Curry Shrimp

Curry Shrimp

Remember when I said that you won't be able to find a curry recipe here?

Here's the thing...

I LOVE CURRY SHRIMP!

Well, I love shrimp in general but when it comes to curry shrimp, 

I'm a happy little camper!

So learning how to cook curry was kind of a MUST in this case...

Let's start by talking about this ^...

In Trinidad, we call it Bandania or Chado Beni.

In America, it's kind of hard to find.
It's called Recao at my local Caribbean grocery store and it's kinda of a MUST.

It tastes pretty similar to Cilantro but it's definitely not the same.

Anyway...

Make a green seasoning out of it.

3 Leaves of Bandania

5 Cloves of Garlic

Blend it up with a little water...

It should look like this ^

RECIPE

4 lbs of Shrimp

2 Tomatoes, chopped

1 Medium Onion, Chopped

1 Tbsp of Vegetable Oil

2 Tbsp of Curry Powder

1/2 Habanero Pepper (optional)

Green Seasoning (recipe above)

Mix your cleaned shrimp, onions, tomatoes, green seasoning and pepper together.

You can do this the night before and leave it in the fridge if you'd like.

In a large pot, heat you oil on high.

Mix a little bit of water into your curry powder in a bowl and add it to your HOT oil.

Fry it up for a bout 30 seconds or until you see the color change and it starts to cook.

Add your shrimp mixture into the pot and stir it to combine.

Your shrimp will start to produce liquid. 

Just let it cook until the liquid cooks off and it starts to fry.

Depending on your stove, your cook time will vary. 

Gas stoves tend to cook fast because of higher, direct heat.

Once your shrimp is at this state ^,

just let it cook on med-high heat.

And you will get this^.

I added a little water towards the end to make sure I had enough sauce.

All of the solid seasoning that you added at the beginning 

should not be solid anymore.

You will only have shrimp and sauce at this point.

That's how you will know it finished.
Add salt to taste.
Adding salt before this will cause the shrimp to produce more liquid
and you would end up overcooking.

You're Done!

Serve over rice with a nice green salad.

ENJOY!!!

Chocolate Covered Oreos

Chocolate Covered Oreos

Ok, Let's talk about overindulgence.

I think these cookies might be somewhere in the definition... 

Just Sayin'

BUT, I have a good excuse for making these! 

I SWEAR!!!

No, really I do!

See, My Big Sis is preggers and I'm kind of obsessed with the idea 

of being an aunty for the first time.

Her baby shower is just around the corner and we decided to have a SWEET BAR!

A table full of desserts and candy!!!

How fun does that sound??

I KNOW RIGHT!?!?

I figured I should get some practice in before the big day...

So, here I am, trying to be fancy... Kinda...

I Googled sweet bars and was bombarded with pictures of chocolate covered Oreos.

Seems simple enough...

What You Will Need

Package of Oreos

Various Bags of Melting Chocolate

Edible Decorations of Your Choice

Fork or Spoon

Wax Paper

Plastic Food Storage Bags

Food Coloring

Melt the chocolate according to the directions on the package.

The baby shower is a Nautical Theme and the colors are 

Navy Blue, Yellow, and Gray.

You can just get a few bags of white chocolate and add in food coloring but

I was lucky enough to find yellow and blue chocolate at the craft store.

Of course, You can use any color that you like.

Dip your Oreos into the melted chocolate.

And lay them on a sheet of waxed paper. 

Using a fork or spoon will make this process much easier.

Leave it alone for a few minutes and the chocolate will firm up.

Here's the fun part!!

Time to get fancy!!

Pour some of the colored chocolate into a plastic bag and 

squish it all down to one on the corners.

Yeah, I said SQUISH!

How often in life do you get the chance to use that word?!

Cut a tiny hole at the tip of the bag and drizzle over the cookies.

Don't worry about making a mess. 

Once the chocolate dries, you can just break off the edges that are crazy looking. 

Or if you're trying to be fancy like me, 

use a sharp little knife to carve the edges into the perfect circle.

All Done!! 

It's pretty easy once you get a a mental picture of what you want it to look like in your head.

These things are amazing!! 

And this is coming from a girl who isn't the biggest fan of sweets.

When I make these for the actual shower, I'll have to find navy blue food coloring.

These are a bit to bright... 

But that's not your problem so I'll just shut up about it.

Anyway, Have fun making these and don't worry about messing up 

because there's no such thing in this recipe! :) 

Well, I guess you could accidentally burn the chocolate, 

but if you don't do that, you'll be OK.

ENJOY!!!

Spicy Salmon Cakes

Spicy Salmon Cakes

Whenever my friends and I get together, I hear this...

Are you making those fish cakes???

And YES, I make them every time... 

I mean, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't??? 

I've been making these since high school and I haven't gotten tired of them yet!!!

It's so simple to make and I even came up with a quick little sauce to make

them Ooooooo & Aahhhhhhh... 

Anyone can do this!!!

This is it... All the ingredients you need.. 

See?? 

I told you it was simple!!!

SALMON CAKE RECIPE

2 Cans of Salmon (drained)

2 Cups of Chipotle Panko 

3 Eggs

2 Tbsp of Old Bay

1 Green Pepper (diced into small cubes)

4 Large Cloves of Garlic (grated)

4 Green Onions (chopped)

Black Pepper to Taste

Red Pepper Flakes to Taste

Ok, Time to get messy!!! 

Mix all of your ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Put that spoon down!! 

Use your hands!! 

You really want to work this together so don't be afraid to get your hands dirty!

Form the mixture into small patties. 

If it's too dry, add an egg. 

If it's too wet, add some more Panko.

Just make sure it sticks together and isn't falling apart...

In a shallow frying pan, add enough vegetable oil to fry these babies up!

You want to have enough oil to cover the bottom half of the patties when frying.

Heat the oil to medium heat.

Too hot, and it wont cook through.

Too cool, and it will just be an oily mess...

When the bottoms are golden brown, flip them.

Be careful not to burn yourself!!!

Place the cakes on a few sheets of paper towels to drain off the excess oil.

At this point, it's a struggle to resist the urge to eat them all 

before they hit the serving platter!!! 

Fight it!!! Be Strong!!!

While you fry up the rest of your salmon cakes, 

here's something to distract you from sneaking tastes!

Time to make the sauce...

SPICY TATAR SAUCE RECIPE

1 Jar of Tatar Sauce
Spoonful of Hot Pepper Sauce
3 Green Onions (chopped)

Ok, Now I know I just scared you!! 

What is that?? 

Well it's pretty much my mom's homemade hot pepper sauce.

She grinds up habanero peppers, garlic and vinegar and we eat it with everything!!!

It's a Caribbean thing... We keep jars of it on hand!!!

And I tend to over-do it in my sauce, but that's how I like it!

Hot! Hot! Hot!

You can buy different versions of this in the international section of your grocery store, 

or just use your hot sauce of choice.

Or, If you're not into the spicy business,

skip it all together and just use plain tartar sauce.

Mix it up and set aside. 

I'll admit .... at this point, 

I've already eaten 3 or 4 salmon cakes...

I couldn't help myself!!!

Put what's left of it on a pretty platter and serve!

ENJOY!!!

Shrimp Alfredo

Shrimp Alfredo w/ Bacon

If I had to eat the same thing every single day of my life, it would involve shrimp. 

Don't ask me why, because I couldn't tell you...

Maybe because it's so easy to cook, or maybe because it just about works in any dish imaginable... 

Umm.. Ok Maybe not any dish.. but you get what I'm saying..

Don't you?

I'd just agree so we can move on...

I usually NEVER use spaghetti pasta, but today, for some reason I decided to do so.

I'm pretty sure something distracted me and I just picked this one by accident.. But it worked.

Side Note: Do you get as overwhelmed as I do when looking for the right pasta? 

Is there any shape that they DON'T come in??? 

Geesh!!! 

Oh, I tend not to measure when cooking. I use my best judgement, 

but I'll try my best to estimate for you all. Sorry!

RECIPE

4 Tbsp Butter

4-5 Cloves of Garlic

4-5 Stalks of Green Onion

1/2 Lemon

1 Large Bag of Medium Size Shrimp

1 Box of Spaghetti 

1 Jar of Bertolli Mushroom Alfredo (Don't Judge Me!!)

5 Strips of Bacon

In a large pan, melt about 4 tablespoons of butter 

and grate in your cloves of garlic.

Oh, did I mention that I have a deep love for garlic?? 

Like seriously, we are in love!! 

Just when your butter and garlic are starting to give you that "Oh My Goodness" smell,

toss in your shrimp.

I used frozen shrimp that were cleaned and had the tails still on. 

This is totally up to you. I was just trying to get a little fancy.

Let your shrimp cook until they turn ^ this color.

Chop up your green onions, toss in and squeeze 1/2 a lemon into the mixture.

Ok, this is a little embarrassing... This is not something that I do.. 

I NEVER use jarred Alfredo sauce.. NEVER!

So... If my sister saw this, she'd laugh at me! She taught me to make 

Alfredo sauce from scratch a loooong time ago and now I always brag about how I make it better...

And then I bought this.. Really? 

Shame on me!!!

But, I must say... It tastes pretty amazing once you add all the stuff that I just did...

Once you add in your sauce, just let it simmer for a while so all of those flavors have time to mingle...
While they chat... fry up your bacon or microwave it... whatever your method is.. Just make sure it's crispy!

And chop it up!

This is pretty much the end of the story...

Add in your bacon and pasta and toss together.

Put it all in a pretty dish and let it set up. The sauce will thicken after a few minutes. 

ENJOY!!

First Blog :)

It's happening! I'm actually doing this!

Here's the thing... 

I get these great ideas and then... 

well... 

Lets just say, my comfy PJs and YouTube tend to distract me. 

But Santa got me a new camera and I'm kind of obsessed with it... 

And then THIS happened! 

Light Bulb! 

Why don't you start a Blog.. 

And 2nd Light Bulb! 

Why not make it about what you love to do... Cooking!!!

Well, Let's be honest, eating is my favorite thing, but I gotta cook it first, right? 

So here I am.. Rambling already and I haven't even introduced myself... MANNERS NADIA!!!

Hi! I'm Nadia! I'm a 20-something year old, living in the Bay State by way of Trinidad & Tobago!

I'm a Caribbean girl, yes, but finding Curry recipes here might be hard for you to do. 

Just Sayin'

I'm an animal lover, makeup freak, and crafty beyond my control! I'm pretty much distracted by anything shiny so bare with me as I ramble through my blogs, and I promise you, you won't be disappointed!

I love all cuisine, OK well... MOST... 

I'm going to try my best to test out new recipes and I welcome you to take this journey with me! 

Here we go....