» SPICY SHRIMP «

(20 March 2011) - I receive a cooking magazine every three months. Most of the time has interesting recipes, which gives me lots of ideas. That was the case with this shrimp dish. I changed a few ingredients and we had it for dinner one night. “You have to make this more often” -said Mario.
Easy to make and it won’t break the budget.

Ingredients:

• 1 Pound of big shrimp
• 2 Tbs of olive oil
• ½ Onion (medium size, peeled and sliced)
• 1 Dried pepper PASILLA or GUAJILLO (if you cannot find the dried pepper, use ½ a red bell pepper)
• 3 Garlic cloves (peeled and finely chopped)
• ½ Tsp of red pepper flakes
• ¼ Cup of chopped parsley or cilantro
• Salt to taste

Put 2 cups of water to boil. When it starts boiling, place the pepper inside, cover it, and turn off the heat. Meanwhile peel and wash the shrimp. Take the pepper out of the water (save the water), open it, take out the seeds, cut off the stem, and sliced it.
Preheat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat, and sauté the onion, pepper and garlic, cooking it for 5 minutes. Add the shrimp, red pepper flakes, and ¼ cup of the water where the dried pepper was. Simmer for 2 minutes, and add the parsley and salt.

Serve over white rice. *Serves 2 people* - Deliciously different!

» SEAFOOD SOUP «

(9 May 2010) - I could eat fish every day. Some days I can get it fresh, some times I get it frozen, which is not the same thing. Today I bought frozen whiting and I didn’t know what to do with it. I bought fresh scallops and some shrimp, and started to think about dinner. So I thought to make a soup.
Paul and Sara came with the children for supper. I made cupcakes with somebody’s help that afternoon. She is getting really good these days: she can crack an egg all by herself and feel very proud of it (mi too).
Later she left a cupcake unattended, forgetting that Nube (our dog) couldn’t resist the temptation, eating the whole cupcake, including the paper. Pour thing we barely feed him!

Ingredients:

• ¼ Cup of olive oil
• 2 Tomatoes (chopped)
• 1 Cup of onion (chopped)
• 6 Garlic cloves (peeled and chopped)
• 2 Bay leaves
• Saffron
• 1 Cup of rice
• 1 Pound of whiting
• ½ Pound of scallops
• 1 Pound of shrimp
• 1 Quart of shrimp broth
• Salt and pepper to taste

Wash the shrimp and peel them. Cook the peels in 1 quart of water. When they start to boil, remove from the heat and set aside.
Cut the fish.
In a big frying pan, sauté the vegetables. Add the saffron, bay leaves, broth, and rice. Cook 15 minutes add the fish cut in small pieces, the shrimp and the scallops. Don’t overcook the seafood. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with crusty bread and a salad. *Makes 4 big portions* - Good, really good!