Food | Travel | Family | Life
Disclaimer – California Bartlett Pears has sponsored this post but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
When my kids polish up things like a salad and ask for more, you know a recipe is a keeper. This roasted pear, fennel and shrimp salad was a hit!
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I have been wanting to go to Hawaii for years. With a big birthday coming up next month, I decided that this was the year we were going, no matter how much hubby was resisting. I can’t wait!
I made this pineapple shrimp dish to get us into the tropical spirit. It’s a perfect balance of sweet and heat and super tasty. This dish comes together super quick and goes great with rice or all on it’s own. Make it even more festive by serving it in a pineapple bowl!
Pineapple Shrimp
1/4 cup pineapple, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1 green onion, chopped,
1 pound shrimp
2 TB hoisin sauce
2 TB soya sauce
1 tsp sriracha, or as needed
cilantro
vegetable oil
sesame oil
Add some vegetable and sesame oil to a hot pan. Add the garlic, onions and shrimp. After a minute, add the pineapple and sauces and cook until shrimp are opaque. Sprinkle with cilantro and enjoy.
Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, Pancake Day, Shrove Tuesday – that’s today! I had many ideas of what I wanted to make for the day. I thought about pancakes and thought about beignets. I decided to be practical though because what I really needed was dinner.
Mardi Gras is largely associated with New Orleans so what better way to honour it than with a classic – Shrimp Po’ Boy. I found a fantastic recipe in the cookbook “The Southern Po’ Boy” by Todd-Michael St. Pierre.
With activities every evening, I didn’t have a lot of time but luckily this recipe was easy and didn’t take long at all. The cornmeal added a nice crunch to the shrimp. We used crusty rolls, spread with mayo and sriracha, and topped with lettuce, green onions and the crisp shrimp.
Q’s reaction when he took a bite….”Mamma, this is not good….this is awesome!”. So awesome in fact that he came home after martial arts and asked for more. Yay!
Shrimp Po’ Boy
From “The Southern Po’ Boy” by Todd-Michael St. Pierre
Fried Shrimp:
2 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp onion powder
canola oil, for frying
1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup cornmeal
Make a spice mix by whisking together the salt, cayenne, garlic powder, paprika, oregano, thyme, black pepper, and onion powder in a small bowl.
Place the shrimp and 1 TB of the spice mix in a large bowl, sprinkle over the shrimp, and toss to coat. Pour the buttermilk into a medium bowl. Whish together the flour, cornmeal, and remaining spice mixture in another bowl. Dip the seasoned shrimp into the buttermilk, then coat with the flour and cornmeal mixture, tapping off the excess.
Working in batches, fry the shrimp until golden brown, about 4 minutes per batch.
Earlier this week, we celebrated Eid-Al-Adha, the festival of sacrifice. As with any major occasion, we celebrate with food. One dish that you will find at any special occasion, like Eid or a wedding, is biryani. Biryani is a rice dish topped with a reduced curry of chicken, beef or prawns.
I figured this Eid would be a great excuse to try out a new dish. I have been following Fauzia’s Kitchen Fun for a while and all her recipes look great. I was excited to give her Prawn Biryani a try. The recipe was easy to follow along and the end result was a tasty dish.
I did make a few changes since my decision to make this was so last minute and there was no time for marinating over night and I also didn’t have all of the ingredients. This is best served with raw onions, tomatoes and cilantro topped with some lemon juice.
Prawn Biryani
Adapted from Fauzia’s Kitchen Fun
Prawns Masala:
oil
1 pound prawns
1/2 tsp garlic paste
6 TB fried onions
2 tomatoes
1/2 cup yogurt, whipped
2 TB tomato paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1/2 tsp ginger paste
juice of half a lemon
pinch of saffron
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 cinnamon stick
1 cardamom pod
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 large potato, boiled and cubed
4 TB chopped coriander
Heat oil and add the prawns, frying until translucent. Drain and set aside.
Add the cumin seeds, cardamom and cinnamon to the oil. Once they start popping, add the chopped tomatoes, sprinkle a bit of salt on them, and fry until all the moisture evaporates.
Combine the yogurt, 3 TB of the onions, the tomato paste and the saffron in a bowl.
Once the tomatoes have dried, add the ginger, garlic, turmeric and cumin powder. Fry for a minute and add the yogurt mixture. Cook this down for 2 to 3 minutes until it thickens. Add the prawns, remaining onions and potatoes and simmer together on low heat. Add salt as desired. Top with coriander.
Rice:
Wash then soak 3 cups of rice in water for about 20-30 minutes.
Soak a few saffron strands in some water and set aside.
Bring a big pot of water to boil, add salt, 4 cardamom pods, 2-3 cinnamon sticks and 2-3 cloves plus about 2 tbsp. of oil.
Drain the soaked rice and add it to this water when it is boiling. Cook until the rice is about 3/4 done, remove and strain out all the water. Put half the rice back into the pan, drizzle about 2-3 tbsp. of oil and the saffron water. Add a bit of orange color on one side and mix it up a bit with a spoon and add the remaining rice. Then cover the pot tightly. Steam this on low heat for 15minutes or put in a 180 C preheated oven for about the same time. Serve the rice with the prawns on top.
Hubby and I celebrated our seven year anniversary on Monday! I feel like I was just reminiscing the other day about our honeymoon and that flashback has already been a year! Time really does fly.
Although we went for sushi with our little guy on the weekend, I wanted to make hubby something special. My cousin had been talking about lobster mac and cheese a few weeks ago and I had been thinking about it ever since. Lobster definitely had to be in the picture, I just changed the cheese and pasta – cannelloni!
I filled the tubes with a flavourful mixture of ricotta cheese, sweet lobster and meaty prawns. Instead of using a bechamel, I opted for an alfredo sauce which covered the filled pasta shells and baked them in some bubbly cheesy goodness.
The richness was cut by the addition of some fresh tomatoes. The perfect indulgent meal to celebrate!
Lobster and Prawn Cannelloni
10 cannelloni shells, cooked as per package
2 lobster tails, cooked and cut into chunks
10 large prawns, cooked and cut into pieces
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 parmesan cheese
bunch of basil, chopped
salt
pepper
1/4 cup butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup parmesan cheese
pinch nutmeg
Cook the onion and garlic in a bit of oil until softened. Combine with the cheese, seafood and basil. Stuff this mixture into the cannelloni and place in an oven safe dish.
For the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add cream and garlic and let simmer for a few minutes. Add the cheese and a pinch of nutmeg and stir until the cheese has melted.
Pour the alfredo sauce over the filled cannelloni and bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes until golden and bubbly.
Lidia Bastianich is a culinary icon. Writing best-selling cookbooks, having multiple restaurants as well as being a celebrated television personality, she is one of the most beloved Italian chefs.
I was excited to get her new cookbook, “Lidia’s Favorite Recipes” which she co-authored with her daughter Tanya Bastianich Manuali. The book has some amazing recipes with full page coloured pictures.
Crafted from 100 of Lidia’s recipes, it was hard to decide what I was going to cook first. Eggplant Parmigiana, Ziti, Crepes…there was so much to choose from! I decided to do something quick and easy, the Shrimp Buzara Style. It was a delicious dish with amazing flavour and it came together so quickly. The shrimp was tasty and the sauce was so flavourful, perfect for sopping up with some bread. I’m definitely going to make this for my next dinner party.
Want to win your own copy of Lidia’s awesome book? Comment here, leave a post on Facebook or send a tweet. Contest closes on Black Friday at 11:59PM MST. A winner will be chosen at random. Good luck!
Shrimp Buzara Style
Printed from Lidia’s Favorite Recipes
2 pounds super colossal shrimp
1 TB tomato paste
1 cup hot light fish stock
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup dry white wine
1 TB breadcrumbs
1 TB chopped fresh Italian parsley
Using poultry shears or a sharp paring knife, cut through the outer curve of the shrimp shells from end to end, but don’t remove the shells. Rinse the shrimp under cold running water, and devein.
Dissolve the tomato paste in the hot stock. Heat 2 TB of olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add the onion and garlic, and saute over moderately high heat until golden. Season with salt and pepper, add the win, and bring to a boil. Add the stock-and-tomato-paste mixture, reduce the heat, and simmer 20 minutes.
Meantime, heat the remaining oil in a large skillet, add the shrimp, and saute (in two batches) 1 minute on each side. Drain off the oil, return all the shrimp to the skillet, and add the sauce. Cover, and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp pare just cooked through, about 2 or 3 minutes. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and parsley, mix well, and cook a minute longer, uncovered. Serve immediately.
Rob Rainford was on CityLine last week and he made these amazing looking stuffed prawns wrapped in bacon. These looked like the perfect item for our upcoming appetizer party. I made a few changes, using ingredients that I had in the house. Trying to stop the cheese from oozing out while wrapping the prawn with the bacon took some effort. After making only 8, I decided that these may be more work than they were worth. I was wrong! These tasty bites were so amazingly delish, I wish I had made more. The creamy garlic from the cheese, the sweetness from the soy, the grease from the bacon – they just made us wanting more.
Beef Bacon Wrapped Boursin Filled Prawns
(Adapted from Rob Rainford’s Stuff Jumbo Prawns with Goat Cheese Wrapped in Bacon)
8 jumbo prawns, peeled and deveined
8 tsp boursin cheese
4 strips beef bacon (or any bacon you wish to use)
4 TB sweet soy sauce
Butterfly each prawn and fill with boursin cheese. Take half a strip of bacon and wrap around the prawn, holding it together with tooth picks. BBQ until prawns turn pink, basting with the sweet soy sauce on both sides. Gently remove the tooth picks before serving.
A few weeks ago, we went to Redwater Grille to celebrate a friend’s birthday. I started my meal with an appetizer of Pan Roasted Wild Shrimp in a garlic chili butter. The dish was so amazing and I thought about it for days. I had to find the recipe.
Thanks to Google, I discovered the menu was created by Ned Bell, who was the corporate chef of the Vintage Group who owns Redwater Grille. I happen to come across the recipe on someone’s personal website, under a different name – I was thrilled! I made the shrimp for our Progressive Dinner and my husband commented that the sauce would go great with pasta. This past weekend, I pulled out my new pasta machine and tried my hand at fettucine. The wholewheat noodles were perfect to sop up the tasty sauce.
Ned Bell’s Wild West Prawns
3 TB olive oil
30 peeled jumbo shrimp
2 TB minced garlic
1/4 cup dice red bell pepper
1 cup cherry tomotoes, quartered
2 TB chili powder
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup cream
8 ounces butter, cut into cubes
salt
pepper
1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
Heat oil in a pan until almost smoking hot. Add the shrimp and sear for 30 seconds or until they start to turn golden brown. Remove the shrimp and add the garlic, red pepper and tomatoes to the pan. Saute for about 1 minute or until the garlic browns slightly. Stir in the chili powder, cook 30 seconds and add the wine. Bring to a boil and add the cream and butter.
Reduce the sauce for about 2 minutes, or until it is thick enough to coat a spoon. Season with salt and pepper to taste and mix in green onions and cilantro. Return the shrimp to the pan, warm through, and serve immediately.
I have always wanted to try wonton soup but it seems like every restaurant has their wontons with pork, which I don’t eat. I came upon a few recipes that had shrimp wontons and I knew I just had to try it. I combined a few different recipes and came up with this. I don’t think greens are normally in the broth but I added spinach for more nutrients. The first time I made, we loved it but since we hadn’t tried it before, we had nothing to compare it to. The next time, we had friends coming over that had tried wonton soup before. They loved it and went back for more – always a good sign. This will definitely be a regular at our house.
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