Category: shrimp

Fairytale Corn and Shrimp Chowder with Bacon

Posted on by DianaMC
The harvest moon has arrived and the crispness of autumn has graced the air, bringing with it a cool chill that makes you want to wrap yourself in a blanket and hold a steaming cup of hot chocolate or a nice bowl of thick and flavorful soup. 
But with the arrival of the cold weather will come your body’s constant but natural yearning to consume heartier meals, such as heavy cream-based soups. There are ways to indulge in your favorite creamy soup without consuming excess amounts of calories or fat.  Instead of using heavy cream or full fat milk and butter, you can often use reduced fat milk or a combination of the two.  Another amazing trick which I utilize often is to puree the vegetables so that the soup is thick and creamy but without any added fat. 
Here is simple recipe for shrimp and corn chowder with bacon. I adopted this recipe from one found in a Cooking Light book. This is a good go-to weekday recipe because it’s simple and fast. The recipe calls for bacon but if you buy the thick center cut, this is the healthiest slice of bacon and the most flavorful. Plus a little bit will go a long way in this dish. 
Fairytale Corn and Shrimp Chowder with Bacon 

Ingredients

  • 4-6  slices of thick center cut bacon
  • 1/2  cup of chopped combined celery, onion, and red bell pepper 
  • 2  (16-ounce) packages frozen baby gold and white corn, thawed
  • 1 bag of frozen baby shrimp
  • 2  cups 1% low-fat milk
  • 3/4  cup  (3 ounces) reduced-fat shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese or colby jack
  • Handful of chopped chives
  • Salt + Pepper

  •
  • Directions
  • 1. Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp. Remove the bacon from pan and blot with paper towels. Crumble and set aside. 
  • 2. Add the chopped celery, onion and peppers plus 1 package of corn to the pan cracklings; sauté 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
  • 3. Place remaining 1 package corn and 1 cup milk in a blender, and process until smooth. Add pureed mixture to vegetables in pan.
  • 4. Stir in remaining 1 cup milk, salt, black pepper.
  • 5. Stir cheese and then frozen shrimp. 
  • 5. Cook over medium heat (do not boil), stirring constantly, until cheese melts.
  • 6. Serve with bacon crumbles and chopped chives. 

Enjoy!

Fairytale Feasts from Red Lobster

Posted on by DianaMC

I was recently invited to enjoy a complimentary dinner at Red Lobster so that I could experience first hand the newly remodeled decor. Red Lobster restaurants across the U.S. have undergone a redesign that includes updated coastal touches both inside and out. The new design, inspired by the seaside village of Bar Harbor, Maine, aims at providing guests with the opportunity to experience fresh, delicious seafood in a vibrant, nautical setting.

Red Lobster guests in Wilkes-Barre, Scranton and Williamsport can now experience an atmosphere clothed in dark-wood paneling, warm-toned fabrics, nautical décor, shingle and stone towers and Adirondack-style benches, all intended to transport guests’ minds to the coast. Once the winter comes to Northeastern Pennsylvania, I know I will appreciate having a nautical place like Red Lobster to escape to while the snow is falling outside and the streets are covered with dirty slushy ice.
 

While I am usually wary of the food at chain restaurants, Red Lobster really has its perks and was named by Eat This, Not That as the healthiest chain restaurant in America! First, I like Red Lobster because there are many healthy options available on the menu that aren’t laden with unncessary chain-style sauces scoured with copious amounts of sugar, salt and fat.  Red Lobster’s “Today’s Fresh Fish” menu lets the delicate taste of seafood shine through and is updated daily to reflect the wide variety of fresh fish available. Options typically will include fresh salmon, cod, tilapia, shrimp and trout that can be broiled or prepared over an open flame of a wood-fire grill.  Red Lobster also bravely but proudly debuts the nutritional information for all of the items on its menu on its website.
 
Second, who can resist the famous Cheddar Bay Biscuits at Red Lobster, even if you are planning on only eating grilled fish?  These flavorful little dinner rolls are served warm and with each bite you can taste a perfect combintation of butter, oil, garlic and hints of cheddar. They may be the best part of the meal. They make me nostalgic for my law school days when I used to make pillsbury biscuits and dinner rolls and add my own seasonings. (Note: one cheddar bay biscuit is supposedly 4 Weight Watchers points – so indulge and enjoy, just don’t eat the whole basket!)

Third, I enjoy Red Lobster because of the service there. Once I am seated at the table,  I know my food will be served promptly and that I am not going to be there forever, nor am I going to be rushed. Most importantly, everyone is always very kind there and very knowledgeable about the items on the menu, which is often an overlooked but necessary component to a successful restaurant.
 
Lastly, my favorite part of Red Lobster (besides the Cheddar Bay Biscuits) is actually its website, which is really fun and informative for seafood lovers like myself. Not only does Red Lobster provide a generous amount of creative recipes for seafood dishes including some featured menu items, but they also provide educational how-to videos which explain how to grill the perfect piece of seafood, etc. These are really great tools for people who are intimidated by the idea of preparing their own seafood entrees and also for more experienced cooks who are looking for new ideas for preparing seafood.
 
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am a big fan of brushchetta so I really enjoyed the Wood-Grilled Shrimp Bruschetta. The round and thick baguette slices were crunchy and tomato mixture very flavorful.  Please see the recipe provided by Red Lobster for the Wood-Grilled Shrimp Bruschetta and the Peach-Bourbon Shrimp and Scallops below. I absolutely plan on making the shrimp bruschetta – its a perfect recipe to enjoy on a hot July day because it combines crisp, fresh flavors of local seasonal produce for a light meal. I will probably alter this recipe just a little bit because I like my bruschetta hot. If you would like your bruschetta hot, when you get to step #7, simmer the ingrediets in a saute pan and add in the basil at the end.  Also, do not chill the grilled shrimp as directed in #4. Instead, dice immediately.

Wood-Grilled Shrimp Bruschetta
Serves 4

12 medium-count shrimp
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 loaf French baguette
¼ cup melted butter
2 tsp granulated garlic
2 vine ripe tomatoes, diced
2 large, fresh basil leaves, chopped (or 2 tsp prepared fresh basil)
2 Tbsp diced red onions
¼ cup balsamic dressing (use your favorite or substitute equal parts olive oil and balsamic vinegar)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Non-stick cooking spray, as needed
4 bamboo skewers (soaked in water for 2-3 hours)

1. Place three (3) shrimp each on four (4) skewers, all facing the same direction. Push shrimp together tightly to hold together.

2. Brush shrimp skewers with canola oil and season lightly with salt and pepper.

3. Prepare the grill by spraying the grates with non-stick cooking spray. Turn grill to high. (DO NOT SPRAY grill grates while the grill is on; aerosol can may be dangerous around high heat.)

4. Grill skewers for approximately 2 minutes per side, until shrimp are opaque and firm. Remove skewers from grill and chill in refrigerator for 3-4 hours (shrimp skewers can be made one day ahead).

5. Slice French bread in ½ inch slices. Brush with melted butter and season with garlic and salt and pepper to taste.

6. Toast baguette slices in pre-heated 350-degree oven for 4-5 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and hold at room temperature.

7. Combine tomatoes, basil, onion and balsamic dressing in small bowl; toss gently to incorporate dressing.

8. Remove shrimp from skewers and toss with tomato mixture.

9. Top toasted baguette slices with shrimp mixture.

In addition to the shrimp appetizer, here are some photos of the dishes that we sampled while dining at Red Lobster:

New England Clam Chowder 

Caesar Salad

Wood-Grilled Salmon Fillets

Crab Fest Special Feature: Snow Crab and Fried Shrimp

Lastly, here is another recipe for Red Lobster’s new Bourbon Shrimp and Scallops:

Peach-Bourbon Shrimp and Scallops

Serves 4

24 jumbo shrimp
16 sea scallops
16 strips of bacon
1 cup peach-bourbon BBQ sauce (recipe below), divided
¼ cup canola oil
2 cups wild rice (prepare your favorite variety)
8 bamboo skewers (soaked in water for 2-3 hours
Non-stick cooking spray, as needed

1. Place six (6) shrimp each on four (4) skewers, all facing the same direction. Push shrimp together tightly to hold together. Refrigerate until needed.
2. Wrap each scallop with one strip of bacon, so the strip slightly overlaps (trim excess bacon if needed). If crispy bacon is desired, slightly pre-cook bacon in a pan or in the microwave for approximately 2 minutes.
3. Place four (4) scallops each on four (4) skewers, inserting the skewer where the bacon strip overlaps. As with shrimp, push scallops together tightly to hold together.
4. Prepare the grill by spraying the grates with non-stick cooking spray. Turn grill to high. (DO NOT SPRAY grill grates while the grill is on; aerosol can may be dangerous around high heat.)
5. Brush skewers lightly with canola oil.
6. Place shrimp and scallop skewers on hot grill. Grill approximately 2 minutes per side. Use caution with scallop skewers so as not to burn the bacon; you may have to turn them or move them to a cooler section of grill, depending on grill temperature.
7. Once skewers are cooked and seafood is opaque and firm, brush both sides with peach-bourbon BBQ sauce. Grill another 15 seconds per side to slightly caramelize sauce on skewers.
8. Serve one shrimp and one scallop skewer per person over your favorite wild rice blend. Mashed potatoes or couscous make a delicious dish as well.

Peach-Bourbon BBQ Sauce:
2 cups prepared BBQ sauce (choose your favorite)
½ cup peach preserves or canned peaches, well drained
3 Tbsp Kentucky Bourbon

1. Place all ingredients in blender and puree until smooth.
2. Pour mixture into small sauce pot over medium heat and bring to light simmer. Simmer 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking.
3. Remove sauce from heat and refrigerate until needed.

Notice below that you can now post a link to this blog on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Post a link to this blog on Twitter and include my name @fairytalefeasts for your chance to win a $10 gift card to Red Lobster! 🙂 I will be sending two of them out through the mail!
Enjoy!

Fairytale Feasts from Nashville, TN, Final Part: Merchants

Posted on by DianaMC

And finally, I have saved my favorite dining experience in Nashville for last. Merchants is by far my favorite restaurant in downtown Nashville.  While it has it’s glitches, each time I have dined there it has been a pleasant experience with the food far exceeding my expectations. And if true love means seeing an imperfect restaurant perfectly, then I love it there.

Merchants was established in 1892. We learned during our first visit to Merchants years ago that it was a former hotel, drug store and ice cream parlor. (And apparently the drug store/ice cream parlor interlapped, as our waiter told us colorful stories about elderly women sprinkling their medications on their ice cream at the marble bar, which is still there today.) Our waiter told us ghost stories about the building and even led us on a tour throughout the upper floors of the restaurant.  Maybe it was the dinner cocktails, but we all undeniably felt a strange energy on one of the top floors and even a gust of cold air. If I was a ghost, I wouldn’t mind being confined to haunting Merchants as long as I had my taste buds still in tact.

This year it was especially packed due to the CMA Fest crowd. We didn’t have a reservation but we were still promptly seated on the second floor of the restaurant.  The first floor is a bit more casual and includes a bar. On the second floor you will find white linen table cloths and napkins with real silverwear ornamenting the tables, a nice and drastic change to the barstools and paper napkins and utensils we’ve been putting to use all week. Our waiter looked exhausted (rightfully so after the dinner rush before the concert) but he still managed to smile and was very polite and helpful. He was such a nice person and really patient with us. I was a little bit disappointed that Merchants was featuring a limited menu because of the CMA fest but I understood the reasoning behind it.

We ordered two appetizers: the fried pickles and fried green tomatoes. The fried green tomatoes at Merchants were, hands down, the best I have ever had in my life. The huge tomatoes were breaded and fried, and not too tough or mushy. They were covered with a black bean, corn, red onion salsa and smothered in a grainy dijon mustard sauce. 

The butter pickles were battered and fried and served with a red pepper aioli dipping sauce. These were enjoyable as well, but I have a hunch that if some fresh herbs (dill perhaps) were used in the batter, it would have kicked them up a bit.

The house salad was standard but solid and excellent. Mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, homemade croutons, parmesean cheese and your choice of dressing.

For dinner, I ordered a real southern staple, something extremely difficult if not impossible to find on the menu of a restaurant in the northeast region: Shrimp and Grits.  This flavors of this dish were phenomenal and if I could have, I would have ordered another one, boxed it up and flown it home first class.  Jumbo pieces of juicy grilled shrimp, smoky andoiulle sausage with sauteed spinach over a mound of cheesy grits and lathered with a light tomato broth, this dish was pure southern perfection.  With each bite, I thought to myself how grateful I was to be alive and feasting on this succulent dish.  I am determined to recreate this in my own home but I am certain it will take a few attempts before I can master the cheesy grits.

The scallops, pan seared over corn, lima bean and tomato succotash were also perfection.

The blue corn tacos were pretty as plated, but a little bland. The blue corn tortilla shells were soft and seemed to be homemade but something additional was needed to kick this dish up a notch. It could have been improved upon, but I’d still order them if I were in the mood for tacos.  Spicy beans were served on the side but cheesy grits were available as well.

Merchants also offers an array of creative desserts, like the key lime pie martini below. (Had this during a previous trip to Nashville.)

I will absolutely return to Merchant’s again. The next time I am in Nashville, I will call ahead to make sure that they are featuring the full menu so we can order it up and sample a wider variety of southern specialties! See you next year Merchants!

Enjoy!