Shrimp Fra Diavolo via America’s Test Kitchen

One Friday morning, I had nothing to do so I watched a few episodes of America’s Test Kitchen. In each episode, two dishes are made and some equipment reviews are shown and or taste tests are given. The show explains a lot of unanswered questions and science that you wouldn’t normally see in everyday cooking shows. Then I watched an episode which the chef made shrimp fra diavoloI haven’t heard of shrimp fra diavolo prior to watching, but he made it look so simple. So that’s what I made for dinner.

The pictures below aren’t the slightest prettiest, but if you’re a fan of shrimp and garlic…this is the dish to try!

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Photo taken by iPhone 6.

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I served my garlic shrimp tomato sauce with pasta. But I’m sure rice or bread will be equally delicious.
There is an instructional video (here) that you can watch, step by step. To save you time, I’ve jotted down the recipe and instructions below. : )

1.5 pounds of shrimp (size 26-30)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes (in juice)
1 cup dry white wine
4 mince garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 mince anchovies
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped basil
1.5 teaspoon mince pepperocini
1.5 teaspoon pepperocini brine

1. Deshell shrimp shells (place aside) and place shrimps in separate bowl.
2. Add salt to shrimp and mix. Set aside.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in skillet and add shrimp shells, cooking for about 4 minutes.
4. Drain tomatoes from juice in colander, be sure to puncture holes and drain juices from tomatoes.
5. Remove skillet from heat and deglaze skillet with dry white wine.
6. Return skillet to heat and let the mixture reduce till about 2 tablespoons.
7. Add tomato juice and simmer for 5 minutes.
8. Drain the shrimp stock in a colander, pressing the shrimp shells against the colander.
9. Wipe skillet.
10. On medium heat, add remaining vegetable oil in same skillet along with add garlic, pepper flakes and oregano for 1 to 2 minutes.
11. Add anchovies and cook for 30 seconds.
12. Turn off heat and add tomatoes.
13. Mash the tomatoes with potato masher.
14. Add shrimp stock to skillet and cook on medium high heat for 5 minutes.
15. Add shrimp, turning shrimp every minutes for 5 minutes.
16. Turn heat off. Add basil, parsley, pepperocini and brine.
17. Stir together and add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
Optional: serve with side of vegetables or carbs, I prefer pasta!

I will definitely be making this again, perhaps with different seafood next time.

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Spicy Island Shrimp

I was invited to a barbeCue/ barbeQue, whatever way you wish to pronounce it. I didn’t know to bring, since the host said she said that she had the basic Canadian barbecue essentials, ribs, chicken wings, burgers etc…So, I looked at some Canadian Living and Readers Digest…

I found a recipe, but was not sure if it was appropriate for the event, but it turned out to be a success.

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This is the Spicy Island Shrimp*, that I found in the Readers Digest May 2013 issue. There was no link or a website that had the recipe listed…so below are the methods and ingredients you’ll need.

ready in 40 minutes, serves 6

Ingredients:

¼ cup (50 mL) butter, cubed

1 large green pepper, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 lb (1 kg) uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 cups (500mL) tomato sauce

3 tbsp (45mL) chopped green onions

1 tbsp (15mL) minced fresh parsley

1 large garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp (5 mL) paprika

½ tsp (2mL) salt

½  tsp (2mL) pepper

½  tsp (2mL) dried oregano

½  tsp (2mL) dried thyme

¼ tsp (1mL) cayenne pepper

6 cups (1.5L) hot cooked rice

Method:

In a large skillet, melt butter and saute green pepper and onion until tender, 3-5 minutes. Reduce heat; add shrimp. Cook, stirring, 5 minutes or until shrimp turns pink. Stir in tomato sauce, green onions, parsley, garlic, paprika, salt, pepper, oregano, thyme and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer, uncover, for 20 minutes or until slightly thickened. Serve with rice.

For the barbecue, I didn’t make rice. I also thought that there was too much tomato sauce in this recipe, so I simmered the sauce for a tad more, until the sauce evaporated.

The shrimp turned out good. The first taste is tomato-y and then there’s a kick at the end because of the spices. Give it a try. GOOD LUCK!

*recipe is straight from the Reader Digest May 2013 issue