Note: I was sent a jar of Sarge’s Shrimp and Grits Sauce, Yellow Stone Ground Grits, and Seafood Seasoning in order to make this post Opinions are mine alone.
If I see Shrimp and Grits on a Menu, you better believe I am ordering it! Despite this, (and inexplicably despite feeling fine about making shrimp and grits separately), I’ve always been a bit hesitant to make shrimp and grits at home.
So when I was contacted by Sarge’s to try their sauce, I jumped at the chance. Sarge’s sauce is made by Chef Julius West in Raleigh, NC. The sauce is a unique take on a classic Southern dish that has been a staple in the region for generations. Sarges Shrimp & Grits Sauce is a savory, rich, and versatile sauce that can be used as a marinade, a dipping sauce, or a cooking ingredient. Made with high-quality ingredients, including fresh shrimp, butter, and spices, our sauce is the perfect addition to any seafood, meat, or vegetable dish.
Sarge’s Low Country Shrimp and Grits Sauce is a delicious and savory combination of aromatic spices with a hint of fire to spice things up. The sauce blends together chicken broth, all purpose flour, garlic, vegetable oil, hot sauce, Sriracha, bell peppers, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and a special blend of herbs and spices.
With the help of Sarge’s sauce, this recipe for Shrimp and Grits can be made in just 20 minutes!
A few years ago, I realized that the concept of what I know as Classic Shrimp Scampi is kind of an American one. To Americans, Shrimp Scampi is shrimp cooked in butter and typically served over pasta. But scampi is actually its own type of crustacean. So it appears that when Italian immigrants came to the US, they adapted the recipe to substitute in shrimp and then kept both names.
Now that you’ve had a history lesson on Shrimp Scampi, let me get to the actual making of the dish. This version is relatively classic, where you cook the shrimp in a butter white wine sauce with a little bit of crushed red pepper and then finish it off with fresh parsley and some lemon juice. To soak up the yummy sauce, serve with pasta or crusty bread.
Note: I was sent a ZOS wine saver for review. All opinions are mine alone.
Using wine in recipes both adds and enhances flavor. I love cooking with both red and white wine, but I really only drink red wine. Which means I keep a re-corked bottled of white wine in my fridge, which over time, begins to oxidize and change taste (and not for the better!)
So when I was contacted to try ZOS wine saver, I was intrigued. The ZOS wine saver is a solution that eliminates 100% of the oxygen from an opened bottle of wine, which can preserve the bottle for weeks or months. The ZOS wine stopper has an oxygen-absorbing cartridge that allows you to use a small amount of wine and still maintain its flavor for future use.
Source: zos.wine
The ZOS wine saver is made of an oxygen barrier stopper attached to a replaceable cartridge. You just insert the ZOS stopper into an open bottle of wine and the cartridge absorbs all of the oxygen in the bottle. Each cartridge lasts 5 to 15 bottles and is easily replaceable. The ZOS wine saver (paid link) can be purchased on Amazon.
With the weather warming up, I wanted to make a yummy seafood recipe that’s hearty but light. Cioppino is a fish stew originally from San Francisco, utilizing whatever was caught that day at sea. This recipe for Cioppino (Seafood Stew) includes making a broth and then making the actual soup. The broth can be made a couple of days ahead of time. Both parts of the recipe use white wine, so this recipe is the perfect test for the ZOS wine saver.
Ingredients:
Broth:
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup dry white wine
1 28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
2 8-oz. bottles clam juice
4 sprigs parsley
2 dried bay leaves
salt and pepper, to taste
Soup:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 lbs mussels, scrubbed and debearded
1 lb clams, scrubbed
¼ cup dry white wine
1 lb sea bass, skin removed and cut into 1” pieces
1 lb shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails on
¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes (or margarine for dairy free)
I’m kind of on a Sheet Pan kick. I love how simple they are, and how easy cleanup is! And this recipe for Sheet Pan Blackened Shrimp with Citrus and Roasted Fennel is no different!
This recipe is adapted from a Cooking Light recipe to make it a pure sheet pan meal.
I know the combination of flavors may seem a bit odd, but it really comes together in the end. My husband even asked for this to be put in our normal dinner rotation!
Ingredients:
2 small oranges (I used one navel, one blood orange)
2 medium fennel bulbs with stalks
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon pepper
6 small shallots, halved
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on
Over the last few years, my husband and I have moved too many times. Since 2014, we have lived in five different apartments/houses. Somehow in one of those many moves, I lost (or threw out) my paella pan. Sigh.
Paella is a favorite of mine. I love the combination of crispy rice, seafood, and spice. So when I saw this Epicurious recipe for a sheet pan version, I knew I had to try it.
I didn’t exactly stick to the original recipe, given what I could find in my post-snow supermarket. But one of the best parts about paella is you can basically throw in whatever you may have on hand to make the recipe yours! So here’s my adapted version – Sheet Pan Paella!
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup rice
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/8 teaspoon saffron, crushed
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
2 links of Spanish chorizo (about 6 oz)
1 shallot, thinly sliced
6 ounces medium shrimp, peeled, deviened, tails left intact
~2 dozen clams, scrubbed
1 (14 oz can) fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained
This weekend, I cooked my little heart out. I realized Labor Day is only a couple of weeks away, so it’s time to stock my freezer with ready-made meals for busy nights in the fall, like this freezable Jambalaya!
I have been doing my best to pack myself lunches for work. One of my favorite “lunch meals” is a bowl (either rice or another grain) topped with veggies and a protein. My latest creation, this Shrimp Barley Bowl with Tomato Radish Salad was inspired by some nifty new tools I had sent to me from OXO.
The Rice & Grains Washing Colander is great for tiny grains that require rinsing to wash impurities and starch from the grains, like rice, quinoa, buckwheat, and barley. The small holes in the colander allow water to drain slowly, while preventing the grains from falling through.
The Large Hand-Held Mandoline Slicer has seven thickness options to get the perfect slick thickness depending on what you need. The food holder can be placed on top of whatever you are slicing for safety, and the non-slip notches allow you to slice directly over bowls if needed. For this recipe, I used the lowest setting to make paper thin radish slices.
The Grape & Tomato Cutter quickly and easily quarters grape tomatoes, pitted olives, and grapes, just insert the produce and push down to use.
This recipe combines nutty barley with peppery arugula, sweet tomatoes, crunchy radishes, and grilled shrimp for a really tasty meal, cold or hot!
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ShrimpItUp #CollectiveBias
We all have nights that you don’t have time to run to the grocery store before heading home for dinner. These nights happen to me more than I’d like to admit, but I try to keep myself prepared for them by keeping my freezer stocked and my pantry full.
This recipe for Butterfly Shrimp over Asparagus Pasta is a great “pantry meal;” almost all of the ingredients are made with things from your freezer or ingredients you almost always have on hand. The star of the recipe is those deliciously breaded SeaPak® butterfly shrimp on top of the pasta, because, let’s be honest, most dinners are better with a little bit o’ shrimp!
I picked up a Party Size box of SeaPak Butterfly Shrimp from my local Walmart, which you can find in the freezer section. (There are a few SeaPak varieties available, so for good measure, I also grabbed a Party Size box of Coconut Shrimp, yum!) Walmart may not typically be your first thought for frozen section seafood products, but SeaPak delivers solid quality seafood in a bunch of varieties (plus, they are super tasty). To save even more, there is a coupon for $0.75 off any SeaPak product available now!
The party size is great because you can either serve a crowd easily, or make as much as you want and freeze the rest for later. One box delivers 7 servings, so my fiance and I have them on hand for multiple meals!
Ingredients (serves 4):
1/2 of the party size box of Seapak Butterfly Shrimp
1/2 box (~6 oz) spaghetti
1 8 oz package frozen asparagus spears
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
the juice of 1/2 lemon (save the other 1/2 for serving)
1/4 cup parsley, chopped (optional)
Cook pasta according to package directions for “al dente.” Drain, saving about 1/3 cup of the pasta water. Set aside.
While waiting for the pasta to cook, bake the butterfly shrimp. Preheat your oven to 425°f. Add half of the shrimp in a single layer to a baking sheet. When the oven is preheated, add to the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 11-12 minutes, turning the shrimp over half way through.
frozenflipped after 6 minutescooked
Steam the frozen asparagus according to package directions, but cook for only half the time given on the package (they will finish cooking in the dish). Remove, and when cool enough to do so, chop into bite sized pieces (about 1 inch long).
Add the butter to a large saute pan over high heat. When melted, add the asparagus, stirring to coat.
Season with salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Add in the broth and pasta. If there doesn’t seem to be enough liquid, add a bit of the reserved pasta water until you think there is enough liquid. Cook for another minute, stirring to combine.
Add in the heavy cream and Parmesan cheese, stirring to evenly coat everything in the mixture. Remove from heat and squeeze the lemon juice over the dish.
If using, sprinkle with parsley and mix to combine. Spoon into 4 separate bowls and top with the SeaPak butterfly shrimp.
What I like best about this recipe is that you can adjust it to substitute whatever you have on hand! Throw in some frozen peas or broccoli instead of the asparagus, or use a different type of pasta (rotini? bowties? whatever you want!). Just don’t forget the shrimp on top!
1/2 of the party size box of Seapak Butterfly Shrimp
1/2 box (~6 oz) spaghetti
1 8 oz package frozen asparagus spears
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
the juice of 1/2 lemon (save the other 1/2 for serving)
1/4 cup parsley, chopped (optional)
Instructions
Cook pasta according to package directions for "al dente." Drain, saving about 1/3 cup of the pasta water. Set aside.
While waiting for the pasta to cook, bake the butterfly shrimp. Preheat your oven to 425°f. Add half of the shrimp in a single layer to a baking sheet. When the oven is preheated, add to the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 11-12 minutes, turning the shrimp over half way through.
Steam the frozen asparagus according to package directions, but cook for only half the time given on the package (they will finish cooking in the dish). Remove, and when cool enough to do so, chop into bite sized pieces (about 1 inch long).
Add the butter to a large saute pan over high heat. When melted, add the asparagus, stirring to coat.
Season with salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Add in the broth and pasta. If there doesn't seem to be enough liquid, add a bit of the reserved pasta water until you think there is enough liquid. Cook for another minute, stirring to combine.
Add in the heavy cream and Parmesan cheese, stirring to evenly coat everything in the mixture. Remove from heat and squeeze the lemon juice over the dish.
If using, sprinkle with parsley and mix to combine. Spoon into 4 separate bowls and top with the SeaPak butterfly shrimp.
I live in an apartment that has no outdoor space, so we clearly do not have access to a grill, which is causing me to only want grilled food! Luckily, I have a grill pan so I can get my fix, and I’ve been using it nonstop!
A really simple weeknight favorite of mine is to grill up some shrimp and serve over rice. This recipe is quick and easy to make, but delivers on flavor! Blue Chair Bay Rum sent me a bottle of their Coconut Rum that I knew would be perfect for a glaze on grilled shrimp. The glaze caramelizes beautifully, adding a nice char and sweetness to the shrimp.
I adapted this recipe from a Cooking Light recipe, adding more hints of coconut to play off of the Blue Chair Bay Coconut Rum.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
the juice of one lime
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced
24 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 1 1/2 pounds)
6 sugarcane swizzle sticks, each cut into 2 pieces
Next week, many Philadelphia restaurants will be participating in Caribbean Cuisine Week.
The week, held from April 8th – April 10th this year, helps raise funds to send over 700 high school athletes from Trinidad, Jamaica, St. Vincent and Grenada to attend the 2015 Penn Relays.
The Penn Relays is the largest track and field meet in the United States and draws over 110,000 people to Philadelphia each Spring.
CCW partners with restaurants throughout Center City by encouraging the Chefs to prepare Caribbean inspired dishes and offer as specials. The restaurants will donate 5% of food proceeds from the three day period to help bring the students to Philadelphia.
The list of participating restaurants can be found here. One of the restaurants participating, 48th Street Grille in West Philly, invited some local bloggers to check out their offerings. 48th Street Grille is a Caribbean-American restaurant led by Executive Chef Carl Lewis Sr. who is originally from Jamaica and brings the flavors and spirit of his home to his food.
Appetizers included garlic roasted shrimp, jerk chicken quesadillas, 5 island wings, and my personal favorite, conch fritters.
Garlic Roasted ShrimpJerk Chicken Quesadillas5 Island Wings
Fried Conch Fritters
We were also treated to quite a few of their entrees, including sweet chili glazed salmon, jerk chicken, and savory curried chicken, which were all amazing. I am fairly certain I had dreams about the curried chicken sauce that night (I loved it so much, I didn’t even take a photo! boo), while my fiance was wowed by the flavors and tenderness of the jerk chicken.
Chili Glazed SalmonJerk Chicken
In case we weren’t full enough, we were also served mashed yams with scallions, green beans, and braised cabbage.
Mashed Yams with ScallionsGreen BeansBraised Cabbage
I wanted to share with you a Caribbean-inspired recipe given to me by CCW, in case you don’t live in the area and can’t participate next week.
I turned this recipe for Curry Shrimp in Coconut Milk into a main dish by serving it over coconut rice, but it also would work well as an appetizer.
Ingredients:
2 (14 oz) cans lite coconut milk, divided
1.5 cups uncooked rice (or about 1 can full)
2 tablespoons margarine
1 cup onion, chopped
1 1⁄2 tablespoons curry
1/2 cup bell peppers, diced (I used an assortment of green, red, and orange peppers)
We are in that weird beginning-of-fall/end-of-summer phase right now, where the weather can be anywhere from 50-80 degrees. So my weeknight dinners are just as random. I keep going in between comfort food choices like Mushroom and Sausage Ragu over Polenta to lighter meals like Autumn Apple Salad with Cinnamon Honey Dijon Dressing. So sticking with tradition and flip flopping again, after posting a recipe for Pumpkin Cake Bites earlier this week, I bring you a seafood pasta recipe with pesto!
This recipe uses arugula as the primary ingredient in the pesto, so it’s really perfect for this time of year. It also comes together in no time (which is why I love meals that use pesto) while adding such freshness to a recipe.
This post brought to you by Campbell’s Dinner Sauces. Weekend-worthy dinners with only weekday-level effort needed! Learn more at https://www.campbell.com/sauces.
There are a bunch of reasons why people are not too keen on cooking, especially on weeknights. Not having enough time, the convenience of just ordering food, and the stress of having all of the right ingredients on hand, and the fear of messing up the recipe are common reasons.
Campbell’s has a new line of products out that alleviate a lot of the above issues: Campbell’s Skillet Sauces and Campbell’s Slow Cooker Sauces. The idea is brilliant, the sauce needed to make a delicious meal is already prepared for you. You just add your protein of choice! To learn more about the sauces, check out their interactive Facebook app that gives more information about both the Skillet and the Slow Cooker Sauces.
Because the sauces are already prepared, your cooking time is minimal. Most of the flavors would be amazing with sauteed chicken breasts, with a meal on the table in under 20 minutes! As a member of the DailyBuzz Brand Ambassador Program, I was given the chance to work with some of these new Campbell’s sauces, which are currently available in supermarkets, typically in the Gravy or Boxed Dinner Kit aisles.
I had a tough time choosing which sauce I wanted to feature on here so expect some of the other sauces to show up in the future. I decided to go with the Thai Green Curry sauce because a homemade curry can be quite time consuming, so it is super convenient to have a pre-made version.
I thought I’d snazz up my quick weeknight meal option by adding a few ingredients to the sauce that still cook up quickly: green beans and red peppers. I also used shrimp as my protein of choice. You can purchase shrimp in your supermarket in the frozen aisle. Look for the peeled and deveined ones, but be sure to grab uncooked shrimp. Shrimp cook up so quickly, and by purchasing the already cleaned ones, you’ll save yourself a bunch of time.
The Thai Green Curry Sauce includes lemongrass, basil, coconut milk, cilantro, and a subtle heat from jalapenos. There is enough sauce for 4 servings, and has just 70 calories a serving.
My boyfriend and I have been trying to eat less meat and increase our seafood, shellfish, and vegetarian dinner options. In general, vegetarian and fish dinner options are also a great choice for a weeknight dinner because they take very little time to prepare.
This recipe for Seafood Arrabbiata from Cooking Light incorporates a few different types of shellfish into a spicy tomato broth that is served over pasta.
“Arrabbiata” means “angry” in Italian alluding to the spiciness of the dish. You can alter the spices to your liking. I’d suggest adding very little crushed red pepper, and then having a shaker of red pepper when serving so each person can customize their level of heat.
Cooking Light’s August issue had a recipe for Pickapeppa Chicken and Mango Kebabs (that I plan on making soon) that required me to buy a bottle of Pickapeppa sauce. I had never heard of this sauce before and I was intrigued. It’s a Caribbean condiment referred to as “Jamaican ketchup” that is basically a sweeter A1 sauce, made with tomatoes, onions, mangoes, peppers, and other spices.
I thought this sauce sounded like it would be great on shrimp, so I decided to incorporate it into another Cooking Light recipe from the same issue: Gazpacho with Shrimp.
Ingredients:
1 (10-ounce) container grape tomatoes, divided
1 1/2 cups sliced English cucumber, divided
1 cup diced red bell pepper, divided (about 2 peppers)
3/4 cup diced Vidalia or other sweet onion, divided
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
5/8 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
3 garlic cloves
1 (28-ounce) can San Marzano tomatoes, drained
The juice of one lemon
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ cup pickapeppa sauce
20 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 8 ounces)
Seafood is a great weeknight meal because it cooks up so quickly. The only problem is getting to the supermarket to get it because you don’t really want seafood sitting in your fridge for more than a few days. A few weeks ago, my supermarket was having a sale on uncooked frozen shrimp so I grabbed two bags to use for a quick meal.
I somehow have never made Shrimp Scampi, so when I saw a version on Cooking Planit, I decided it was about time! This recipe takes about 30 minutes if you buy the shrimp already peeled, deveined, and with the tails removed. (I have a review of Cooking Planit within my Braised Baby Back Ribs and Creamy Polenta with Brussels Sprouts and Pancetta post if you’d like to read more about this app.)
