Spicy Shrimp Créole

Are you as sick of Thanksgiving leftovers as I am? There are only so many different ways to repurpose turkey. One of the reasons I started adapting big batch recipes into recipes for one or two is because I don’t like eating the same food for a week straight. I am so ready for something different. I don’t eat a lot of fish or sea food so I thought something with shrimp would be different enough from turkey to make me happy.

I was out of chili powder and didn’t feel like mixing up a batch of my own blend so I substituted a 1/2 teaspoon cumin and a few drops of hot sauce for a pleasing heat.

Spicy Shrimp Creole

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Ingredients
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/3 cup celery, chopped
1/3 cup green pepper, chopped
1 TBS canola oil
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 garlic clove, mined
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp chili powder
dash pepper sauce
8 oz medium shrimp, peeled
In a large skillet, saute onion, celery, and green pepper in oil until tender. Add the garlic and saute 2 minutes longer. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, salt, chili powder and pepper sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 20-25 minutes. Add shrimp and cook 4-5 minutes longer. Serve over rice.

From Cooking for Two magazine

Cranberry Apricot Bread

Today was a totally wasted day and I am okay with that. I slept till noon which isn’t a bad thing considering I usually only sleep about 3-4 hours a night lately. I spent the rest of the day making a small dent in the tower of movies I bought on black Friday. The only time I got off the couch was to make myself a treat of cranberry apricot bread. It was a totally useless, totally lazy, totally awesome way to spend the last Sunday in November.

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

½ cup flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup dried apricots, chopped
2 TBS pecans, chopped (optional)
1 large egg
1 TBS milk
1 TBS melted butter
¼ tsp fresh lemon zest
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 5×3 inch loaf pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder. Add the dried fruit and nuts. Stir to coat with flour. In another bowl, combine the egg, milk, melted butter and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the loaf pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool completely.

Cranberry Butter

It just wouldn’t be the Holiday season if I didn’t post a few cranberry recipes. This year I am going with a condiment theme. Earlier this week I posted a savory recipe for cranberry mustard. Today I am going with a sweet application and giving you a recipe for cranberry butter. This isn’t cranberry sauce mixed with a stick of butter.   It is a combination of cranberries and maple syrup that is cooked low and slow then pureed to a smooth, concentrated, sweet and tangy spread.

I use this spread on toast, in yogurt, on ice cream, on waffles and pancakes, in a lovely salad dressing and on a spoon while standing in front of the fridge. It is just that good. Head on over to Christina Lanes’ awesome blog, Dessert for Two for the recipe.

Note: I cut the recipe in half and got 4 four ounce jars of cranberry butter.

Cranberry Mustard

I am obsessed with cranberry mustard and it is all Subway’s fault! I was going about my life, blissfully unaware that such a thing as cranberry mustard existed. Then one day I innocently tried Subway’s Autumn carved turkey sandwich with cranberry mustard sauce. Now I want cranberry mustard on everything, sandwiches, snacks, chicken, pork, EVERYTHING! I know Subway’s evil ways though. Eventually, the autumn carved turkey sandwich with cranberry mustard will disappear because it is a “seasonal” thing. When it goes I will be left with an unfulfilled craving for cranberry mustard. Guess, I better learn how to make it myself.

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

This recipe makes a small amount of mustard. It is easily doubled.
Ingredients
1 cup cranberries
2 TBS honey
2 TBS water
1 tsp – 1 TBS Dijon mustard
In a small saucepan, combine the cranberries, honey and water. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes or until the berries start to pop. if you have an immersion blender use it to puree the fruit. If you don’t have one, use a fork to mash the berries.

Grant Bread

People never believe me when I tell them that making bread from scratch doesn’t have to take all day. Granted, making yeast bread will never be a 30 minute or less kind of project. However, I can have a lovely loaf of bread on the table in 90 minutes. Don’t believe me? Head over to My Favorite Pastime and check out her recipe for Grant Bread, (No kneading Required).

The first time I made this loaf, I made it just as written and used all whole wheat flour. The result was exactly what I expected a whole wheat loaf to be. A slightly dense, slightly bitter loaf that was good with a smear of butter and a bit of honey for a midnight snack or toasted with a couple slices of cheese melted on top for breakfast. The next time I make an all whole wheat loaf I’ll add a little more sweetener. The slight bitterness isn’t unpleasant it just might not work for all the things I like to do with bread, like French toast or bread pudding.

The second time I made the loaf, I used all purpose white flour and, again, it made a very nice loaf of white bread. It was moist and light. I can see myself making this bread and experimenting with the different kinds of flour I have in my pantry. The next time I make this bread I am going to try a rye version.

One baking note, if you have made bread before you will be tempted to add more flour to this dough. Don’t do it. Unlike traditional yeasted bread, this dough is supposed to be a shaggy, soft, sticky, hard to handle mass.