"Fill in the Blank" Fried Rice

My hubby's birthday was this past weekend and he requested we have him a little party. Well if you have ever been to one of my family's parties, you would know that we tend to go overboard. We had buffalo chicken dip, spinach dip in a bread bowl, ranch dip, chips/bread/pretzels/carrots/celery to dip, jalapeno poppers, ribs, meatballs, pulled pork, coleslaw, cheese fries, and shrimp rings. Needless to say, we had a LOT of leftovers! Mostly the shrimp, carrots/celery, buffalo chicken dip, ribs, and fries. Not to mention all those chips. I know there was NO way we would ever eat it all, so I decided to have friends over to make something with the leftovers. I decided to make shrimp friend rice which would use up the shrimp, carrots, green onions. So alas, this recipe was born!
I call it "Fill in the Blank" Fried Rice, because you could use any meat you like. I happened to have the shrimp, but if I didn't, I would have used the ribs and made pork fried rice. You could leave meat out and have it vegetarian. You could add any veggies you like to this dish. I have seen recipes with bean sprouts, peas, mushrooms, etc. It is so versatile!

"Fill in the Blank" Fried Rice
Printable Recipe

4-5 garlic cloves diced
1/4 lb carrots peeled and diced
1 small onion diced
3 green onions chopped
3 eggs lightly beaten
1/2 lb shrimp peeled and deveined
3-4 cups cooked rice
2-3 Tbsp soy sauce

1. Heat a wok or large pan over medium high heat. Add oil to pan and heat, then add carrots, onions, green onions, and garlic. When veggies are softened, remove from pan (I just put it in a large bowl).
2. Return pan to heat and add more oil. Add 3 eggs and continue to beat while cooking (kind of like scrambling, but a little faster). When cooked through, add to bowl with the veggies.
3. Return pan to heat and add more oil. Cook shrimp until cooked through (opaque). Do not overcook. Add shrimp to bowl with eggs and veggies.
4. Return pan to heat and add more oil. Add rice to pan and turn until slightly golden and heated through. Add rice to bowl with veggies, eggs, shrimp.
5. Add soy sauce over rice mixture and stir everything to combine.
6. At this point, you may need to add some of the mixture back to the pan to heat through.

So yummy....stay tuned for more recipes from the party!

Shrimp and Grits

So I did eventually use the rest of the ricotta in a ricotta ice cream that I found a recipe for on Foodnetwork.com. I tried to make it low fat by using low fat ricotta and skim milk, and I came out horrible...I won't bore you with the details. Onto a delicious meal...

I love shrimp and I love grits. I have often heard people dreamily talking about how delicious they are together, but didn't think they made a good pair. One night my hubby and I were out to dinner at Stumps Supper Club in Channelside. I saw they had this dish on their menu, so I thought, why not...I'll try it. It was AMAZING!! One of the best meals I have had a restaurant...really THAT good. I am sure it was quite unhealthy.
I was recently reading the newspaper and came across a shrimp and grits recipe...so I thought I would try it out. I didn't have the recipe in front of me, so I cooked the grits according to the package (get the quick cooking and NOT the instant), added some salt and cheese. Then I cooked the shrimp in a little butter substitute, garlic and a splash of wine. Put them together and viola! Delish!!
Here is the recipe from the St Pete Times article

Cheesy Grits and Shrimp

3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups quick-cooking grits
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
For the shrimp:
4 or 5 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced (optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tablespoons sherry or white wine
2 pounds medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
To cook grits, bring water and salt to a boil. Pour in grits, stir and turn the heat to low. Stir regularly for about 7 minutes. Stir in pepper and cheese. Stir until cheese melts and set grits aside while shrimp cooks.
For shrimp, melt butter in medium-hot skillet. Add onion, garlic, jalapeno and salt and pepper. Cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add sherry or wine and shrimp. Cook until shrimp is mostly pink. Turn off burner and let residual heat cook shrimp the rest of the way through.
In individual bowls, scoop out some grits and ladle shrimp with some of the juice on top.
Serves 4 to 5.

Hope you like it!