Tortellini Skillet with Shrimp

We have grown to love this. Shrimp is on sale almost every Friday at Safeway or Albertsons. 

 1 pound package cheese tortellini pasta, cooked and drained

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

3 tbsp. salted butter

1 roma tomato, diced

2 leaves basil, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp. all purpose flour

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat.
• Add shrimp and let cook for about 2-3 minutes, until not longer translucent. Add in diced tomato, basil, and cloves and stir.
• Saute for 1-2 minutes and stir in flour. Once flour is completely stirred in, add heavy whipping cream and parmesan cheese.
• Stir and add in cheese tortellini.


• Toss to coat. Serve with more shredded parmesan and basil. 

POTATO SOUP/CLAM CHOWDER

I made a lot of different soups at the deli but I think Clam Chowder may have been the favorite. This potato soup is made the same way only without clams. It's not fancy and comes out very thick sometimes but you can always adjust the milk. Ron prefers it without the celery. 

1 lb. bacon, diced
1 large onion (2cups), diced
1 cup celery, diced
10 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced
8  cups chicken broth
1 quart heavy cream
White pepper
1 stick butter

In an 8 qt pot, put diced potatoes and chicken broth just to cover (add a little water if potatoes aren't covered).  Cook until potatoes are very fork tender. 

Brown bacon until crisp. Remove from pan. Add onion and celery to bacon grease and cook until translucent, drain grease and add to potatoes. Add cream and white pepper. 

Put in bacon bits if desired. If soup appear too thin, add some potatoes buds to thicken. If too thick add a bit more milk.  Stir in butter and let sit, covered, for awhile before eating, salt and pepper to taste (or refrigerate and reheat later).  Serves maybe 16

If you want clam chowder add a large #10 can of clams and its juice. (I don’t put celery in clam chowder. Hold back a couple cups of broth, then adjust liquid) 

You can leave the bacon out if you'd like.  Sauté the onions in the butter. Finish as above. 

FETTUCCINI ALFREDO WITH SHRIMP OR CHICKEN

1 # Shrimp, peeled and deveined

or 1 # Chicken Breast, cut 1"

5 TBS Butter

12 oz Fettuccini

1 1/2 cups Half & Half

1 large clove Garlic, crushed

Pinch ground nutmeg

Juice of 1/2 a Lemon

Black Pepper

3/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

Cook fettuccini as directed. Keep warm.

Melt butter in large skillet. Add shrimp or chicken. Sauté until done. Remove from pan. To butter in skillet, add half & half and garlic. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add nutmeg and lemon. Toss in warm fettuccini, chicken or shrimp and half cup cheese. Toss again. 

Serve warm with remaining cheese on top. 

I like this equally well with jumbo shrimp or chicken. The sauce will not be thick. If not eaten immediately it will separate. If you need to hold longer, sprinkle a little Wondra on half & half during the last 2 min of cooking.

Serves 8. ( Not in the Jarrell family).

ROASTED SALMON WITH WHITE BUTTER SAUCE

5 1/2 # whole Salmon filleted

with skin on cut in 8

1 TBS Vegetable Oil

Sea Salt

pepper

4 TBS white wine vinegar

4 TBS dry white wine

2 shallots finely chopped

1 tsp crushed white peppercorns 8oz chilled butter cut into pieces

1/2 Lemon

Heat oven to 450*. Brush the skin side of the Salmon with the oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brush a large baking sheet with oil and place the fish on it skin side up. Roast the fish 8-10 minutes until the skin is crisp and the fish flakes easily. Transfer to a warm plate. Keep warm.

While the fish is roasting make the white butter sauce. Boil the vinegar, wine, shallots and peppercorns in a heavy sauce pan for 5-10 minutes until the liquid is reduced to 1 TBSP. Turn the heat down very low and wisk in the butter 1 piece at a time, moving pan on and off heat if necessary, so it forms a smooth sauce. Do not heat too much or it will melt to an oil. Strain the sauce. Squeeze 1 tsp lemon in the sauce. Stir. Taste for seasonings.

Serve as soon as possible. Serves 8.

My friend Pam Waters found this somewhere for one of my dinner parties.

SHRIMP GUMBO

•4 ounces vegetable oil

•4 ounces all-purpose flour (by weight)

•1 1/2 pounds raw,whole,medium-sized 31-50 count shrimp

•2 quarts water

•1 cup diced onion

•1/2 cup diced celery

•1/2 cup diced green peppers

•2 tablespoons minced garlic

•1/2 cup peeled, seeded and chopped tomato

•1 tablespoon kosher salt

•1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

•1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped

•1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

•2 bay leaves

•1/2 pound Andouille sausage, cut into 1/4" pieces and browned

•1 tablespoon file powder (or 2 lbs Okra)

Directions:

Make the Roux:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the vegetable oil and flour into a 5 to 6-quart cast iron Dutch oven and whisk together to combine. Place on the middle shelf of the oven, uncovered, and bake for 1 1/2 hours, whisking 2 to 3 times throughout the cooking process. 

While the roux is baking, de-head, peel and devein the shrimp. Place the shrimp in a bowl and set in the refrigerator. Place the heads and shells in a 4-quart saucepan along with the 2 quarts of water, set over high heat and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour or until the liquid has reduced to 1-quart. Remove from the heat and strain the liquid into a container, discarding the solids.

Once the roux is done, carefully remove it from the oven and set over medium-high heat. Gently add the onions, celery, green peppers and garlic and cook, moving constantly for 7 to 8 minutes or until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the tomatoes, salt, black pepper, thyme, cayenne pepper, and bay leaves and stir to combine. Gradually add the shrimp broth while whisking continually. Decrease the heat to low, cover and cook for 35 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the shrimp and sausage and stir to combine. Add the file powder while stirring constantly.

Cover and allow to sit for 10 minutes prior to serving. Serve over rice.

This is mostly Alton Browns recipe. A little time consuming, but, it is so worth it. Not too hot (spicy) like people expect Gumbo to be.