Recipe #1

Okay so this is a New Year's Resolution I can get behind. I mentioned in my last post that I want to try one new recipe a month and blog about it. Well, I must say, January has set the bar pretty high. I made Spicy Shrimp Stuffed Potatoes (courtesy of the just delightful and I'm sure, delicious, Paula Deen. LOVE her!)

Here's the recipe:

For the Potatoes:

6 large baking potatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp kosher salt

2 c shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

1c sour cream

3 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 c (1/2 stick) butter softened

2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400. Line a rimmed baking sheet with heavy duty aluminium foil.

Rub potatoes with olive oil; sprinkle evenly with kosher salt. Place on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour or until potatoes are tender. Let stand until potatoes are cool enough to handle.

Cut off top 1/3 of potatoes; scoop out potatoes pulp into a large bowl, leaving shells in tact. Set potato shells aside. Add cheese, sour cream, butter, cream cheese, and 2 tsp salt to potato pulp. Using a potato masher, mash to desired consistency. Spoon mixture evenly into potato shells. return potatoes to baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Top each stuffed potato with spicy shrimp.

Spicy Shrimp recipe:

2 1/2 large fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tbsp all purpose flour

2 tsp crushed red pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 c butter

1/4 c minced green onions

3 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 c chicken broth

1/4 c fresh lime juice

1/3 c chopped fresh cilantro

In a large bowl, combine shrimp, flour, red pepper and salt. Set aside.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium high heat. Add green onions and garlic; cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add shrimp mixture; cook for 1 minute or until shrimp are just pink. Add broth and lime juice. Cook for 2 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Stir in cilantro. Serve over stuffed potatoes.

(If you want the printable version you can go here)

Okay so this was reaaaally good. The shrimp were sooo good and I don't know if I will EVER make baked potatoes any other way than the recipe above. If you are NOT a spicy food fan, I would suggest only using a little of the red pepper because it was pretty spicy. But everything had such a great flavor. I just made a salad and dinner was complete. Everybody said they enjoyed it but James liked it the best which, of course, made me ridiculously happy. Nothing like impressing the hubs! Here's a picture of the yummy shrimpy goodness

Okay. There it is! Number one! And I must say, this is starting out to be a delicious year!