Potato Shrimp Cakes with Spicy Sriracha Aioli

Let me tell you, there isn't much on TV these days if you haven't noticed. Therefore, I watch a lot of the Food Network. Today I was watching "Guy's Big Bite" which is not one of my favorites, but like I said, there was nothing on TV. I only continued watching because he was making sweet potato shrimp cakes. I hate sweet potatoes, but I figured there was no reason I couldn't watch and then just use regular, yummy, white potatoes. I liked his recipe ok, but decided to search the web for bloggers who had posted about similar recipes and how they turned out. You really can't base a recipe on a food network chef. I mean, they cook for a living. I want to know how regular people's dishes turn out.
I found a great recipe to use as inspiration and then took one great idea from Guy: marinating the shrimp before adding them to the cake mixture. Below is my recipe:

Potato Shrimp Cakes
Source: Me, with inspiration from Heart and Hearth

2 cups shrimp, raw and chopped
3/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp. worchestire sauce
1/2 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
3 medium potatoes, peeled, cooked and mashed
2 medium glaric cloves, pressed
1/4 cup onion, finely diced
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
2 tbsp. jalepeno, seeded and finely diced
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tbsp. cilantro, minced

Mix soy sauce, worchestire, honey, sesame oil and shrimp. Let sit while you prep the rest of the ingredients.

After prepping all other ingredients, mix together. Drain shrimp from marinade and add the shrimp to the rest of the ingredients. Create flat patties and pan fry in vegetable oil.

Spicy Sriracha Aioli
Source: Me

1/4 cup mayonaise
1 tbsp sriracha hot chili sauce
1 tsp lime juice

Whisk together all ingredients.

If you aren't familiar with Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce this is what it looks like and it can be found even at your local Walmart. Even in Alabama. ;)

Long Time, No Blog

Don't worry, I have been cooking...just not blogging. I've managed to cook a few blogworthy items and even managed to take pictures of them, I just couldn't find time to sit down and write about them. So here are some recent things I've made:

Super Easy Potatoes Au-Gratin



3 potatoes, sliced thin (I used my mandolin so the slices would be the same thickness)
1 1/2 cups Half and Half (You could also use cream, but I happened to have half and half in the fridge)
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Black Pepper, to taste

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. In a small sauce pan, bring the half and half to a boil. Stir often to keep it from burning. Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat. Add garlic powder, black pepper and parmesan cheese. Once the liquid has reduced and thickened, spoon a small amount into the bottom of a baking dish. Make a layer of potatoes and then spoon on more sauce. Continue to layer until you use up your potatoes. Top with the last of the sauce. Bake about 30 minutes. Once potatoes are fork tender, top with a little more parm and bake until top is golden brown.

Jaime's Shrimp Scampi



10 raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 tbsp butter
2 cloves fresh garlic, grated
1/2 tbsp dried dill
1 tsp red pepper flakes
pinch of salt and pepper

Heat sautee pan over medium high heat. Add butter. When melted, add grated garlic, dill and red pepper flakes. Sautee about a minute and add shrimp. When shrimp is cooked through and pink add shrimp and butter sauce to a small dish. So quick and so good!!! (I also made some cheesy brown rice to go along with the shrimp.)

Changing It Up

I took 2 recipes I previously blogged about and changed them up slightly.  I used the exact marinade I used for my shrimp skewers but sauteed the shrimp instead.  Then I made mashed potatoes just like the stuffing of my twice baked potatoes.  I think it turned out really nice.

Shrimp Skewers

These are possibly the best grilled shrimp I've ever had!  One great thing about shrimp is they only need to marinade a short time.

Grilled Shrimp Skewers

20 shrimp

2 tbsp pepper sauce

6 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp chili powder

1/4 tbsp cumin

1/2 tbsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tbsp onion powder

1/2 tbsp salt

1/2 tbsp black pepper

1/2 tbsp honey

cilantro, hand torn

4 wooden skewers, soaked in water

Mix all ingredients except cilantro and let sit 30 minutes.  Place 5 shrimp per wooden skewer and grill.  Garnish with cilantro.

Shrimp Biscuits

I didn't want a real heavy dinner last night (and it was just me since the husband had to work late), so I decided to make little shrimp sandwhiches. I used some garlic crescent roll dough I had in the fridge, but instead of making crescents I put it in a bowl and added some parmesan cheese to it. I then rolled it out and cut it like biscuits. I left it pretty thick because I wanted it to rise enough to have bread and shrimp in every bite!

I made up a marinade for the shrimp and let it sit about 45 minutes. I just cooked mine in a skillet, but they would have been great grilled or broiled too! Unfortunatly I overcooked my shrimp a little, but these were still really good. And I ate the leftovers tonight!

Balsamic Basil Shrimp

1/2 lb. frozen large shrimp peeled, de-veined and thawed

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 tbsp cayenne pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp fresh basil, minced

1 tsp salt

Shrimp on a Stick

Today I read a post by Kate over at Paved with Good Intentions where she noted that a friend of hers says anything is better when served on a stick. She made lemon shrimp on bamboo skewers that made my mouth water! I was already thinking about shrimp for tonight, except mine would be BBQ shrimp because I am still trying to use up the rest of the BBQ sauce from the night we had ribs. So I decided to have BBQ shrimp on a stick! Also, shrimp cooks really quickly so it fit right into my plan to get home and eat as soon as possible.

I just marinated the shrimp in the BBQ sauce for about 45 minutes then put it on skewers and threw it on the grill, brushing it with more sauce as it grilled.

I also wanted something easy for the side so I took some help from the store and made Rice A Roni Nature's Way Parmesan and Romano flavor. It was really good! I highly recommend it for a week night when you need to get something on the table quick.

My First Week with a Meal Plan

Let me begin by saying I have great things planned for this week...food-wise anyway. I might even be a little overly ambitious. I have four meals planned for this week, plus a casserole I have to make for a luncheon at work. I am not going to post my meal plan because I don't want you to be too disappointed if it doesn't all come together. Taylor was very impressed when he saw it on the fridge though. Not because the dishes themselves are impressive, but because I am cooking 4 days this week, or plan to anyway. For some of you this might be routine, but I usually only cook 2, 3 at the most, times per week. The other nights we have leftovers or whatever you can find in the pantry.

My first dish of the week is Spicy Thai Shrimp. I saw this recipe on Kate's blog, Paved with Good Intentions, recently and knew I would be making it soon. I have some frozen shrimp I've been trying to finish off and I am always looking for new ways to cook them. Of course it would be best with fresh shrimp, but frozen is what I had on hand. The shrimp were very good and I loved the flavor broiling them added. They weren't too spicy for me, but I LOVE spicy food. Taylor said they were plenty spicy to him. So begins the week of cooking with a meal plan. :)

Spicy Thai Shrimp

Source: Paved with Good Intentions

1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup minced shallot
3 Tbsp sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp minced ginger
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp crushed red-pepper flakes
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

1) In medium bowl, combine juice, shallot, oil, garlic, ginger, garam masala, salt, coriander, red pepper flakes and pepper.
2) Add shrimp and marinade for 30 minutes.
3) Heat broiler and spray broiler pan with cooking spray. Remove shrimp from marinade. Broil shrimp 2 minutes, turning once.

Now, if you are like me and kind of new to cooking, you may be asking yourself: "what in the world is garam masala?" Yeah, I had to go to wikipedia to find out. So here you go:

Garam masala is a blend of ground spices common in the Indian, Bangali and Pakistani cuisine, whose literal meaning is 'hot (or warm) spice'. There are many variants: most traditional mixes use just cinnamon, roasted cumin, caraway seeds, cloves, nutmeg (and/or mace) and green cardamom seed or black cardamom pods. Many commercial mixtures may include more of other less expensive spices and may contain dried red chili peppers, dried garlic, ginger powder, sesame, mustard seeds, turmeric, coriander, bay leaves, star anise and fennel. While commercial garam masala preparations can be bought ready ground, it does not keep well, and soon loses its aroma. Whole spices, which keep fresh much longer, can be ground when needed using a mortar and pestle or electric coffee grinder.

I found mine on the spice aisle at Publix!

We also had twice-baked potatoes to go with our shrimp. I realize those things don't necessarily go together, but it was a really good dinner!


Twice-Baked Potatoes
Source: Me

Potatoes - any kind of your choosing. I used large new potatoes because that's what I had. Idaho potatoes work really well and are larger.
Sour Cream
Milk
Bacon - cooked and crumbled
Cheese - shredded. Again, use the kind you like!

The amounts of the above ingredients depend on how many potatoes you are making. I used 3 potatoes so we would have some leftovers. :) Wash the potatoes and use a fork to poke a few holes in them. Pop them in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes per potato, depending on the size. Let them cool a bit on the counter because they will be piping hot! Once cool enough to handle, cut them in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh and place that in a large mixing bowl. You want to leave a little flesh on the sides so the potato will keep it's shape. Each half should resemble a boat.

Once they have all been scooped out, add milk, sour cream and bacon to the bowl of potato flesh and mix to combine. I didn't have that many potatoes so I did this by hand, but if you have a lot I would suggest using a hand mixer to combine the potatoes, milk and sour cream. Then add in the bacon. It should be the consistency of mashed potatoes. Fill up the potato skin boats with the mixture and top with cheese. Put under the broiler, on high, for about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Quick Shrimp Alfredo

I'd been thinking all day about what I was going to make for dinner tonight. Taylor wanted leftover roast from Saturday night. I however took leftovers for lunch today, and probably will tomorrow too, so I was NOT eating that again. I wanted something quick, but really good. I got home from work around 5:30 and was sitting down to eat at 6:00. Not bad! This isn't an authentic alfredo sauce, but it tastes similar so that is the name I chose.

Jaime's Quick Shrimp Alfredo
Source: Me
Serves One

1 cup uncooked Jasmine rice
2 cups chicken stock
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp Alouette Garlic and Herbs Cheese Spread - See product rave below.
1/2 cup milk - give or take
parmesan cheese, to taste
10 medium shrimp - I only had frozen shrimp, but this would have been even better with fresh!
parsley and red pepper flakes for garnish


Add the sesame oil and pressed garlic to a sautee pan over medium heat. Add the uncooked rice
and stir to coat. I have found that toasting the rice prior to cooking adds a nutty background flavor, which in this case is enhanced by the sesame oil. Toast for about 5 minutes, stirring often.


Add the rice to the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Stir and then cover, reducing the heat to simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes. **You will have more rice than you need for the sauce and the shrimp. I plated my serving and saved the rest in the fridge for another quick dinner idea to come soon!**


While the rice is cooking, add the Alouette to the sautee pan from earlier (make sure you remove all the grains of rice) over medium low heat. Add a little milk and stir. As the cheese spread melts, continue to add milk. The amount of milk you need to add depends on how thick you like your sauce. Once the Alouette is completely melted and combined with the milk, add parmesan cheese. Increase heat slightly continuing to stir. Add the thawed, or fresh, shrimp to the sauce and let cook completely. Stir the sauce every once in a while, coating the shrimp. Once the shrimp is done, you can reduce the heat to warm/simmer and wait on the rice to finish cooking.

Once the rice is done, pour sauce and shrimp over one serving of rice. Sprinkle parsley and red pepper flakes on top. A perfect, quick, simple weeknight dinner!