Baked Stuffed Shrimp

Recently I have been trying to be super good about my eating habits.  My weekday lunches have been poached chicken and salad.  The dressing is just oil and vinegar, diluted with a bit of water, and shaken until emulsified.  Yup, my kitchen is exciting folks!

Weekday breakfasts are equally inspiring.  In a mason jar I combine milk, quick oats, a touch of honey, and some fruit.  Shake to combine and then let sit in the fridge overnight.  My cold oatmeal is less about being in on the latest healthy breakfast trend and more about being the fastest breakfast prep on the planet - unscrew top and insert spoon.

Dinnertime roles around and I let myself off the hook a bit.  I am not an anti-starch person.  Potatoes and I get along rather well and I do not intend for the two of us to ever break up.  However, there are times when I feel food abuses my love of starch.

The prime example is the baked stuffed shrimp.  I see it on restaurant menus or it comes as a dinner option of the wedding rsvp card and I initially think, oooo shrimp!  Then I think, oooo gross stuffing.  Baked stuffed shrimp gets put down in front of you and it's dripping butter in all the wrong ways, the shrimp is rubbery, and the whole thing falls far short of the mark.  Thankfully, I usually remember all of this before I order it.

I found myself thinking about baked stuffed shrimp a few weeks ago.  With the farmer's market in full swing and the weather finally heating up, my mind began to drift to thoughts of water and its contents - seafood! I had bravely attempted swordfish and all of its smelliness.  Now I wanted something I bit easier.  Nothing is simpler to cook than shrimp.  Of course, I realized I wasn't in the mood for simple.

Baked stuffed shrimp isn't simple.  It requires prep work and more ingredients than just a pan, some butter, and a few shrimp.  But, I decided it was time to find a better stuffed shrimp recipe.  Sadly, even Pinterest failed me until I stumbled across a recipe for stuffed squid.

This recipe called for stuffing the tentacles with spinach, tomatoes, and feta.  It sounded wonderful and the perfect substitute for the normal stuffing on shrimp.  I wanted to give mine a bit more Mediterranean flair, so I added kalamata olives.  The result was a baked stuffed shrimp fit for summer!

Mediterranean Style Baked Stuffed Shrimp

Ingredients:

2 lbs. Jumbo shrimp

2/3 lbs. spinach - raw

1 tomato - diced

1/4 c. kalamata olives - sliced

2 oz. feta cheese crumbles

1 egg - lightly beaten

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F.

Steam spinach in the microwave for about one minute.  Transfer to a heated skillet with a bit of oil and cook for an additional 3 - 5 minutes.  Remove pan from hot burner and let sit as you prep the shrimp and the rest of the stuffing.

Shrimp need to peeled, leaving the tail and that first attached segment.  Carefully butterfly the shrimp, giving yourself a platform to hold the stuffing.  

Once the spinach has cooled down, drain excess liquid.  Place it in a bowl and add the diced tomatoes, sliced kalamata olives, and feta crumbles.  Mix together and then add the beaten egg.  Mix again.  The egg is simply acting as a binder for all of your ingredients.

Place about a tablespoon of stuffing onto each shrimp.  Bake for 20 minutes.

I loved everything about this recipe.  It was nice and fresh with really great flavors.  The olives and feta gave the dish a nice tangy bite.  Most importantly, nothing overpowered the shrimp.  This is a perfect light recipe for summer!

Cod Mistral

First, let's discuss the title Cod Mistral.  I have no idea what mistral is so I looked it up with the handy dandy Google Tranlate.  It detected mistral to be English.  Since both the English and the Italian translation of this dish contain the word mistral - unhelpful.  The definition I was given for the English version of mistral was "a strong, cold northwesterly wind that blows through the Rhône valley and southern France into the Mediterranean, mainly in winter."  Soooooo, I made Cod Northwesterly Wind?  This are one of those moments where I just throw up my hands and give up.  Maria Lusia, why do you insist on making me nuts?!

Stupid nonsensical translations aside, this was a tasty dish, except for one thing.  There is always a but isn't there.  Maria Luisa made me double cook my cod again.  I do not enjoy double cooking cod because I run the risk of the rubbery texture.  And two of my fillets, the thicker ones, were rubbery...no buono Maria Luisa, no buono.   Now, for anyone saying "you could have just ignored the instructions to both sauté and bake," yes, I could have.  However, I feel a bit more justified in my ranting if I follow her instructions.  Had I intended to serve Cod Northwesterly Wind to anyone other than myself, I most certainly would have chosen to only bake the fish.

I should also admit a faux pas of my own...I used a French wine.  I know, total sacrilege but, it said dry right on the label, I had to pick it - Monsieur Touton Sauvignon.

Final rant...what the heck is a moderate oven!  Maria Luisa, why do you give me ridiculous directions?!  I'm not kidding.  The last sentence for the directions of this recipe are, and I quote "Bake in a moderate oven for 15 to 25 minutes" (pg 106).  ARGH

Cod Mistral

Merluzzo alla Mistral

Ingredients:

8 cod fillets - dipped in flour

1 c. olive oil

1 lb. tomatoes - peeled and diced

2 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp parsley - chopped

1 lb. mushrooms - sliced

6 Tbsp bread crumbs

4 Tbsp butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Lightly sauté cod in oil until both sides are golden.  In a 13 x 9 baking dish, sprinkle half of the bread crumbs then place the cod on top.  In the saute pan, add tomatoes to remaining oil along with the garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper.  

Simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove the garlic and add wine and mushrooms.  Simmer until half of the wine has evaporated, approximately 10 minutes.  Pour the sauce over the cod.  Sprinkle the rest of the bread crumbs on top and bake for 20 minutes in an oven preheated to 350F.

Doesn't look like much does it?  Don't worry, it tastes way better than it looks.  The mushrooms held up really well even after being both sauteed and baked.  They were nice and firm...I greatly dislike mushy mushrooms.


 

And here it is, my first entirely The Italian Cookbook Challenge meal - a protein, carb, and veggie all on the same plate.  And I'm still alive...darn you Maria Luisa, thwarting my best efforts to give poor marks on your ridiculous cookbook.  There is always next week!  Buon appetito!

Shrimp and Butternut Squash Risotto

I absolutely love risotto.  It's pretty much a guarantee that if I find it on a restaurant menu I'll order it.  In my opinion, there are very few food items that are better than this creamy dish of rice and whatever else you decide to throw into that sauce pot.  Today's adventure combines shrimp, asparagus, and butternut squash to make this creamy and flavorful one pot dinner.  The butternut squash is the dominant flavor but, the shrimp and asparagus do not have to fight to come through. 

When I wrote one pot, I was serious.  Most risotto recipes I've found have you cooking various parts separately.  I have no patience for that many dishes to wash, therefore the recipe I have put together cooks everything together.  You need to watch your time and the amount of stock you have left so you know when to add different ingredients but, it all comes together in the end.

Ingredients:

1 qt chicken stock
1 lb shrimp
1 c. asparagus - approximately 7 stalks cut into 1 inch pieces
1 lb butternut squash - cubed
1 onion - chopped
1 c. Arborio rice
1/2 c. sauvignon blanc
2 cloves garlic - minced
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 c. parmesan cheese

Oh the glorious directions:

Melt butter over medium heat.  Sauté squash and onions for approximately 8 minutes.

Add rice and garlic, cook for 2 minutes

Add wine and cook until absorbed, approximately 4 minutes.  Add 1/2 c. stock at a time, cooking until absorbed before adding more.  Each round will take approximately 5 to 7 minutes to absorb - it will take longer towards the end.  Also, as the rice cooks and the dish becomes creamier it may become more difficult to tell was the stock is completely absorbed.  Listen for a popping noise.  As the rice fully absorbs the stock and starts to dry out again it will begin to sound like Rice Krispies®.

With approximately 20 minutes left, add the asparagus.

When adding the final 1/2 c. of stock also add the shrimp.  Cook until the stock is absorbed and shrimp are cooked through.

Stir in the parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper.

 



Enjoy with your favorite glass of white wine!