Shrimp Scampi

We helped my husband's parents bag fresh shrimp last week. As payment, we get shrimp by the quart (about 1.5 lbs. each) whenever we want it. So, last week I brought home 3 quart-sized bags and put them in our freezer. Scampi is another quick and easy dish that we could easily have once a week I didn't mind us all reeking of garlic. I usually make homemade Foccacia bread and serve a salad if I have my act together enough to make one.

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs. fresh shelled shrimp
• butter (Under no circumstances are you to use margarine. If you don't have butter, wait until you get some before making this. Seriously.)
• fresh garlic, minced - as much as you like (You can use the already minced in olive oil, but you need it as fresh as possible...no dried.)
• white wine (I prefer to have the real stuff; better flavor and more depth.)
• 1 c. sliced fresh baby Bella mushrooms
• 1-2 tsp. flour
• 8 oz. angel hair pasta
  

Method
Saute mushrooms in plenty of butter. Reduce heat and add in garlic. Cook for approximately one minute being careful not to burn the garlic. Toss in some white wine and more butter. Add a little white wine (or water, if you prefer) to the flour to make a slurry and then add to mushrooms and garlic. You want the liquid to be the consistency of a thin gravy and you want plenty of it to coat the shrimp and be the sauce for your pasta. So, keep adding in butter and white wine until you get it how you like it. If it needs to be thicker, just make the flour/wine/water slurry to thicken it a bit. Just remember NOT to add in the flour on its on. It doesn't make friends with the other ingredients very easily and will stick together and get all lumpy. Not good.

While you're doing all this, cook your pasta according to directions; drain, toss with a little olive oil and keep warm.

Now that your sauce has come together and your pasta is ready, it's time for the shrimp. Toss it in and cook for about 3 minutes or until no longer pink. You want to keep it moving in the pan so that it all cooks together and gets a good coating of the sauce. Remove from heat and toss in pasta.

You can serve this a number of ways. Sometimes I add in little pieces of broccoli when I add in the garlic and let it cook in the pan. Other times I've blanched some asparagus and then served the scampi over it. Delicious! I've also tossed in some torn pieces of fresh spinach after I've removed the scampi from the heat and just let the spinach wilt a bit. Oh. my. So good.

I'll post the Foccacia recipe later. Time to get cooking for tonight!

Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

This has become a favorite of ours. So much so that when I was preparing it the other night and my kids asked what we were having, their response was "Oh good! I love that!"

Ingredients
1 box Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice
1-10 3/4 oz. can cream of mushroom with roasted garlic condensed soup
1-10 3/4 oz. can cream of chicken with herbs condensed soup
milk
2 chicken breasts
1 large head broccoli

Method
Preheat oven to 350F. Cook rice according to package directions. While the rice is cooking, boil chicken in large pot for approximately 10 minutes. Allow chicken to cool; dice. Cut broccoli into small pieces and steam for 2 minutes. Drain water and set aside.

Combine soups, rice, chicken, broccoli and one soup can of milk. Pour into 3 qt. baking dish and bake 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

*Quick and Dirty Method*
Use a rotisserie chicken and pull off enough meat to equal 2 cups. Microwave 2 packages of the Uncle Ben's Ready Rice, Long Grain and Wild Rice. Combine all ingredients and bake as above.

I sometimes saute a few mushrooms if I have them in the fridge and toss those in as well. You can easily substitute another veggie for the broccoli or omit it completely and serve a different side. I like combining it all because I'm lazy like that.