• 6 pounds large shrimp, heads on, don't peel them
• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary leaves
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

Rinse the shrimp in cool water, and drain.  Spread the shrimp in a large shallow baking pan and set aside.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then add the rest of the ingredients.  Mix well.  Remove the butter sauce from the heat and cool for about five minutes.

Pour the sauce over the shrimp and let stand for an hour.

Heat the oven to 325ºF. degrees.  Bake the shrimp for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring the shrimp around with a spatula a couple of times.  Do not overcook.

Serve in soup bowls with lots of hot French bread to sop up the sauce.  Be sure to have some trays around for the shells and such.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

Serves 4

• 4 salmon fillets, each about 180 g and 1 inch thick
• 1/4 cup red-pepper jelly
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 to 2 teaspoons hot chili-garlic sauce
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Stir red-pepper jelly with Dijon and chili-garlic sauce in a small bowl until combined.
Spray an oven-proof baking dish with non-stick spray (or use parchment paper) and spread jelly mixture over the

fish.

Bake at 400°F for approximately 25 to 30 minutes.

Serve with asparagus and rice.

Serves 4

• 3 medium lemons
• 4 (1-pound) white fish (tilapia, flounder, red snapper)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
• pinch of salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons red pepper sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Heat oven to 400ºF.

Slice 2 lemons into 8 round cuts. Arrange lemon slices so that 2 slices will serve as a bed for 1 fish fillet.

Combine thyme, salt, and pepper and sprinkle evenly over fillets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until fillets are opaque in center.

Meanwhile zest 2 teaspoons of lemon peel from remaining lemon, place in a small bowl with butter, hot sauce and 1 tablespoon parsley, stir well.

Serve each fillet topped with equal amounts of seasoned butter and remaining parsley.

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Nutritional analysis per serving: 159 calories | 8g total fat, 3g sat fat | 62mg cholesterol | 76mg sodium | 0g carbs | 0g dietary fiber | 0g sugar | 23g protein | Vitamin A 459 U | Folate 30mcg | Calcium 17mg | Potassium 356mg

Have you ever needed a quick, healthy way to cook fish without turning on the oven or starting up the grill?  Well, I came across some old recipes for poaching fish that I really thought you should know about.  Poaching takes hardly any cooking time and it's a great way to produce a mildly flavored fish that can be used in different recipes.  Merely eating it straight out of the simmering Court Bouillon was good enough for me.  If I hadn't had another recipe waiting in the wings, I would have eaten my poached salmon sample (shown in the photo above) right then and there.  The photo above may not look very exciting, but trust me, that salmon is perfectly cooked and infused with simple flavors.

The old cookbook I was reading from said, "When poaching fish, it's important not to let the water or bouillon boil during the poaching process- only simmer.  Use thick fish fillets, steak or whole fish.  Wash fish or wipe it with a clean wet cloth.  It will keep its shape better if tied in cheesecloth or parchment paper or if placed in a wire or perforated basket."  I didn't bother with wrapping my salmon fillet samples; I carefully dropped them into the simmering pot and set the timer.  I'm sure if I had been using a leaner, more delicate fish, I would have tried the cookbook's way.

The old cookbook goes on to say, "Prepare boiling seasoned water or a court bouillon (see below), allowing 1/2 to 1 quart for each pound of fish.  Court bouillon is a highly seasoned flavorsome liquid for cooking fish.  For a mildly seasoned liquid merely add to boiling water 1 or 2 slices of onion, a few peppercorns and cloves, a small piece of bay leaf and 1 to 2 teaspoons salt.

Immerse fish in boiling water or court bouillon; cover, reduce heat and simmer 10 to 20 minutes or until tender; for whole fish allow 8 to 10 minutes per pound.

Drain; reserving cooking liquid for soups and sauces.  Serve fish with parsley butter or any desired fish sauce, or use as directed in any recipe calling for cooked fish."

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

COURT BOUILLON RECIPE

Makes enough to poach 2 to 4 pounds of fish.

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, sliced
• 1/3 cup carrot, diced
• 1/3 cup green bell pepper, diced
• 1/3 cup celery, diced
• 1 sprig fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 5 black peppercorns
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 1/2 quarts water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar or lemon juice

Heat butter in a large saucepot over medium heat.  Add onion, carrot, green bell pepper and celery.  Cook about 5 minutes or until soft but NOT browned.

Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and add fish.

Cover and simmer 8 to 10 minutes per pound of fish.  After cooking fish, transfer fish to a plate.  Strain bouillon and use for soups and sauces.  Discard cooked vegetables and spices.  The bouillon can be stored in the freezer until needed.

When I know my husband is going to miss dinner, that's my chance to try out recipes only I would eat.  You see, I'm not a picky eater.  There's only two things I've tried that I really didn't like; fried liver and octopus.  Anyhoo.  I absolutely LOVE fish, much in the same way I love spinach.  I stuff myself on fish every chance I get.  Unfortunately, that's not that often.  I have had a pound of Orange Roughy waiting on me in the freezer for the past two months.  When Charlie told me he wouldn't be home for supper the other night, I KNEW EXACTLY what I was going to eat.  I pulled out the gas grill, and reached deep into my pantry for extra hot spices and wild rice.

HERE'S WHAT I DID

• 2 Orange Roughy fillets, partially thawed
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil
• 2 heaping tablespoons mild green chilies
• 1 teaspoon New Mexico Chili Powder
• 1 teaspoon Chihuahua de Mexico Smoked Salt (black & smoky)
• 3/4 teaspoon Hot Spanish Paprika

Except for the fish, mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl.  Place the fish in a shallow dish and pour the marinade over it, being sure to coat the fillets on both sides.  Refrigerate until ready to grill.

Heat the gas grill somewhere  between 350º-375ºF.  Grill fish for 5 minutes on each side and it's done.  It doesn't take long to cook, that's why I recommend using a gas grill.  A charcoal grill would take longer to set up and use more energy than it takes to cook the fish.

If you don't have a gas grill, broil the fish.  Lay the fish on a greased sheet pan, set it on the middle oven rack, and broil until cooked through.  It should take the same amount of time as grilling.  Keep an eye on it.

I mentioned rice with this meal.  I just used a small bag of wild rice I had laying around, it wasn't fancy and it took 40 minutes before it was tender.  It was ok.  Instead of trying to tell you what I did with it.  I recommend picking up a packet of your favorite seasoned rice and fixing it up.  Rice is a well suited side with fish.  There's a lot of kickin' heat in this fish recipe, so pick a mildly seasoned rice that will cool the fire as you go.

With proper planning and a little prep work, Creamy Creole Shrimp and Pasta is a pretty simple dinner to pull off.  My sweet friend, Cheryl, emailed this recipe to me and said it was one of her family's all time favorite dinners.  I changed it up just a bit to match what I had on hand.  At first, I worried the kiddos would find it too spicy, so I chose a can of MILD diced tomatoes with green chilies and left out the Tabasco sauce.  That was a good choice.  The kids gobbled up their dinners faster than I could photograph my plate and sit down.

I asked my dear friends to taste test this recipe with me.  John and Kim frequently travel through Louisiana to visit family and they KNOW good Cajun and Creole food.  They found this to be an excellent dinner!  Kim recognized right away it did not have the heavy cream sauce or spicy heat traditional in Creole cooking, but she truly preferred the lighter sauce.  As for the spicy heat, next time I'll set the Tabasco bottle on the table and let the grown ups dash to their heart's content.

HERE'S WHAT IT TAKES

• 1 (8 oz) package linguine

• 1/2 cup or 1 stick salted butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 6 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 celery ribs, finely chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped

• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 (10 oz.) can diced tomatoes with Mild green chilies, drained
• 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

• 1 (2 lb.) bag frozen shrimp, medium size, peeled/deveined, thawed
• 1 1/2 cups Half-n-half
• a few dashes of Tabasco sauce (optional)

• Parmesan cheese, shredded
• fresh chopped parsley, garnish

PREP

Wash and chop all the vegetables, place in a medium bowl and set aside.  Make sure to have shrimp thawed, peeled and deveined; set aside and ready.

Heat chicken broth in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes in a 2 cup container.  Then, add the drained diced tomatoes with green chilies, Creole seasoning, dried parsley and pepper.  Set aside.

Begin large pot of water to boil to cook linguine according to package directions.

COOK

Melt butter in heavy saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add flour and cook for up to 5 minutes until mixture is a caramel color.  Stir frequently.

Add the bowl of finely chopped vegetables, cook 5 to 8 minutes or until soften. Stir frequently.

- - - This is a good time to add linguine to cooking pot of boiling water.

Add hot chicken broth with spices. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in as many dashes of  hot sauce as you can muster, if desired.

Stir in shrimp and half-n-half, cook 10 minutes.  Inside this time, the pasta should be cooked and ready to drain.
Add drained linguine to creamy shrimp mixture.   Stir until pasta is well coated.

Top individual servings with shredded Parmesan cheese and garnish with parsley if you like it that much.

Just so you know...

I heated up the chicken broth beforehand to keep the cooking temperature consistent.  I didn't have to wait to bring the mixture back up to a simmer before going onto the next step.

I didn't mention it above, but I warmed up the half-n-half, too.  I popped it in the microwave for 1 minute, just long enough to knock off the cold.  I didn't want it to bring down the temperature when I needed a full 10 minutes of medium heat to cook the shrimp.

• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1 1/4 tablespoon corn meal
• 3/4 tablespoon baking powder
• pinch of salt
• flour to thicken

Mix all but the flour together.  Dip shrimp in mixture, the roll in dry flour before frying.

Fresh, bright and super easy to bring together. This salad is delicious at room temperature and cold.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1 box Far East Tabouleh Wheat Salad
• 2 to 3 green onions
• 1 small cucumber
• 1 large tomato
• juice of 1 medium lemon
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 (4 ounce) package crumbled Feta cheese

• 15 to 20 raw shrimp, shelled & deveined
• olive oil
• salt & fresh ground pepper

Prepare the tabouleh as directed on the package. This first step requires that the tabouleh sit in the frig for one hour, so account for that.  I started the tabouleh in the morning before my day got started. Anyhoo.

By dinner time: Heat the oven to 400ºF

Chop the green onions, cucumber and tomato into the same size small chunks and place in large bowl.  Set aside.

Place the shrimp on a cookie sheet, drizzle a little olive oil on top, season with salt and pepper.  Toss with clean hands until shrimp is well coated.  Distribute shrimp evenly on cookie sheet.  Roast for 6 to 8 minutes until shrimp is pink and opaque.  Allow to cool a few minutes before adding to salad mix.

In the large bowl with the onions, cucumber and tomato, stir in the shrimp, lemon juice, and oil THEN toss in tabouleh and feta.  Serve at room temperature or refrigerate it for later.

You can make the tomato sauce base as mild or spicy as you prefer.  I started with a mild tomato sauce then added the spicy goods at the end when I brought the shrimp and sauce together.  I kept aside half of the mild sauce for the sensitive folks in my family.  That's just the way I have to roll.

HERE'S HOW EASY THIS IS

• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, seeded & chopped
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 (14 ounce) can plum tomatoes, chopped with their juice
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 pounds shrimp, peeled & deveined
• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley or 2 teaspoons dried
• 1 piece dried chili, crumbled or chopped (optional) OR 1-2 teaspoons of the tomato sauce that comes from the canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

Serves 6

In a heavy saucepan, heat half of the oil.  Add the onion, and cook over low heat until soft.  Stir in the celery and chopped bell pepper, and cook for 5 minutes more.  Raise the heat to medium high, and add the red wine vinegar and tomatoes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes.

Lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer until the veggies are soft, about 30 minutes.  Puree the sauce through a food mill OR a food processor then push it through a sieve with a spatula. Set tomato sauce aside.

Heat the remaining oil in a clean heavy saucepan.  Stir in the garlic, parsley and chili, if using.  Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until the garlic is golden.  Do not let it brown.  Add the tomato sauce and bring to a boil.  Taste for seasoning.

Stir in the shrimp. Bring the sauce back to a boil.  REDUCE heat slightly and simmer until the shrimp are pink and firm, 4-6 minutes, depending on their size.  Remove from the heat and serve.

My Notes

• It would be just as easy to use leftover, homemade tomato sauce from a previous spaghetti dinner.
• I happened to have been given garlic pickled with habeneros and used them instead of fresh garlic - WOW! They were HaahhOT & YUMMY!
• I didn't have a dried chili on hand.  But I had some leftover chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, and used the smoky tomato sauce to heat up the freshly made tomato sauce.  It deepen the flavor of the sauce and made it hard to stop eating.  I was drawn to sopping my plate before I could claim I was finished.

Zesty and light, shrimp sauteed in butter and lemon juice mixed with rice is a great lunch treat.

I caught this shrimp, on sale of course, and couldn't resist treating myself.  My husband and kids are NOT shrimp eaters, so I rarely cook it.  Have you ever noticed that you don't see a lot of fish or shellfish on this site?  That's why. Anyhoo.

HERE'S ALL I DID

• 6 to 8 shrimp, already shelled & deveined
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped red bell pepper (it was on hand)
  
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  
• juice from half a lemon
• salt & pepper

• 1/2 to 1 cup cooked rice (leftovers)
• 2-3 tablespoons cilantro or parsley

Since the cooked rice was really a leftover, I warmed it up in the microwave first.

In a medium fry pan over medium heat, cook bell pepper 2 minutes or so in butter, add shrimp, lemon juice, salt & pepper.  Cook shrimp until it becomes white, 1 1/2 minutes on each side.  Shrimp cooks fast! so don't walk away.

Add in the warmed rice and cilantro, toss together, cook just a minute or two more to get the rice hot.  Fix yourself a plate and EAT UP!