4 Tips To Never Grilling Rubbery Shrimp

We love shrimp and getting them cooked tender, juicy and knowing when to remove them from the grill before they turn to rubber can be a challenge.  I follow the American test kitchen challenges.  I got this tip yesterday and it is great, try it next time your going to grill up yummy shrimp.  I served it with rice. 

4 Tips for Cooking Foolproof Tender, Juicy and Spicy Grilled Shrimp Skewers
When the weather gets warmer, we like to make this easy grilled appetizer. But just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s foolproof. The secret is in the shrimp size. Here’s what they discovered:

• Extra-large shrimp are the key to even cooking on the grill. Crowd the skewered shrimp in tight rows to allow for more direct heat and better charring.
• For best results, use metal skewers. Wooden ones have a tendency to burn. You will need four 12-inch skewers for this recipe.
• Pepper jelly becomes a syrupy glaze when reduced on the stove. Fresh lime juice cuts through the sweetness and spice of the jelly to create a well-balanced glaze for the shrimp.
• Brushing the shrimp with melted better before grilling keeps them moist over the heat.

Spicy Grilled Shrimp Skewers

Serves 4

1. Pat shrimp dry with paper towels. Thread shrimp on skewers and brush with 1 tablespoon butter. Season with cayenne and salt.

2. Heat jelly in saucepan over medium heat until bubbling. Off heat, whisk in remaining butter, lime zest, and lime juice. Cover and keep warm.

3. Grill shrimp over hot fire until lightly charred, about 2 minutes per side. Brush with glaze. Serve.


Shopping List For Spicy Grilled Shrimp Skewers:
Pantry/Dry Goods

hot red pepper jelly, 1/2 cup 

cayenne pepper, 1/4 teaspoon 

Salt to taste
grated zest, 1 teaspoon

unsalted butter, 4 tablespoons 
extra-large shrimp, 1 1/2 pounds

Five Meals from One Roasted Chicken

This post is meant to offer a suggestion on using a Roaster to it's full potential.
 1. First up a Roasted chicken
 2. Dinner with mashed potato, pea-mushroom-onion mix and cranberry sauce
 3. Cleaned chicken and made Chicken Salad for Lunches
 4. Depending how much is leftover there may be enough to make a chicken pot pie
 5. Boiled up the remaining chicken and made Chicken Soup.
     Ok that is five meals from one 6-8 lb Roaster.


This is the shopping list.  Remember always shop your frig and pantry FIRST...

• 6-8 Lb Roaster
• onion
• garlic
• salt
• pepper
• lemon
• thyme
• paprika
• red cayenne pepper
• butter
• half and half
• sour cream
• peas
• mushrooms
• celery
• mayonnaise
• carrot
• dry mustard
• dill weed
• frozen pie crust
• chicken broth
• 1 quart of Kitchen basics chicken stock
• Orzo or other small pasta
• lettuce
• tomato
• cucumber
• olive oil
• lemon
• mint
• oregano

Wash and dry the chicken.  Add salt, pepper and thyme both inside and outside.  Add 6 garlic cloves and two lemons halved inside the cavity.  Roast and when done let it rest at least 1/2 hour before serving. 
Make the pea, mushroom and onion mix.  Saute onions until transparent add the sliced mushrooms cook until they are reduced a bit and then add the peas some salt and pepper.  Toss together and serve.  Make the mashed potatoes.  Boil 6 potatoes.  When ready to mash add 4 oz of sour cream, 1/2 to 3/4c of half and half
and salt and pepper to taste.  Open can of Cranberry sauce.  Enjoy this Delicious chicken dinner.

Remove all the meat from the chicken keeping all that is left over.  If you have enough to make the chicken salad and the chicken pot pie, separate your portions. 

Chicken salad:  Cut up or break up chicken and put in a bowl.  Dice 2 celery sticks and one carrot then add that to bowl.  I add salt. pepper, dill weed, dry mustard, red cayenne pepper and mayo then mix it all together and it is ready to go.

Chicken pot pie:  In a fry pan saute an onion, add the can of peas and carrots salt and pepper and a can of cream of celery or chicken soup heat through.  Toss in the rest of the diced up chicken.  Place it all in the bottom pie crust and then top with the other.  Bake 350 for about 30-45 minutes.  Serve with a garden salad.  I use a simple dressing of salt, pepper, olive oil, lemon juice, oregano and mint.

Chicken soup:  Take the rest of the chicken and place in a pot.  Use the quart of stock and finish filling with water to cover, it should not need much after you add the stick to the pot.  Add one celery stick, 1/2 of an onion salt, pepper and a little thyme.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for a good 1/2 hour.  Strain the broth through a calendar into another pot.  Boil up 1/4 to a little less than 1/2 lb of small pasta.  drain that and add that to the broth.  Serve with a sprinkle of Asiago or Parmesan Cheese and enjoy a good bowl of simple soup.

This is what I do with a roaster.  I think I got all of the ingredients right and as for the recipes, I did not write them out as I believe you are a cook too and will add your own flair.  Use what I have given as a guideline.

I hope this was helpful.  I look forward to hearing you comments.

Until next time...God Bless you
Narde~Banks

18 Meals from One Chuck Roast

Thank you Gramma and Sandra-Lee kitchens

This is my very first post here.  I have been learning many new subject and making small changes in the way I live everyday for the past year.  Today I learned a lesson after implementing new information on a very old technique.  So here it is:  I love to cook like an "Old Stove".  My Grandmothers and Aunts were the first to teach me to cook when I was very young.  One of Gramma Ida's recipes was a 4 lb. beef roast in the oven and this is the way it is done:
 
Place the roast into a 13 x 9 baking pan.  On top I add one can each of Campbell's mushroom soup and Cream of Celery soup spreading that mix all over the roast.  Then add one envelope of Lipton beefy-onion soup mix over that.  Finally add 3/4 can of spring water and cover the pan with foil.  Place in a pre-heated oven at 325 and roast slow for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours.  What comes out is a roast that literally shreds apart and melts in your mouth laying in a sea of blissful deliciousness from the soup mixes.  This is where a nice crusty loaf of Italian beard comes in handy to mop up all that sauce.  Holy smiley, it is wonderful.  I usually serve this with mashed potatoes and carrots.  We have been know to eat it all, or nearly all of it during supper.  Who could help it?  Slowing down a bit we then found we had a small amout left over and all that great soup sauce.  It took me years to learn to turn that into a small beef stew for another meal.  This gave me two for one.  Not bad, I was indeed pretty pleased about that and never thought about it again until yesterday.  I have decided to eat less meat over all and this is what happened to my long loved recipe.

I took the same ingredients and did the exact same things except instead of having it for dinner night before last I covered it and put it in the frig until yesterday.  I then cut off a 5" piece of the roast leaving me at least 3 more of the same intact.  I then shredded this 5" piece and discovered it made nearly 5 Cups, yes, 5 cups of shredded beef. 

I then made 4-6" Beef Wellington pockets (using 2 cups of the 5 I mentioned above) from one sheet of Pepperidge Farm Flaky puff pastry.  This is one of Sandra Lee's kitchen recipes.  Each one with a large garden salad made 4 complete meals.

Then took the other 2 + cups of shredded beef and made a Beef Stoganoff.  By mixing all but 1 cup of the soup sauce with a little sour cream, worchester sauce, tarragon, dry mustard, a dash of tabasco, salt and pepper.  I stirred in the beef and poured it over a package of wide egg noodles. This made 8 more meals.

Then cutting that roast yet one more time gave me 4+ cups of beef, so I turned 2 into dinner with the mashed potatoes and carrots as always along with that 1 cup of soup sauce I reserved that resulted in 2 more meals and yes, we did mop the sauce with crusty Italian bread, just not a whole loaf!
 
Lastly, the piece that was left over made 2+ cups of shredded beef.  I froze this in a Freezer bag for a few more meals giving us 15 to 8 meals in all.  Wow!  Now that is somthing, simple and smart.  If nothing else it is something to think about?

Well, I had no idea how far the gift of a simple 4lb beef roast would go.  Each an unbelievably delicious meal.  I am so happy I have begun to use the lessons I have been learning that enabled me to see that in eating less meat at a sitting, my family could eat many more meals and a wider variety for so little money.  This is stretching a dollar and cut of meat wisely.  That gift of a 4lb beef roast turned into 15+ meals.  

I am so happy to be able to share this news with you here.  If anyone is interested in sharing their helpful tips or would like to try one of these recipes just post it here.  I look forward to sharing posts together with you.  I am excited to in hearing how you stretch your dollars, groceries and home decor transformations.  Please tell me what your superpower is.

Thanks for reading and I hope you will share your fav's here with me. 

Until next time enjoy Justamere Simple Life for what it is...Simply wonderful!

Narde~Banks