Shrimp and Andouille Pot Pies

It’s time to change up the pot pie, do it different but always delicious.  I think I have eaten pot pie maybe three other times in my life and it has always been some form of chicken pot pie.  I made my first pot pie back in the fall.  This pot pie takes the cake….(I just giggled to myself).   I think everyone can enjoy a pot pie with their luscious creaminess, chunky goodness and flaky crusts it is hard to go wrong.

I made these pot pies for our new friends Laurie & Jefry who adopted one of our puppies.   You can read up on Sampson’s latest adventures at Laurie’s blog “Marriage of an Undomestic“.  The pot pies were a hit. There was a lot of Mmmm-ing and grunting at the table, yet it was still very quiet.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly flour work surface and unfold thawed puff pastry, roll the pastry out to a 12 inch square.  Take baking dish over on pastry sheet and lightly push it down.  Cut pastry out along the edges of baking dishes.  Place rounds on baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicon mat.  Brush the pastry rounds with an egg wash and bake for 15 minutes. Cool on sheet and set aside.

In a small bowl whisk together cream and flour until smooth and thick, set aside.

In a large deep skillet melt 1 tbs of unsalted butter over medium heat.

Add sliced leeks to skillet.

Saute leeks until tender, about 10 minutes.

Now the meat to the pie, andouille sausage.  I love andouille sausage, spicy meaty morsels of goodness.

Add andouille, garlic and corn, sauté 4 minutes.

Add white wine and bring to a simmer until liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes.

Add seafood stock mixture and thyme. Bring to simmer.

Add potato and cook uncovered until tender, about 8 minutes.

Add cream mixture to skillet; stir. Simmer until sauce thickens and boils, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat.

Add shrimp; simmer until just opaque in center, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Using a ladle divide the filling equally into 4 baking dishes.

Top each dish with a pastry round and bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 5 minutes or until bubbly.

Remove pot pies from oven, take fork, break crispy flaky crust and dive in to warm bubbly delicious filling.  This is with out a doubt one of the best pot pies that I have ever had.  I know that may not be saying much since I have only had three before this one, but I do know good food when I eat it and this was good food.

I made just two adjustments. I decided to add corn because I thought it would be a nice touch and I had no wine or vermouth, so I used white wine vinegar and it worked perfectly.

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Shrimp and Andouille Pot Pies Bon Appétit | March 2009 by Jeanne Thiel Kelley

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 1/2 cups sliced leeks (white and pale green parts only; from 3 large)
• 1/2 pound andouille sausage, cut into scant 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 ear of corn, kernels stripped
• 1/3 cup dry vermouth or dry white wine (can use white wine vinegar as a substitute)
• 1 1.5-ounce package concentrated classic seafood stock (such as Glace de Fruits de Mer Gold) mixed with 2 cups water; or 2 cups bottled clam juice
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 8-ounce red-skinned potato, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 1/2 pounds deveined peeled uncooked jumbo shrimp, cut into 1-inch pieces

Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll out pastry on floured surface to 12-inch square. Cut out four 5 1/2-inch rounds. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet; bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Cool on sheet. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap airtight and store at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Whisk cream and flour in small bowl. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add leeks and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add andouille, corn and garlic and sauté 4 minutes. Add vermouth; simmer until liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Add seafood stock mixture and thyme. Bring to simmer. Add potato and cook uncovered until tender, about 6 minutes.

Add cream mixture to skillet; stir. Simmer until sauce thickens and boils, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat. Add shrimp; simmer until just opaque in center, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide hot filling among four 1 1/4-cup baking dishes. Top each with pastry round. Bake until filling bubbles, about 5 minutes.

Thai Green Papaya Salad with Shrimp

I will not confess to sitting on the sofa with a carton of ice cream and a spoon, yesterday.  I will confess to feeling guilty for some unexplained reason and deciding that a light salad would be a great dinner option.  The guilt had nothing to do with a carton of ice cream, because there was no carton.  :)

Ok fine there was a carton, but only because all my bowls were in the dish washer.

I didn’t only make this salad to counter act the pint of ice cream I almost polished off.  I have been curious about a green papaya salad since I saw it on an episode of Triple D.   When I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit I jumped in the car and headed out to the Asian market for a few ingredients.

First let’s start with the dressing.  You will need fish sauce, golden brown sugar, dried shrimp, lime and garlic.   Whisk everything together and set aside.

A warning, it won’t smell so great at first but don’t let that scare you, it’s really very tasty.

Take 1/4 cup of the dressing and pour over the peeled and deveined shrimp, set aside.

Time to work the papaya.  I had to go to the Asian market for the green papaya because I only found ripe ones at my local grocery store.  Cut the papaya in half, seed and peel.

The seeds look like little popped rice pods, interesting.

Using a julienne peeler (or grater) peel enough until you have 3 cups of papaya.  It will be about half of the papaya.  You can peel the rest and freeze to use later.  Place in a bowl and set aide.

Blanch the green beans in boiling salt water until bright and crisp.

Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process.

Chop the green beans into 2-inch pieces, add to papaya.

Thinly chop the scallions, cilantro and half the cherry tomatoes, add to bowl.

Now to give this salad a bit of a kick, add 1 tsp of chile garlic sauce.  It gives you that little tickle in the back of your through, it’s good for you.

Now cook your shrimp until pink and cooked through.  I grilled mine on my cast iron grill skillet but any skillet will do.

Add the shrimp to the salad,

top with chopped peanuts and remaining dressing,

toss until evenly coated.

This salad was perfect!  It’s light, crisp, and the lime in the dressing makes it bright and tangy.   For such simple ingredients it has a lot of texture and character, you will not be disappointed.

When Obed got home from work and saw what I had for dinner he made “the face”.  You know the face your man makes when he is suspicious about what you are about to feed him, the “what is that?” face, but he was very surprised to find out he actually enjoyed it.  He said the seller for him as the citrus in the dressing.

Trust me if my carnivore of a husband can eat this and enjoy it, anyone can.

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Thai Green Papaya Salad with Shrimp (adapted from Bon Appetit May 2010)  Serves 2 – 4

Cherry Tomato Shrimp Linguine

I’m back folks!  It has been a little crazy we had family visit, puppies born and a short get away to Denver.  We had a great time in Denver regardless of the fact that I was dryer then the Sahara and always out of breath, but that could also be because of all the food we ate.

It’s kind of nice to be back to normal and back in the kitchen.  I had some unpacking to do and puppies to tend to, so I decided that I wanted to make a quick and easy dinner.  The frig was a little empty because I hadn’t gone grocery shopping since we got back from Denver.  I had some cherry tomatoes that were going to turn soon and shrimp in the freezer.  Don’t under estimate the simple ingredients.

Prepare a stovetop hot tub….errr pot for the pasta to boil.  Don’t forget to salt the water.

While the pasta cooks heat a skillet with about 3 tbs of olive oil.  When the oil is nice and hot add 10 oz of cherry tomatoes and stand back.   If you have a spatter screen you may want to use it.  Fry the tomatoes until they start to pop.

Add salt, pepper, garlic, balsamic vinegar and red onions to the skillet.

Stir the until onions are tender and tomatoes are soft, about 10 minutes.

Add shrimp to the skillet.

Cook until the shrimp is pink and begins to curl.

Add cooked linguine and toss until evenly coated.

If you have fresh basil tear it and add to the pasta.  I however was out of basil so I chopped up some green onions.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

The timing on this recipe isn’t exact because I made it on the fly, but it is so simple it’s really hard to mess up.  This is a great dish to prepare during the work week and if you have an aversion to seafood, smoked kielbasa sausage goes great with this too.  I have also served this for lunch with pita bread instead of linguine pasta.

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Cherry Tomato Shrimp Linguine (Serves 2)

• 5 oz dry linguine
• 3 Tbs olive oil
• 10 oz cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1/2 large red onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 24 large deveined and peeled shrimp
• fresh basil

Bring a pot of salted water to boil.  Cook pasta until al dente.

While the pasta cooks heat a skillet with 3 tbs of olive oil at medium high heat. When the oil is nice and hot add 10 oz of cherry tomatoes and stand back. If you have a spatter screen you may want to use it. Fry the tomatoes until they start to pop.  Add salt, pepper, garlic, balsamic vinegar and red onions to the skillet.  Stir the until onions are tender and tomatoes are soft, about 10 minutes.

Add shrimp to the skillet.  Cook until the shrimp is pink and begins to curl.  Add cooked linguine and toss until evenly coated.

If you have fresh basil tear it and add to the pasta and toss. I however was out of basil so I chopped up some green onions.

Ensalada de Camarones (Shrimp Salad)

Ahahahahahaha!  Today when I woke up my buns where burning and I am not talking about some baked good I put in the oven, I am talking about my own personal buns.  No, it’s not because I sat in a batch of hot jamaican peppers it’s because I did a new class yesterday at the gym and it kicked my butt.  I felt the burnnnnnn.

It was an awesome class and one of the instructors was a trip.    He was from Texas, loud, buff, about 50 years old, in blue and white spandex and with a personality that would barely fit inside the state of Texas.  He had me laughing, while at the same time turning my legs into jello with every squat.

I was beat after that workout and I needed to get dinner together quick.  This is one of those I am tired and don’t feel like making an effort, toss together, and get dinner on the table quick meal.  The bonus is that Obed loves this and so he is happy and I have saved myself time and energy. The only problem about this dish is because it is a “throw it together” meal I have never paid full attention to my measurements when making it, so some of this will be a guesstimation.

In a hot skillet drizzle about 2 Tbs of olive oil and drop in 4 tbs (cubes) of sofrito.

While the sofrito breaks down, thinly slice 1/2 a large onion.

Add an additional 2 Tbs of olive oil, 1 Tbs of white vinegar and onions to the hot skillet cook at a medium-high heat until they begin to become translucent, about 5 minutes.

Once the onions begin to soften, but not too much because you still want a crunch, add the 1/2 bag of medium shrimp, about 30 shrimp.

Cook shrimp and onions together until shrimp turns pink and curls.  Once the shrimp is cooked through set aside in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl whisk together 1/2 cup of oil and 1/4 cup of white vinegar and set aside.

Dice a large tomato, two hard boiled eggs and cube an avocado.

To cube the avocado cut the avocado lengthwise around the seed. Open the two halves to expose the pit.  To remove the pit gently tap the pit with a knife with enough force so that the knife edge wedges into the pit, then twist your knife and the pit will pop out.  If you need tap it again but be careful not to miss and loose a finger.  Then using a small knife cut the flesh into a cube grid and use a spoon to scoop out the pieces.  For a more detailed tutorial check out this post by Simply Recipes.

Add diced egg, avocado and tomatoes to shrimp mixture and drizzle desired amount of dressing over top.

Toss everything together and add salt and pepper to taste.  You can serve it immediately or refrigerate and allow to marinate.

I have served this salad with white rice, boiled roots like yucca or on a chopped bed of spinach.    It is full of flavor and super easy and when the temperature finally decides to rise this will be a great dish to toss together.

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Ensalada de Camarones (Shrimp Salad)

• 4 Tbs of sofrito
• 3 Tbs olive oil, divided
• 1 Tbs white vinegar
• 1/2 large onion, thinly sliced
• 30 medium shrimp
• 1 avocado, cubed
• 2 eggs, hard boiled and diced
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

In a hot skillet drizzle about 2 Tbs of olive oil and drop in 4 tbs (cubes) of sofrito.

While the sofrito breaks down, thinly slice 1/2 a large onion.

Add an additional 2 Tbs of olive oil, 1 Tbs of white vinegar and onions to the hot skillet cook at a medium-high heat until they begin to become translucent, about 5 minutes.

Once the onions begin to soften, but not too much because you still want a crunch, add the 1/2 bag of medium shrimp, about 30 shrimp.

Cook shrimp and onions together until shrimp turns pink and curls. Once the shrimp is cooked through set aside in a large bowl. In a separate bowl whisk together 1/2 cup of oil and 1/4 cup of white vinegar and set aside.

Dice a large tomato, two hard boiled eggs and cube an avocado.

To cube the avocado cut the avocado lengthwise around the seed. Open the two halves to expose the pit. To remove the pit gently tap the pit with a knife with enough force so that the knife edge wedges into the pit, then twist your knife and the pit will pop out. If you need tap it again but be careful not to miss and loose a finger. Then using a small knife cut the flesh into a cube grid and use a spoon to scoop out the pieces.

Add dice egg, avocado and tomatoes to shrimp mixture and drizzle desired amount of dressing over top.  Toss everything together and add salt and pepper to taste.

You can serve it immediately or refrigerate and allow to marinate. I have served this salad with white rice, boiled roots like yucca or on a chopped bed of spinach.

Be a Slacker Make Shrimp Cakes

 I have been such a slacker!  Which has to be very apparent to you considering my lack of posting this week.  Not only have I been a slacker on posting but I have been a slacker in the kitchen.  It has been raining here all week and it just makes you tired and sleepy and all you want to do is veg out.  I have been also trying to catch up on Fringe since the season premier was yesterday and I was a little lost.  Regarless, tt has been almost impossible to get up out of bed in the morning lately.  It’s dark, cool and I can hear the rain outside my window. I have been hitting snooze on my alarm 5 times now instead of just 3.  The dogs don’t even want to get up.  I think rainy days should be automatic days off. Don’t you agree?

Well in staying with my current slacker state I made a slacker friendly dinner this week.  It really almost can’t get any easier then these shrimp cakes.  They come together in a matter of minutes and are ready to eat just in no time at all.   I hope that the sun comes out soon because if it doesn’t I see many sandwiches and bowls of cereal in my future. 

The shrimp cakes were very tasty.  I love it when food that requires such little effort and time comes out so delicious.  I made sure to chop the shrimp up  coarsly so the cakes would have shrimp chunks and not a shrimp mush.  They are flavorful, simple and so easy to make.  I served them as a sandwich on a soft roll with a garlic & green onion mayo.   They are also great to serve as an appetizer with a side of sweet chili sauce. 

Go ahead be a slacker tonight and have some of these for dinner.   Wait it is Friday, be a real slacker and go out to dinner, then makes these on Monday.

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Shrimp Cakes

• 1 lb of shrimp, peeled, deveined
• 1 large egg , lightly beaten
• 1 green onion, sliced
• 1/2 Tbs ginger, minced
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoon sarachi sauce
• 1 tsp sweet chili sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of ground black pepper
• 1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 2 tbs of peanut or vegetable oil

Coarsely chop shrimp. In a large bowl combine shrimp, egg, green onion, ginger, mustard, cilantro, hot pepper sauce, sweet chili sauce, salt, and pepper.  Add 1 cup panko to the bowl and combine using your hands.  Form mixture into twelve 3-inch-diameter cakes.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, fry cakes until cooked through and golden brown on both sides, adding more oil to skillet as needed, about 6 minutes.

Paella

This weekend was relaxing and uneventful, which is pretty much how I like my weekends to be.   I didn’t do much cooking, but I did a little baking experimenting which you will have to comeback to read about later. 

I went fishing around in my drafts to see what I sitting around half done.   I had completely forgotten this post for Paella.  Paella is a Spanish rice dish that is cooked in a shallow pan, it is sort of a “jambalaya” of saffron rice, various meats and seafood.  I do not have a paella pan but I found this recipe and it suggested baking it in a shallow baking dish.  I figured I would give it a try. 

I was generally happy with the results but I wasn’t doing back flips.  I did think that the rice came out a little on the wet side and I made the mistake of adding some canned oysters that I had, BIG mistake.  I was able to pick them out afterwards so it wasn’t so bad but I wouldn’t do it again.   Now don’t get me wrong it tasted good (after I picked out the oysters) and I would make it again, I just wasn’t doing somersaults over it.   I think my issue was that I had never had a paella before and I was expecting it to be really different, I don’t know why, but it turned out to taste like something I had before, no “wow” factor.  I like my Arroz con Gandules better. 

However, I am not going to close the book on this one.  I WILL  make another attempt in the future!   I WILL buy myself  a paella pan and I WILL conquer the paella!

To be continued…….

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Paella (Adapted from Bon Appetit  June 2009)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 thick cut bacon slices, chopped
• 3 boneless skinless chicken thighs, halved
• 1 medium Onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups long-grain white rice
• 1 7 oz. jar roasted sliced pimientos with juice
• 1 envelope Sazon con Azafran or 1/2 tsp saffron threads
• 2 cups bottled clam juice
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 12 large uncooked shrimp, peeled, deveined
• 1 Andouille sausage, sliced
• 1 cup frozen green peas, thawed

Preheat oven to 450°F.  In a large pot heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add chopped bacon cook about 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove from pot and drain on paper lined plate.

Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Add chicken to pot with bacon drippings in pot and cook over medium heat until brown, remove chicken from pot and set aside.

Add chopped onions and garlic to pot and saute until they begin to brown and crisp, scraping up any browned bits, about 8 minutes. Stir in rice, roasted pimientos with juices and Sazon. Add clam juice and chicken stock to pot and bring rice mixture to simmer. Remove from heat.

Pour rice mixture into 15x10x2-inch glass baking dish. Arrange chicken, shrimp and sausage over the rice. Sprinkle with chopped bacon and peas. Cover with foil.

Bake paella until chicken is cooked through and rice is tender, about 45 minutes. Remove foil from baking dish. Let paella stand 10 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

Bang Bang Shrimp Throwdown

That is right it is a throwdown.  Me vs. The Bonefish Grill Bang Bang Shrimp.   I dedicate this throwdown to my sister-in-law, who I saw scarf down and entire order of Bang Bang Shrimp in 2.5 seconds, with my own eyes.    Yes, she was run over with beads of hot sweat, ate half a loaf of bread to sooth her mouth and developed a bit of a runny nose….if you know what I mean.  But she did not care, she concured that mound of spicy crunch goodness and then happily patted her belly and said she could eat more.  Mind you the chick is like a size 2, I don’t know where she puts the stuff.  Punk! Yes, I know….it’s ok….I will kick her for you next time I see her.

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Spicy Tomato Shrimp with Creamy Polenta

 Ahhhhh…the heavens have opened and I have found a new love.  For awhile now I have been curious about polenta but it was usually mentioned hand-in-hand with grits.   This made me hesitant and it was little bit of a turned off, because it was compared in likeness to grits and I hate grits.  I know to some people that may sound sacrilegious, but what am I going to do?  I just don’t dig the texture. 

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Coconut Shrimp Soup, Some Like It Hot…..

It has been a little crazy these past few days.  Yesterday, I was at my church playing Bunkopalooza, which was a ton of fun. However, I got home late and I was starving.  I didn’t really want to take the time to cook because: first, I was starving and second, Hubby had worked late and was on his way home.  So, I ran out to the grocery store.

I have to be honest and tell you that I did not go to the grocery store to buy missing ingredients for this soup.  I didn’t make this soup yesterday.  I made it on Monday.  I am taking this time to confess that I ran out to the grocery store and bought……well, I got…..I GOT A FROZEN BAG OF BERTOLLI PASTA DINNER AND GARLIC TEXAS TOAST…….okay, I feel better now.   Yes, it is true! I bought something pre-made and frozen and it wasn’t  pastry dough.  Dude!  What can I say? I was tired and hungry. Any food blogger out there that says they have never bought a frozen bag of something or other for dinner is probably a fibber.  

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I Got the Cover: Shrimp and Cotija Enchiladas with Salsa Verde

Ok so I fibbed. I didn’t get the cover….a girl can dream right?

As I mentioned in a previous post we had a visitor last week.  I was at the grocery store walking up and down the aisles trying to decided what to make for dinner.  I decided to stop at the magazine rack and checkout what new mags are out.  I picked up this months issue of Bon Appetite and thiswas on the cover.  I just thought it was beautiful.  I skimmed through the magazine and checkout out the recipe and I though this is perfect for tonight, so I dropped it into my cart and started shopping for my ingredients.

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