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Southern Style Shrimp Jambalaya Recipe

Several years ago my husband and I took a trip down to Alabama and met a woman who ran a little diner-style restaurant on one of those back roads in the country. My husband ordered the Shrimp Jambalaya and enjoyed it. We asked her for the recipe and she said she would be back in a few minutes. About 10 minutes later, she hands us a slip of paper with her recipe handwritten on it.

We live in the Mid-Atlantic states so eating Southern-Style food every day is something we don't get to enjoy too often. Now when we make Darla's recipe, it brings back fond memories of our trip down to Alabama.

The only changes we make from her original recipe is that we like to use large sized shrimp and we use only a 1/2 of an onion. You can make the recipe with our changes or with her original version.

Shrimp Jambalaya

1 large onion, finely chopped

1/2 medium green pepper, chopped

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 lb. of raw medium sized shrimp

1 cup uncooked white rice

2 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon table salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 can (16 ounces) whole tomatoes

1/2 lb. sausage (cooked and chopped into bite-sized pieces)

In a stock pot, combine the chopped onion, green pepper, garlic and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Saute these ingredients over medium heat for 3 minutes. Stir in the shrimp and cook for 5 minutes or until they are no longer pink. You will need to stir it frequently to prevent sticking. Remove shrimp mixture and set aside in a bowl.

Cook the remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and the rice in the stock pot over medium heat, stirring often, until the rice has browned. This will take 8-10 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, salt, pepper, thyme, crushed red pepper and can of whole tomatoes. Heat this mixture to a boiling and then reduce heat. Cover and simmer until rice is tender (about 12-15 minutes).

Stir in the shrimp mixture and the chopped sausage. Cover and continue to cook until shrimp and sausage are hot. Serve immediately.

This recipe will make 4-5 hearty servings.

Shelly Hill has been working from home in Direct Sales since 1989 and is a manager with Tupperware. Shelly and her husband enjoy traveling and trying out regional recipes and food. You can visit Shelly online at http://www.workathomebusinessoptions.com or her recipe blog at http://wahmshelly.blogspot.com or additional free recipes.

What To Order In A Mexican Restaurant

If you tend to order the same items every time you visit a restaurant, you are really missing out! Some south of the border style eateries only offer the basics so if your local restaurant only has fajitas, tacos, quesadillas and burritos you would probably be better off finding a more traditional establishment or cooking your own authentic Mexican food recipes at home.

This cuisine blends the exotic with the simple, the spicy with the mild, and the nutritious with the flavorful. Millions of people love this exciting cuisine and you can find Mexican restaurants all over the globe, although they vary hugely in quality and authenticity.

You might find traditional dishes on the menu or it might be food which has been tailored to suit the western palate. A lot of the local food is very spicy, which is why some establishments tone down the piquant flavors. It is still worth trying some of the spicy dishes though, if your taste buds can bear it, just for the experience.

Because many people are unaware of the difference between Tex-Mex food and Mexican food (and in fact between junk food and traditional dishes), this cuisine is widely misunderstood. So what exactly should you hope to find on a good menu and what should you order?
Some Tasty Ideas

The menu will probably be based on meat, chicken, fish, and vegetarian dishes. There might also be soups and salads. Burritos feature on most Mexican restaurant menus and this meat, bean and vegetable mixture is tasty. You can order a fajita burrito if you want green bell pepper and onion instead of beans or a burrito bowl if you do not want a tortilla.

Try a side of pico de gallo if you like salsa. This is like a chunky salsa recipe and it is typically Mexican. You can usually get sour cream, shredded lettuce, and shredded cheese at no extra cost at Mexican eateries.

If you are familiar with burritos, fajitas and the usual dishes people order, why not try something different? Look out for chicken or turkey in mole sauce. Mole sauce is a mouthwatering savory chocolate sauce with a typical south of the border flavor.

Maybe you fancy a typical stew or soup recipe or even a layered salad. Trying new meals means you might stumble upon something amazing that you otherwise would not have found. You can ask the server for his or her recommendations and you might find out this way about some of the more unusual meals that you can choose from.

Secret Menu Items

Did you know that a lot of Latin restaurants in New York have "secret" items which are not listed on the menus? These are available by request and they are mainly to distinguish regular visitors from tourists.

These secret items might be special salads or taco fillings or they might be different sauces from what is listed on the menu. It is worth becoming a regular, once you find a good restaurant, so you can try different authentic Mexican food recipes each time you visit.

There is something for everyone with Mexican recipes because this cuisine is so varied. Eating out can be expensive though so the best way to sample plenty of delicious authentic Mexican recipes is to make your own at home.

MexicanFoodRecipes.org When it has to be Real Authentic Mexican Food

You Don't Have to Go Out For Good Food!

So here you are, a typical urban or suburban couple on a typical evening. The conversation goes something like this:

"What do you want to eat?"

"I dunno. What's in the fridge? We have any leftovers?"

"I want some good food for a change. Let's go out!"

And so away you go, and with tax and tip you end up laying out $40 or $50 for a meal that, while it is satisfying, is nothing you couldn't create at home for less than half the price if you just did a little preparation on your own. The secrets to good food aren't having tons of cooking knowledge or restaurant experience, they are preparation and the willingness to experiment and learn.

Say you love steak, but you're sure that the only way you'll get that steakhouse taste is to go to Ruth's Chris and lay out $60 or $80 per person for dinner. Would you believe you can get a steak just as good at home? It's true!

The first thing is to get the best piece of beef you can find. Steakhouses in general use USDA Prime beef, the best quality available. You'll pay up to $20 a pound for it, but that will be your only real expense for the adventure.

Next, you'll want to age it, unless the place where you buy it already does so for you. A lot of high-end butcher shops dry-age their beef, but if you can't find one that does, you can do it yourself in your refrigerator. Just put the steak on a rack over a plate or pan, cover it with a porous lid of some sort and place it in the back of your refrigerator for a couple of days. You'll end up with great aged beef!

Don't over season the beef, either. A little cracked pepper and kosher or sea salt put on a few minutes before grilling is all you need. Let the steak come to room temperature, then cook either over a hot grill or in a cast-iron skillet heated to 500 degrees in your oven. A couple of minutes on each side and you've got good food, as good as any restaurant, in your own home! It's easy to make good food.

Andrew Krause is a Chef and Pastry Chef for over 30 years, at persent I own a Gourmet Bakery called The Cheese Confectioner.

NOTE: You are welcome to reprint this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the about the author info at the end).