Alabama one weekend and another long weekend in Arkansas for my high school class reunion. To use a southern expression, “we’re pooped.” When it gets too cold in the mountains to wear flip-flops and deck shoes and we have to get our socks out, it’s time to go south. Very soon we’ll be heading south for the winter, entailing another long and tiring trip on the road.

This is exactly the kind of meal we like to prepare when we’ve returned home from our travels. Quick, easy, and light. If you have a well stocked pantry and an herb garden, there’s not even much shopping to do. Pick up some arugula, maybe watercress or use all arugula, a few cherry tomatoes and a pound of shrimp at the store and you’re good to go. If they are available, buy wild caught shrimp. They are sooo much tastier and fresher than the farm raised ones.

I’ll be taking a mini break, so if you don’t see me around for a week or two, don’t be concerned. I’ll be busy settling in for the winter down south and shall return soon.

For my friends who are suffering from the effects of Hurricane Sandy, you’ve been in my thoughts and prayers and will continue to be. The eye of Sandy passed over our old homes in the Bahamas last weekend before setting her sights on the northeast. Living in the islands for years, we know what hurricanes and long power outages feel like. It wasn’t easy being without power for thirty seven days after Hurricane Floyd. But we kept busy rebuilding our dock that was totally destroyed. I hope you recover quickly and your life is back to normal very, very soon, and that you can keep your sanity through it all.

Herbed Shrimp and White Beans with Arugula 
Adapted slightly from Cooking Light – serves 4 – a quick & easy recipe

Vinaigrette:
4 teaspoons sherry vinegar
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
Freshly ground black pepper

2 cups loosely packed arugula
1 cup trimmed watercress (or use all arugula as I did)
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 (15.5-ounce) can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained well
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon water
24 peeled and deveined medium wild caught shrimp, about 1 pound,
Cooking spray
Kosher salt

Combine vinaigrette ingredients in a small jar with a tight fitting lid and shake well. Place arugula, watercress if using, tomato halves, parsley and beans in a large salad bowl and toss with the vinaigrette.

In a medium bowl combine honey and water and stir with a whisk. Add shrimp to the mixture and toss to coat. Heat a grill pan over medium high heat and coat with cooking spray. Sprinkle shrimp with salt and add to pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side, or until done. Serve with the salad.

Alternately, if you don’t have a grill pan, you can sauté the shrimp in a non-stick pan with a little olive oil, following the cooking directions above.

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This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, Foodtastic Friday at Not Your Ordinary Recipes, Seasonal Sunday at the Tablescaper, and On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable.

Have a great weekend everyone. I’ll be back before you know it. 

Spicy Shrimp – two ways to serve the same dish

Often when we think of shrimp, the first thing that comes to mind is “fried or boiled.” Well, that’s certainly not true anymore. Shrimp has come full circle and is as versatile as chicken.

This dish falls in what I call the “small plates” category, meaning a small informal yet chic meal that is healthy without leaving you feeling stuffed. These vividly seasoned shrimp are great on their own or served atop pasta. Leave the tails on for a prettier presentation.

One of the best parts about shrimp is that it’s healthy and good for you. Plus cooking time for shrimp is super speedy, making it perfect for quick and easy meals. The hands-on cooking time for this dish is 20 minutes, so in less than a half hour you can have dinner on the table.

The fun part about this spicy shrimp is that you can serve it two ways - with pasta or without, giving you some versatility.

Spicy Shrimp
Adapted from Cooking Light – serves 4 - 5

1 ½ pounds medium shrimp, peeled & deveined, preferably wild shrimp
¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon chili powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided (or use avocado oil if available)
Lime wedges

Sprinkle shrimp with salt. Combine sugar, chili powder, cumin, coriander and oregano and lightly coat the shrimp with the spice mixture.

Heat a teaspoon of the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add half of the shrimp and sauté 4 minutes or until done. Do not crowd the pan. Remove the shrimp from pan and repeat the procedure, adding 1 more teaspoon of oil before you add the remaining shrimp. Place shrimp on a platter and drizzle with remaining 2 ½ teaspoons oil. Serve with lime wedges. Serving with pasta extends the dish.

This recipe will be linked to Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum, and On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Join me for Sunday Supper at Providence Ltd. featuring southern Pickled Shrimp

I am so excited that I’ve been asked to do a guest post for Providence Ltd. Interior Design’s Sunday Supper series. I’ve prepared a southern appetizer that’s popular in shrimp country – Southern Pickled Shrimp for Providence Ltd’s Sunday Supper that I know you’ll enjoy. Click here. Or printable recipe here.

Mona and “Sister” (real name Talena, but she’s affectionally referred to as “Sister”) are a sister team in their design firm. I’ve been following their blog Providence Ltd. for quite a while now and I can attest to their skills and very classy taste. Meakin and I counted the other day that during our marriage we’ve remodeled eleven houses and built two. Remodeling is one of our passions and we even thought of going into the business until the oil industry in Texas had one of its many crashes early in our marriage. How I wish we had known designers such as Mona and Sister during these projects. They certainly would have helped guarantee our success.

Just because we all love food on My Carolina Kitchen and that’s what we talk about, it doesn’t mean we don’t care about how our kitchens function or how our dining rooms are designed. Of course we care – there’s more to life than just food, right? Right.

Here’s a beautiful example of one of Mona & Sister’s design projects featured in At Home in Arkansas. Just look at all of the lovely stone and brick and beamed ceilings in this kitchen. My mind is whirling thinking of what delicious dishes that I could whip up here. Have a seat on one of the stools and we’ll talk recipes.

Providence Ltd. Design

This is the formal dining room in the same home. I am crazy about lanterns and this iron chandelier that the sisters found and had re-wired is a beautiful example. Mirrors have found their way into my decorating scheme too lately. Imagine the wonderful dinner parties that must take place in this lovely dining room.

Providence Ltd. Design

One of my very favorite things to add to a house or create when the space is available is a butler’s pantry. Actually we have a small butler’s pantry in both of our current homes. It’s a wonderful place to store your good china, crystal, and silver, or to use as a bar area to get the drink-making out of the kitchen. This lovely example is also one of the features in the house above.

Providence Ltd. Design

Now, let’s eat. Please join me at Sunday Supper at Providence Ltd. Click here. While you’re there, grab a pickled shrimp or two before they’re all gone and cruise around their blog and enjoy these talented ladies’ fabulous design portfolio. See you there.

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This will be linked to Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen’s Full Plate Thursday and Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

Sautéed Shrimp with Fresh Navel Oranges – Summer & Winter versions

Summer version

When I saw Sara Foster’s Sautéed Tangerine Shrimp on my friend Penny’s blog, Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen, last winter, I knew at first glance it would be a recipe I would love. Penny told her readers, “The warmed sections of tangerine in this dish are a sweet surprise with the shrimp.” And she was right.

Sara Foster is one of the country’s most well respected experts on simple, honest food, prepared with fresh, local seasonal ingredients. Sara also recommends clementines in this recipe in the winter, which are available in the US from late October through February. Clementines are the tiniest of the mandarin oranges. Imported from Spain, Morocco, and other parts of North Africa, they are a cross between a sweet orange and a Chinese mandarin. I’ll never forget the first time I tasted a clementine. I was in the check-out line at the supermarket and the person in front of me had a crate of the tiny oranges. Never having tasted a clementine, I asked, “Are those good?” He promptly made a slit in the mesh covering the clementine’s and handed one to me. “Try it,” he said. “You’ll always remember this day.” What a generous gesture from a stranger.

When we were in Florida last winter, I made this dish with a combination of local Florida tangerines and winter blood oranges and it was every bit as good as I’d thought it would be. I’ve also made it with Spanish clementines and it was equally divine. The problem was I never got around to posting it. For the recipe of winter version of Sara Foster’s dish, go to Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen. Here’s my photo of the winter sautéed shrimp with tangerines & blood oranges. As you can see, the peeled tangerines give a cleaner, less messy look to the dish than the sectioned Navel oranges, but the taste in both dishes is scrumptious.

Winter version

The other day my husband requested the dish again. Since it’s almost summertime I substituted Navel oranges with great success.  So whether you make this in the summer or winter, you’ll find this dish full of flavor and freshness.

Summer version

Sara Foster’s Sautéed Shrimp with Fresh Navel Oranges – Summertime Version
Adapted from Fresh Every Day, More Great Recipes from Foster’s Market by Sara Foster

Serves: 4 to 6
Level: Easy

Juice of 3 - 4 Navel oranges
2 – 3 Navel oranges, peeled, sectioned, seeds removed
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (from a 1-inch piece)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 ½ pounds large wild caught shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Combine the orange juice and orange sections, ginger, garlic, and peeled shrimp in a bowl and toss to coat the shrimp. Cover and marinate the shrimp in refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours, no longer.

Heat half of the oil and half of the butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until the butter melts. Remove the shrimp from the marinate, reserving the marinade. Pat the shrimp dry with paper towels, season with salt and pepper, and place half of the shrimp in the skillet to sauté for 1 to 1 ½ minutes per side, until they turn pink. Place the cooked shrimp on a platter covered loosely with foil to keep warm. Add the remaining butter and oil to the skillet and cook the remaining shrimp.

When all of the shrimp are cooked, pour the marinade and orange sections into the skillet, along with the chopped fresh rosemary. Increase the heat to high and boil the marinade until it has reduced by half, about 30 seconds. Turn off the heat and stir in the cilantro. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed and serve the shrimp warm with the orange sauce and sections spooned over them. Serves 4 to 6.

Cook’s notes: Don’t leave out the cilantro, because it gives the dish a real brightness. Rice with little green English peas makes a lovely base for the shrimp and oranges.

Winter version

Shrimp and Sausage Stew with a Creole Flair

There are times when I crave spicy food and nothing fills the bill better than a seafood and sausage stew with a little kick. When I think of seafood and sausage stews, my mind immediately goes to Louisiana with their rich jambalayas and fragrant, spicy gumbos. Louisiana is also where they catch some of the best sweet wild caught pink shrimp in the world, fresh out of the Gulf of Mexico. Perhaps I feel that way because I grew up in the south and all of our shellfish came from the Gulf. If pink Gulf shrimp aren’t available, feel free to use any wild caught shrimp. I’m also fond of the excellent quality wild caught shrimp caught off of the coast of North Carolina, one of my adopted home states.

If you were to ask me what my favorite food in the whole wide world is, I used to answer “shrimp.” Now, I answer the question with a qualifier – it has to be wild caught shrimp or I’ll pass. Personally I don’t like the iodine taste in the farm raised shrimp and thank you very much, I prefer to peel my own (no easy-peel for me). I also like ‘em even better if I have to remove the heads. So there, I’ve set the record straight about how I like my shrimp.

This recipe starts off with what is called the “holy trinity” in Louisiana Creole & Cajun cooking – an aromatic mixture of onions, celery, and bell peppers. It differs from a French mirepoix in that in Louisiana they substitute bell peppers for the carrots in a traditional mirepoix. The heat in this dish comes from a fiery mixture of canned tomatoes and chilies sold under the Rotel brand. This recipe, adapted from Cooking Light, serves 4, can be put together in 20 minutes, and is 191 calories per serving. It doesn’t have the depth of flavor you would gain if you were to make a Louisiana roux, but making a roux takes time and patience. I think you’ll find this quick version very satisfying. If you’re lucky enough to buy heads-on shrimp, add about 10 more minutes, but de-heading fresh shrimp is well worth the extra few minutes it takes. I think you’ll enjoy this spicy, simple Creole shrimp and sausage stew.

Creole Shrimp and Sausage Stew
Adapted from Best of Cooking Light Fast Healthy Meals in 30 Minutes or Less – serves 4

3 teaspoons olive oil
½ of a small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 small rib of celery, finely chopped
1 cup chopped sweet red bell pepper
1 cup thinly sliced low-fat smoked sausage, such as kielbasa or smoked turkey, about 6 ounces
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
¾ cup low-sodium, fat free chicken broth
1 (10 ounce) can un-drained diced tomatoes & green chilies, (such as Rotel brand)
8 ounces wild caught medium sized shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 (15 ounce) can dark kidney beans, rinsed & drained
2 tablespoons or more chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish

Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil to the pan and swirl to coat. Add the onion, celery, bell pepper, sausage and garlic to the pan and sauté 3 minutes or until the bell pepper is tender, stirring occasionally and taking care that the garlic doesn’t burn. Season with a little kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add chicken broth and tomato/chilies mixture and bring to a boil. Stir in the shrimp and beans, cover, reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes or so until shrimp are done. Divide among 4 bowls, sprinkle each serving with parsley, and serve right away with crusty bread to mop up the spicy sauce.

On a separate note, I thought you might enjoy seeing the beautiful oil painting that artist Carol Schiff painted. She used a photograph taken by my husband Meakin as her inspiration for her painting of the lighthouse on Elbow Cay in Hope Town. The lighthouse is in the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas, where we lived for ten years. The Elbow Cay lighthouse is one of the most photographed in the world. Here’s Carol’s beautiful rendition, which is available for sale at Carol Schiff Studios.

To see Meakin’s original photo, check out Island Time in Abaco. Didn’t Carol do a beautiful job?

This will be linked to Food on Friday at Carole's Chatter. 

Shrimp and Scallop Salad with Mango Salsa

I find that when people visit from other areas of the country and are invited to dinner, they expect certain foods to be served. For instance, if I visit my sister in Texas, I hope she’ll prepare some of my Tex-Mex favorites, since good Mexican food is hard to find where we live in the mountains. If we’re going to Maine, I want lobster and lots of it. If we drive over to eastern North Carolina to see friends, I always have my fingers crossed they’ll roast a pig they are so famous for that’s basted with vinegary eastern Carolina BBQ sauce. Last year when we visited our old home in Abaco, I couldn’t get my fill of spicy Bahamian fresh conch salad with fiery bird or goat peppers and seasoned ever so lightly with native sour oranges.

If you live in Florida as we do in the winter, guests expect seafood. I like to have a recipe up my sleeve that’s easy, so when people call and say, “We’re just driving by. Can we stop and say hello?” I can eagerly answer, “Yes and please stay for dinner” and mean it. If you live in a tourist area, it’s smart to be prepared, because people are bound to drop by unexpectedly sooner or later.

By easy, I mean two different kinds of easy. The first easy means easy to put together. I want to spend time with my guests, not be stuck in the kitchen. The second easy is versatility. I want a recipe where I can easily substitute ingredients and know that the recipe will still work.

This seafood salad fills both bills. It can be put together in under thirty minutes, perhaps even fifteen if you multitask. If the scallops don’t look good at the market, use all shrimp. If you don’t want to use shellfish, fish or even grilled chicken would work well. We’ve used broiled salmon or mahi mahi (also known as dolphin fish) many times with great success. Perhaps you remember this salmon with fruit salsa.

No mangos? Use peaches, nectarines, cantaloupe or honeydew. Want it spicier? Leave some of the seeds in the chopped jalapeno. If you have a guest who doesn’t like cilantro (and there are definitely some of those), leave it out or use some flat leaf parsley. Just don’t leave out the tomato, onion, or basil. They are the foundation of the salad. After that, almost anything goes.

Do you have foods that people expect to be served when they visit you?

Seared Shrimp and Scallop Salad with Mango Salsa
Adapted from Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cook Home Collection

10 large scallops, preferably dry pack
10 large shrimp, wild caught, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Baby lettuce mix, for serving
Mango salsa, recipe below

Dry the scallops and shrimp well. Heat the olive oil in a large, non-stick skillet, add the butter and, when it has melted and starts to foam, put the shrimp and scallops in the frying pan. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook for 3 – 4 minutes, or until lightly golden on both sides and just tender to the touch, taking care not to overcook. Arrange a bed of baby lettuce mix on four plates and spoon over the salsa. Top with warm scallops and shrimp, and serve immediately. Serves 4.

Mango Salsa
Adapted from Little Moir’s Food Shack, Jupiter, Florida 

2 mangos, peeled and diced
1 ripe tomato, diced
½ of a red onion, minced
Juice of ½ to 1 lime
1 tablespoon jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons rice vinegar (unseasoned)
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh basil, cut into a chiffonade
1 tablespoon honey
1 - 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Place all ingredients in a bowl and gently toss. Serve immediately, or can be left at room temperature for up to an hour. Taste before serving and add more salt, pepper, rice vinegar, honey, or hot pepper to taste if necessary.

Shrimp Cocktail “Latino Style” – prepared in less than 15 minutes

Last week was my husband Meakin’s birthday and shrimp cocktail is always one of his requests. As a very young boy Meakin had grown-up taste. When he was about six or seven for his birthday his parents treated him to dinner at one of their favorite restaurants, Snuffy’s Steakhouse in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, where he ordered shrimp cocktail as an appetizer followed by swordfish steak and French fries as a main course and cherries jubilee for dessert. Apples don’t fall far from the tree. His grandson at about the same age was handed a children’s menu one evening when we were dining in a nice restaurant. He promptly gave it back to the waitress and said, “I don’t eat from the children’s menu.”

I fixed a jazzed up version of shrimp cocktail we call “Latino Style” from a recipe adapted from a very old issue of The David Rosengarten Report. I hadn’t planned to take a picture, but Meakin was anxious to use his new birthday present, a Nikon D90, so he snapped a few. I protested, “I haven’t styled the plate for a photo,” but that didn’t stop him. I hadn’t planned on posting the recipe, but he insisted that this is too good not to share with you, so here it is. The best part is that is can be prepared in under 15 minutes. Feel free to change the green olives, cilantro and hot pepper to your taste; just don't leave out the freshly squeezed orange juice in the sauce. You could even add some chopped celery for crunch. There are no hard and fast rules in this recipe.

One note - please take the time to buy the best shrimp you can find. Wild is the best. The imported tiger shrimp that have that iodine taste almost ruined my love for shrimp forever.

Shrimp Cocktail “Latino Style”

Adapted from The David Rosengarten Report – serves 2

½ pound large cooked peeled & deveined shrimp – preferably wild

1 tomato, chopped

3 tablespoons minced cilantro

2 – 3 tablespoons green olives, cut in half

1 fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped

½ cup ketchup – we like Heinz’s Low Sugar

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

1 – 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

½ teaspoon Tabasco

In a large bowl, mix together the cooked shrimp, tomato, cilantro, green olives and jalapeno. In another bowl, prepare the sauce by mixing together the ketchup, orange juice, lime juice, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco. Add most of the sauce to the shrimp. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or refrigerate for several hours. Serve on baby greens.

To cook shrimp perfectly I follow Mark Bittman’s recipe in How to Cook Everything. It is important to stay by the stove with the shrimp and keep a close eye on them; otherwise they will overcook before you know it. Overcooked shrimp are tough and rubbery. Place unpeeled shrimp in salted water to cover in a saucepan and turn the heat to high. When the water boils, reduce the heat and cook just until the shrimp turn pink. Large shrimp could take 3 to 5 minutes; medium shrimp may be done the minute the water boils. To be sure, cut one open and see. Immediately remove from the heat, drain and rinse under cold water. Peel and devein. Sometimes I cook the shrimp in Old Bay seasonings, other times I use flat beer and a few bay leaves, but most often I just cook in very salty water.

The sauce is based on ketchup, which is mostly sugar. Recently we have come to love Heinz Reduced Sugar Tomato Ketchup. We’ve done the blind taste test and couldn’t tell a difference. However, if you take a look at the label, you can definitely tell a difference. Per tablespoon there is 1 gram of sugar compared to regular ketchup’s 4 grams - a 75% difference. Regular Heinz ketchup also contains high fructose corn syrup, the reduced sugar one doesn’t. Where’s the sugar - the reduced sugar one has sucralose (Splenda). If you’re watching your calories, compare 15 calories to 5 in the reduced sugar version.

What is your favorite meal for your birthday dinner?

Shrimp with Creamy Orange-Chipotle Sauce

Shrimp with Creamy Orange-Chipotle Sauce is another easy and quick recipe from Cooking Light’s latest cookbook, Fresh Food Fast, 5 ingredients, 15 minute recipes. I love shrimp and always try to use wild shrimp. The cookbook says that the half-and-half and grated orange rind will create a citrusy cream sauce that tames the spiciness of the chipotle chili. While I agree to an extent, it was still a bit spicy for our taste, so I decreased the amount of cumin called for on the shrimp. Cooking Light uses very little salt, but I used salt on my raw shrimp along with the cumin.

I’m also not a big fan of cooking sprays, so I used a tiny bit of canola in the pan in lieu of the spray. My recipe is for two servings instead of four, but I used the entire sauce recipe because I tossed the sauce with the spaghetti and the shrimp, rather than just with the shrimp (as the original recipe suggested). They used regular half-and-half, which surprised (and pleased) me, since it was Cooking Light. I'm not fond of non-fat half-and-half because it contains corn syrup and an artificial color. I got a little carried away with the cilantro garnish, but here’s my adapted version.

Shrimp with Creamy Orange-Chipotle Sauce

Adapted from Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast, 5 ingredients, 15 minute recipes

¾ pound peeled and deveined large shrimp, preferably wild

¼ teaspoon ground cumin

Kosher salt

Canola oil

½ cup half-and-half

1 large chipotle chili, canned in adobo sauce

1 teaspoon grated orange rind

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, plus more if you want to use it as garnish

Hot cooked thin spaghetti or linguine

Toss shrimp with ground cumin and salt. Add about 2 teaspoons of canola oil in a medium-sized nonstick skillet, turn heat to medium-high, and sauté the shrimp 4 minutes or until shrimp are done, stirring frequently. Transfer shrimp to a serving plate and keep warm. In the meantime place the half-and-half, chili and orange rind in a blender and process until smooth.

To make the sauce, reduce heat to medium in the skillet, add half-and-half mixture to pan and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add shrimp to sauce, then remove mixture from heat and toss with the hot cooked spaghetti. Serves 2.

Low Country Shrimp and Grits

We were houseguests at a friend’s home on the outer banks of North Carolina several months ago and they served shrimp and grits for breakfast, elevating the morning meal to a higher level. So when we had houseguests recently, we prepared the same. The cheese grits topped with pink shrimp, browned bacon and mushrooms, garnished with shreds of green scallions make an elegant presentation. If serving for dinner, accompany with lima beans or sautéed cherry tomatoes.

If at all possible use fresh wild shrimp. They are vastly superior to the farm raised ones. In fact farm raised tiger shrimp have almost ruined my love of shrimp because of their inferior, bleach-like taste and mealy texture.

Low Country Shrimp and Grits with Mushrooms and Bacon

Adapted from Southern Cooking by Craig Claibourne

1 pound unpeeled, medium-size fresh wild shrimp

2 tablespoons lemon juice

¼ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

4 strips of bacon

2 tablespoons canola or other neutral oil

6 ounces sliced mushrooms, about 3 cups

1 garlic clove, finely minced

¼ cup chopped onion

¼ cup finely chopped sweet red bell pepper

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

¾ cup shrimp stock or chicken broth

Green tops of scallions thinly cut on diagonal for garnish

Peel & de-vein shrimp, saving peels. Combine shrimp, lemon juice, salt, and ground red pepper in a small bowl; set aside for 10 minutes and no longer than 20 minutes or the citrus will begin to cook the shrimp. To make the shrimp stock (which is really better than chicken broth), boil the shrimp shells in lightly salted water for a few minutes and strain; discard shells and retain the broth.

Place the bacon in a 10” non-stick skillet and cook over medium heat until it browns. Remove bacon from skillet, leaving 3 tablespoons drippings in the skillet. Reserve skillet for later. Crumble bacon when cool and set aside.

In a separate 10” non-stick skillet, pour in canola oil and heat over medium heat. Add the mushrooms to the hot oil and cook, tossing and stirring, until the mushrooms give up their liquid. Salt and pepper to taste, add the garlic and cook briefly, stirring. Turn the off heat and set aside.

Cook the onion and sweet red bell pepper in bacon drippings in the reserved skillet over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle flour over vegetables; cook, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes or until flour begins to brown. Add shrimp & shrimp stock; cook, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes or until shrimp turns pink and the gravy is smooth. Do not overcook the shrimp. If gravy is too thick, add water or broth as necessary. Add the mushrooms, crumbled bacon and stir to blend.

To serve, place cheese grits in individual bowls, top with shrimp mixture in the center and sprinkle thinly sliced green scallion tops around the edges of the bowl. Serves 4.

Printable recipe

Cheese Grits

My Carolina Kitchen, Sam Hoffer

1 cup grits, not instant

1 & ½ cups water

1 & ½ cups milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, finely grated

Freshly ground nutmeg

4 drops hot sauce, such as Tabasco

Bring the water and the milk to a boil, add salt and gradually stir in the grits. Cook according to package directions. When thickened, remove from heat, stir in cheese, a dash of nutmeg, and 4 drops of hot sauce.

Quick grits will take about 5 to 7 minutes on the stove top and old-fashioned grits will take about 30 minutes, so plan accordingly. I learned a little trick about grains such as grits when we lived in the tropics. If you have those pesky little mealy bugs, store the grits in an air-tight container with a bay leaf.

If you love grits as much as I do, you’ll enjoy The Lee Brothers Southern Cookbook. I think I counted seventeen grits recipes in it not including chocolate ice cream grits, making it worth the read alone just for the grits. Matt and his brother Ted combine grits with everything imaginable – goat cheese, Clemson blue cheese, summer herbs, slab bacon and cheddar, fry them into cakes, but my favorite recipe of theirs is lemon grits which I like to serve with broiled or sauteed fish.

The Lees prefer old-fashioned stone ground grits to quick or instant grits. They take about thirty minutes to prepare, but they are much creamier than quick or instant ones. If you can find them, I recommend them highly. I learned from the Lees to use half milk and half water for the cooking liquid, which makes richer grits.

Join me next time as I continue my series on Grits and the South.

Crunchy Un-fried Shrimp

For years fried shrimp was my favorite food when we dined out, primarily because we never fry things at home. Today we still don’t fry foods but I’ve come up with a tasty and easy alternative to frying shrimp. I shallow fried the shrimp in a minimum amount of oil in a non-stick skillet with just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan without allowing the food to stick. I breaded the shrimp with Panko crumbs. Also called Japanese bread flakes, Panko crumbs are lighter and crunchier than ordinary bread crumbs. They also don’t contain the long list of ingredients that are in regular bread crumbs, such as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil and corn syrup. 

I adapted this recipe from Leslie Pendleton’s Simply Shrimp, Salmon and (fish) Steaks. Her recipe used cornmeal in place of the Panko crumbs and she used a little more oil than I did. We like fried shrimp with lemon wedges so I’ve added those also. I also put several dashes of hot sauce in the eggs which I saw Paula Dean do and liked the results so much that I’ve added Tabasco to my egg coating mixture for any recipe calling for an egg wash. It gives a dish subtle flavor without being overwhelming. If you are looking for new ideas for fish and shrimp, Leslie’s book is terrific. 

My husband Meakin makes a fresh red cocktail sauce that we serve alongside the shrimp with some lemon wedges. Making your own cocktail sauce is quick, easy and has a much fresher taste than the bottled variety.

Panko Crusted Shrimp - Crunchy Un-fried Shrimp
Printable Recipe

Adapted from Leslie Pendelton's Simply Shrimp, Salmon and  (fish) Steaks

1 lb. large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs

Several dashes of hot sauce, such as Tabasco  

¼ cup cornstarch

½ cup Panko bread crumbs

Canola or peanut oil 

Lemon wedges

Red cocktail sauce if desired

Lightly salt and pepper the shrimp. In a shallow dish, beat the eggs lightly with a little bit of water and add several dashes of hot sauce. Put the cornstarch and Panko bread crumbs in separate dishes or on separate sheets of waxed paper. Dip each shrimp in cornstarch, then egg, and then bread crumbs.

In a large 12” non-stick skillet, heat 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil over moderately high heat until it is very hot, but not smoking. Add some of the shrimp to the skillet, leaving plenty of room between them, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, turning once, until they are crisp and cooked through. Transfer to brown paper to drain and sprinkle with salt. Cook the remaining shrimp. Serve immediately with lemon wedges and red cocktail sauce. Serves 4 as an appetizer or 2 as an entrée.

Meakin’s Red Cocktail Sauce
Printable Recipe

Be sure to zest the lemon before squeezing the juice

4 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons bottled chili sauce

Zest from ½ of a lemon or lime

Juice from ½ of a freshly squeezed lemon or lime 

1 heavy teaspoon bottled horseradish

2 dashes hot sauce such as Tabasco or Thai Chili sauce

2 big dashes Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons very finely chopped celery

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley

One small tomato, seeded and finely chopped

Mix ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or up to 6 hours before serving.