Thursday, June 5, 2008

Spicy Garlic Shrimp

A recipe I stumbled upon while looking for something to do with some medium sized shrimp:

1 pound of uncooked, peeled/deveined shrimp (medium size)
1 cup Buffalo Wild Wings Spicy Garlic sauce
3 tblsp of butter/margarine

Heat large skillet to medium heat. Soften then mix butter and sauce in a medium bowl. Add shrimp to bowl, cover with lid or aluminum foil/cellophane and shake until shrimp is coated in sauce. Sautee shrimp until pink and firm, 2-3 minutes on each side, while adding additional sauce to the skillet. Remove shrimp and spoon additional sauce over shrimp and serve.

A slightly spicy but very good and tasty shrimp dinner that takes little time, little effort, but lots of compliments!

Brats in the Oven

I love to grill, but without the necessary equipment, e.g. a grill, you have to come up with other ways to make some good food that is normally cooked on the grill. I am a huge fan of sausage, be it smoked, Polish, Italian, bratwurst, etc. I picked up two packages of brats, one beer and one Italian mild, along with some white onion, bell pepper, shredded kraut, pickled jalapeƱos. Second best way to cook sausage is wrap it in foil and bake it. Here is my take on oven-cooked brats.

Bratwurst of your choice (4-5 links)
1/2 can sauerkraut (or freshly made, somewhere between 1-2 cups, according to your liking)
3/4 cup white onion, chopped
1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup jalapeƱos, sliced

Preheat oven to 360-375, depending on how long you want to cook and how juicy you want the brats. I started about 350 and ended up around 400 just to get a idea of where to place it in the future. It took me about 30-40 minutes to cook under 350, and I cooked a few more minutes at 375 and 400. I would suggest about 25 minutes at 375 and 30-35 minutes at 360.

Lay out a big enough piece of aluminum foil to wrap the brats and other ingredients on a cookie sheet or baking pan. Place brats about two inches apart on the foil, and garnish ingredients over the brats, and wrap foil on top, leaving just a small vent at the top. Salt and pepper if you'd like. Place in oven after preheated.

Check after about 25 minutes to see if meat is a paler color than before. The casing, depending on what kind of brat you got, should be a white color or something lighter than the uncooked brat. the inside should be a very pale color throughout when cooking in completed.

I didn't need any additional ingredient, such as spicy brown mustard, ketchup, etc. I placed it in a bun, and enjoyed some of the juiciest, robust, and flavorful brats I have had in a while.

Luckily, I now have a grill I can cook my remaining brats on. I am also going to grill the onion and bell pepper, and warm the kraut over the grill, along with roasting me some beer brats.