Shrimp Stuffing {recipe}

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”

The lyrics to that song truly resonate with me because I believe them wholeheartedly. I enjoy getting together with family and friends, celebrating the reason for the season and ringing in the New Year. One of the things that I love the most is being able to share my culinary prowess with my family. I love to cook but when I am home but frequently I am the only person eating (because after all these years my son remains a picky eater). To prevent myself from regaining the 50 plus pounds I’ve lost, I keep my special holiday dishes to a minimum unless I have people around me to enjoy the food as much as I do!  

This year I’m thinking of taking a non-traditional approach to holiday cooking and want to serve a stuffed salmon or bluefish for guests (in addition to my famous sweet potato pie)! Since I’ve never prepared a seafood stuffing before, I had to take the recipe on a test run. The other day when I was perusing facebook, I saw a college friend of mine had been featured on The Chew and won a cook off with her sister for her seafood stuffing! I knew I had to try it but I made instead of using shrimp and crab, I simply used shrimp for the one I prepared. To cut down on my work, I used a bag of small peeled, deveined, tail-off shrimp from Walmart and did not chop them.

I also used Pepperidge Farms Herb seasoned stuffing mix for my base and of course used all the herbs called for in the recipe to punch up the taste!

I have to say, it was delicious! Delicious! Delicious! Stuffing is my favorite side dish and I am quite happy about this particular one. It is so tasty that I might consider making it outside of the holidays. I am not a big carb eater - because I absolutely LOVE them and I’ve found for me once I get on the carb train, I have a hard time getting off! Carbs equal extra pounds for me so maybe this stuffing will be in rotation 4 times a year and that is that!

Of course I will also have shrimp cocktail and other fine recipes on the table when I entertain. As a matter of fact, I have gained a lot of ideas when I visited Walmart headquarters this year. I am especially fond of the baked brie with berries that I tried there. And if you are looking for holiday entertaining inspiration, you can check out the Walmart Holiday Entertaining Circular. I can’t wait to be home for the holidays to spring this recipe on my family!

Zuleika’s Shrimp and Crab recipe

(reprinted from ABC.com)

Fish Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 pound jumbo shrimp (peeled and cut into 3 or 4 pieces)

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

3/4 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning

3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon ground bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1 red pepper (minced)

1 green apple (minced)

1 lemon (juice and zest)

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

sprinkle of fresh parsley (chopped)

12 ounces lump crab meat

Stuffing

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 small yellow onions (minced)

3 cloves garlic (minced)

2 stalks celery (minced)

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon poultry seasoning

1 1/2 cups plain breadcrumbs

1 1/2 cups buttery crackers (finely crumbled)

Method

For the Fish Sauce: place a large high-sided sauté pan or medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, butter, shrimp, garlic powder, onion powder, lemon seasoning and Italian seasoning, and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the bay leaf, basil, black pepper, mustard, paprika, pepper, apple, lemon zest, chicken broth, parsley and crab meat. Stir to combine, bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the Stuffing: in a separate large high-sided sauté pan or medium saucepan, add butter, olive oil, onion, garlic, celery, apple cider vinegar and poultry seasoning, and sauté until translucent. Add breadcrumbs and crackers, and stir to combine. Add warm fish sauce a little at a time until completely incorporated. Transfer mixture to a baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and let sit for 30 minutes or until ready to serve.

Preheat oven to 375

Bake for 10 minutes to warm through.