It's Gullah time, once again. This company puts together some pretty cool packages. Meals Ready to Eat that taste NOTHING like Uncle Sam's version of MRE's. A week ago, on a Sunday morning, I tried out the Shrimp and Grits. I suggested some slight modifications, personal preferences, if you will.
I gave the Shrimp Creole a try this week. The little Gullah sacks are pretty cool. The recipe is on, not in, the bags. Debbie at The Ship's Wheel, a gift shop inside Tideline Marine (Jacksonville NC), knows my passion for seafood and cooking. Most stuff, of course, I do from scratch. But! I always look for really E-Zeee things to try out, for those mornings or nights when I just want something fast. Usually, that results in a take-out pizza (there's a great place in Jacksonville, another in Morehead, if you're ever interested).
Back to the shrimp creole. Not a difficult dish to prepare from scratch, but if you don;t want to stop by the supermarket and pick up the ingredients, the Gullah sack is pretty cool. It has two packets. One with rice. One with the powdered sauce mix. The recipe tells you to cook the rice, covered, for about 25 minutes. That's about right. At least, they didn't use that 5-minute rice stuff. Boil the water, per the instructions, add the rice, reduce heat, cover, simmer for 25 minutes.
As soon as you start the rice, put on another pot of water, per the instructions, and add the sauce ingredients. Boil, per the bag's directions. It takes about 20 minutes, and will be good to go about the time the rice is ready. Kinda neat how that works out. If you're like me, at about 10 minutes of sauce-cooking, you might want to add a can of either tomatoe wedges or diced tomatoes. I drained mine...I didn't need the packing juice. The maters gives a little more stuff in the sauce. Another hint: canned tomatoes, to me, are not as sweet as vine ripened ones. Doesn't matter which variety, I've tried them all. So, with canned tomatoes, I add a pinch or two of brown sugar.
Now, for the scrimps, aka shrimp. You can use fresh ones, if you have them. You might just want to keep some frozen shrimp on hand, along with the Gullah sacks, for that unexpected sudden arrival of company, or for times when you just want something GOOD, fast and easy. I prefer the uncooked, easy peel kinds. They thaw, in water, in about 15 minutes, or so. When you decide on shrimp creole for dinner, open a bag of shrimp first, drop them in water, then swap out the water in about five minutes. This should be cold tap water. During that time, you can start the rice and sauce process.
Once the shrimp thaws, just peel them. Remove the tails, of course. They really are easy to peel, because the backs of the shells have been split, and the big vein removed.
Drop a pad of butter in your skillet (olive oil is good, too). I prefer stainless, feel free to use whatever you like. I do suggest medium heat. There's no need to burn the butter, or the shrimp. Sautee the shrimp, stirring regularly to ensure even cooking. DO NOT OVERCOOK! I hate rubbery shrimp. Once they're a medium-deep pink, drop them in the sauce. This should be at the 20 minute cooking time for the sauce. KILL THE HEAT. The shrimp have already cooked, and just need to soak up flavor. Serve up the rice, add the sauce/shrimp, as much as you like. Garnish with pasley, if you desire. Enjoy.
A 30-minute, or so, meal that's about as close to cooking from scratch as you can get.
I have one more Gullah sack to try out. She Crab Soup. I'll let you knew as soon as I take a swing at it. I haven't read the packet, yet, but I will bet that I need crab. And, like frozen shrimp, have several containers waiting to be thawed.
Always prepared. For the unexpected.
I gave the Shrimp Creole a try this week. The little Gullah sacks are pretty cool. The recipe is on, not in, the bags. Debbie at The Ship's Wheel, a gift shop inside Tideline Marine (Jacksonville NC), knows my passion for seafood and cooking. Most stuff, of course, I do from scratch. But! I always look for really E-Zeee things to try out, for those mornings or nights when I just want something fast. Usually, that results in a take-out pizza (there's a great place in Jacksonville, another in Morehead, if you're ever interested).
Back to the shrimp creole. Not a difficult dish to prepare from scratch, but if you don;t want to stop by the supermarket and pick up the ingredients, the Gullah sack is pretty cool. It has two packets. One with rice. One with the powdered sauce mix. The recipe tells you to cook the rice, covered, for about 25 minutes. That's about right. At least, they didn't use that 5-minute rice stuff. Boil the water, per the instructions, add the rice, reduce heat, cover, simmer for 25 minutes.
As soon as you start the rice, put on another pot of water, per the instructions, and add the sauce ingredients. Boil, per the bag's directions. It takes about 20 minutes, and will be good to go about the time the rice is ready. Kinda neat how that works out. If you're like me, at about 10 minutes of sauce-cooking, you might want to add a can of either tomatoe wedges or diced tomatoes. I drained mine...I didn't need the packing juice. The maters gives a little more stuff in the sauce. Another hint: canned tomatoes, to me, are not as sweet as vine ripened ones. Doesn't matter which variety, I've tried them all. So, with canned tomatoes, I add a pinch or two of brown sugar.
Now, for the scrimps, aka shrimp. You can use fresh ones, if you have them. You might just want to keep some frozen shrimp on hand, along with the Gullah sacks, for that unexpected sudden arrival of company, or for times when you just want something GOOD, fast and easy. I prefer the uncooked, easy peel kinds. They thaw, in water, in about 15 minutes, or so. When you decide on shrimp creole for dinner, open a bag of shrimp first, drop them in water, then swap out the water in about five minutes. This should be cold tap water. During that time, you can start the rice and sauce process.
Once the shrimp thaws, just peel them. Remove the tails, of course. They really are easy to peel, because the backs of the shells have been split, and the big vein removed.
Drop a pad of butter in your skillet (olive oil is good, too). I prefer stainless, feel free to use whatever you like. I do suggest medium heat. There's no need to burn the butter, or the shrimp. Sautee the shrimp, stirring regularly to ensure even cooking. DO NOT OVERCOOK! I hate rubbery shrimp. Once they're a medium-deep pink, drop them in the sauce. This should be at the 20 minute cooking time for the sauce. KILL THE HEAT. The shrimp have already cooked, and just need to soak up flavor. Serve up the rice, add the sauce/shrimp, as much as you like. Garnish with pasley, if you desire. Enjoy.
A 30-minute, or so, meal that's about as close to cooking from scratch as you can get.
I have one more Gullah sack to try out. She Crab Soup. I'll let you knew as soon as I take a swing at it. I haven't read the packet, yet, but I will bet that I need crab. And, like frozen shrimp, have several containers waiting to be thawed.
Always prepared. For the unexpected.
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