Thursday, January 10, 2013

Shrimp, Scallops and Sleeping Babies

Day 2 of inventory continues... I confess I did not get as far as I could have because I am a sucker for a sleeping baby. I love love love it when Joy naps on me. Did I mention that I love it? She gets all warm and snuggly and gives off that sweet sleeping baby smell.  Her little hand will reach up and touch my cheek every once in a while *melt*, well, you get the idea.

So today I only got to my side-by-side in the kitchen.  This is also a great way to do some purging and get your cabinets and refrigerator clean (although, I am a maniac about keeping my refrigerator clean and organized).  Where was I? Freezer, right.

One of the many things I discovered in my freezer were some giant sea scallops left over from our Christmas La Vigilia. Score!  About 6 months ago I found the most amazing shrimp recipe on Pinterest.
We love shrimp and if I can get a good deal on the 16/21 count bags I will stock up. I can honestly say that I make this at least 3 times a month. I have searched and searched to give the original pinner credit but my pin only links to a photo.  Here is my write up of the recipe.

Amazing Shrimp

1 pound peeled, deveined 16/21 count shrimp
1 stick butter
2 - 3 lemons thinly sliced
1 packet Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in oven in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Once butter has melted layer the lemons over the butter. (I like to have one round lemon slice per shrimp.) Add shrimp to baking dish and sprinkle with Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix.  Bake for 15-17 minutes.

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That is it! It is so simple and so yummy. 15 minutes seems to be perfect for 16 shrimp if there are more the time my take a little longer. You want to check frequently because you don't want rubbery shrimp! Before I serve it I give everything a nice stir and give the shrimp a nice coating of that melted lemon butter.  I have also been known to layer some really thin asparagus spears on the bottom between the butter and the lemon, as well as add a 1/2 cup of white wine.  That is the beauty of cooking, you get to play!

Well, along those lines I wondered how my amazing shrimp recipe would be if I turned it into Amazing Scallops!  If you guessed amazing... you are right! So here it is:


Amazing Scallops

1 pound sea scallops
1 stick butter
2-3 lemons thinly sliced
1 packet Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in oven in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Once butter has melted layer the lemons over the butter. Add scallops to baking dish and sprinkle with Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix.  Bake for 13-17 minutes depending on the thickness of your scallops.

Notes: I cut my scallops in half and gave them a quick sear on both sides so they would have a nice golden color. Taking into account the thickness and sear time I only baked my scallops for 8 minutes and they were perfect.

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Again, so simple, so easy and super delicious.  Unfortunately, my husband has contracted the bug that started at my sister's house and he really was not able to fully enjoy the yumminess, so I plan to make this again for him as soon as he is feeling better.

I served the scallops with a multi grain pilaf and creamed spinach. My Beauty ate hers right up and asked for seconds. I am very lucky that I have a child who will eat just about anything I put in front of her.  When people ask me my secret I tell them it is because I have always just fed her the same things we were eating.  Don't get me wrong the child has a love of noodles that is almost pathological but I can put anything in the noodles and she will eat it.

Tomorrow is a day in the kitchen for me.  I am making a soup to bring to the Double H Ranch with us on Saturday (the Beauty has another ski day), I am making a baked pasta dish for my girlfriend who had a death in her family, my husband is out of breakfast burritos and freezer sandwiches so those need to be made as well.  I guess tomorrow will be another recipe post.




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