Wednesday, July 6, 2016

It was a Cajun theme in my kitchen today.  Here’s what was cooking – Cajun Shrimp and Rice and Homemade Bread with Cajun Butter.  Super simple!  I set my bread machine to bake an Express loaf of bread and pulled the rest of the meal together while the bread was baking.  Now, it all sounds a little fancy – just go ahead and let everyone think it is.  They’ll never guess how quick and easy this meal comes together.  They’ll think you were in the kitchen for hours… and maybe they’ll do the dishes! 🙂  Have a happy Wednesday, everyone!  Enjoy!

Cajun Shrimp and Rice

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of butter, divided

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 teaspoons of Original Creole Seasoning (I use Tony Chachere’s)

1/2 teaspoon of Paprika

2- 12 ounce packages of frozen cooked shrimp, extra small, peeled, deveined, tail off

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon of onion powder

3 cups of cooked white rice

1/4 cup of water

Thaw shrimp in cold water per package directions.  Heat 1 tablespoon of butter, olive oil and garlic in a large skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add Creole seasoning, paprika, and thawed shrimp and cook, stirring until the shrimp begin to curl, about 1-2 minutes.  Season with salt, pepper and onion powder.  Cook and stir for 1 minute.

Add cooked rice, water, and 1 tablespoon of butter.  Stir to incorporate ingredients.  Continue to cook for about 3 minutes stirring frequently so rice doesn’t stick to pan.  Give it a taste and add more salt if desired.

I love this Oster bread machine.  I’ve had it 15 years or more.  One Thanksgiving, I made 11 loaves of bread.  And, when everyone was preparing for Hurricane Katrina, staple foods quickly disappeared from grocery shelves and bread was hard to come by.   Thanks to this little bread machine, we were grateful to have bread for days.  I misplaced the Oster cookbook that came with it, so I was extremely excited to come across this recipe.  Anyway, that’s my story!  🙂

Bread Machine Express Bake White Bread and Cajun Butter

Ingredients:

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (9 ounces) of hot water

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups of white flour

5 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Place into bread machine pan in this order:  water, oil, sugar, salt and flour.

Make and indentation with finger on one side of flour and add yeast so it doesn’t touch liquid.

Select the Express bake option on your bread machine.

(Recipe Source:  SparkRecipes)

Cajun Butter

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper*

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon pepper

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients.  Spread over corn on the cob or bread.

(Recipe Source:  tasteofhome.com)

*Note:  Because I’m a big chicken, I omit the cayenne pepper.  🙂  Enjoy!

♥Tawnya