In my family, there are a two ethnic foods that reign supreme: MEXICAN AND ITALIAN!
My husband and I dabble in other areas, but we thoroughly enjoy creating dishes in these two areas. We also love to experiment with different vegetables, spices, cheeses, etc.
With that said, I would also like to point out that we like to cook on a small budget.
We use what we have on hand and try to keep it as cheap as we can.
However, cheap doesn't have to mean flavorless!
We make sure that the dish is loaded with as much flavor as we can fit in.
Last weekend, I decided to throw down some delicious SEAFOOD MEXICAN!
MY FAVE!!
Seafood Mexican really is a treat for me. I fell in love with it on a trip to California.
We were cruising along the coastline and decided to stop at Laguna Beach.
We spent the day on the beach enjoying some much needed family time.
As we were leaving, we noticed a little place right off of the beach named
The name alone piqued our interest. The Fish Tacos and Enchiladas were AH-MAY-ZING!
Since then, we have found another favorite place to get seafood with our beloved Mexican dishes.
If you are ever in the San Antonio area, you must try
We enjoy the Enchiladas Del Rio and the Shrimp Burritos. Our son always gets the Puff Tostada.
MMMMmmm, just thinking about it makes me wanna go there right now!
Back to my original story about last weekend's delicious meal. I found these recipes a long time ago and cut them out of a magazine. I didn't use them at that time and kinda forgot about them...as I am known to do. While cleaning out the fridge, I decided to use up some poblanos that were getting to the point of no return in the crisper. Also, I had about 12 roma tomatoes that I had bought on sale that needed to be used. Obviously, I planned on making a lot of salsa! (wink) I had 2 serrano peppers and that were starting to turn a slight orangey-red...shame on me!
Seeing as how I had been on a salsa kick lately, I initially wanted to make something "roasted".
I miraculously remembered the magazine clippings with the roasted salsa recipe and that "other one" that looked interesting. Afer reviewing the ingredients, I learned that the "other" recipe needed shrimp. Thankfully, the week prior I had printed out some coupons for shrimp. I sent my Hubby to the Commissary with coupon in hand to buy the bag while I started prepping. Come to find out the shrimp was on sale. With the addition of the coupon, we got it for quite a steal!
Woohoo! Now that's my kind of shopping!
Now that I've bored you beyond belief with my storytelling, here is the actual recipe!
Shrimp Stuffed Poblanos
1 pound fresh or frozen shrimp
2 TBS olive oil
2 TBS butter
1c. chopped onion
3/4c. chopped red sweet pepper
3/4c. fresh or frozen corn kernels
(I used fresh because I froze ziplocs full of them after purchasing a bunch of corn on clearance.)
1/4c. dry white wine (sauvignon blanc, reisling)
1 tsp. chili powder
(I used new mexico chili powder)
1c. each Sharp Cheddar and Monterey Jack, shredded
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
Non-stick cooking spray
5-6 poblanos, roasted
Thaw shrimp, if frozen. Peel and devein if needed. Rinse and pat dry. Chop shrimp and set aside. Roast poblanos on a cookie sheet lined with foil. I broiled them 6" away from flames for about 8 minutes. Wrap them completely in foil and leave to steam for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil and butter in a skillet. Add onion and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add the shrimp, red pepper, corn, wine and chili powder. Allow to cook on med-high heat until shrimp are cooked and turn opaque, about 4 minutes. Allow to cool. Then, stir in cheese and the beaten egg, salt and pepper. Once the poblanos are finished steaming, carefully remove the shriveled skin from the pepper. Make a slit lengthwise and remove the seeds and veins. I always rinse mine under warm water to remove all of the seeds.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a square or rectangular dish with cooking spray. Lay poblanos flat in the dish. Spoon shrimp mixture into each poblano and pour the remaining on top. I sprinkled it with a little bit of pepper before placing in the oven. Cook for 20-25 minutes. Let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.
 |
| I topped the dish with a cream sauce prior to serving. |
Roasted Tomato Salsa
6 roma tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 onion, quartered
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 serrano pepper, halved and seeded
2 TBS canola oil
1c. fresh cilantro, snipped
small squeeze of lime juice
1/2 tsp. sugar
Line rectangular baking pan with foil. Place all vegetables into a large bowl and toss with the canola oil. I added a little sea salt and cracked black pepper. Place vegetables into pan (tomatoes and peppers cut side down). Broil 6" from the heat for about 8 minutes, turn over and broil for about 8 minutes more. Check periodically to prevent burning. When finished, pinch tomato skins off and discard. When cool, coarsely chopped tomatoes, serrano and onions and add to small bowl. Mash roasted garlic and mix into salsa. Add sugar and a tiny bit of lime juice. Season with salt if needed (I added it prior to roasting, so it didn't need anymore.)
*Note: I roasted these before the poblanos to free up the oven for the main dish.
And there you have it! A simple, yet delicious meal. Serve with cilantro rice or red Mexican rice. I used this salsa with a pinch of mexican oregano and cumin for a quick version of "red rice" in the pic above. I pulsed the salsa in a processor first.
With love, from my kitchen to yours.....
No comments:
Post a Comment