Dirty Shrimp in Beer Butter Sauce

Just the title makes you want to check this recipe out, doesn't it??

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs. shripm, shelled and deveined
4 TBS butter
2 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt, to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup beer

DIRECTIONS:

Saute garlic and herbs in butter until garlic is slightly browned. Add shrip, stiring constantly until shrimp are pink and done. Pour in beer, simmer 1 minute more and serve!

VERDICT:

Sure, there are a lot of spices involved, but what could be easier than this recipe? And the flavor is great. Of course I added a bit more red pepper flakes than the recipe called for (and garlic too), but the spicy rich flavor can't be beat. This easy dish is a perfect accompaniment to BBQ season!

Firey Asian Beef Kabobs with Hot Garlic Sauce

So... yeah... there's no picture with this recipe. That seems to happen a lot when we have steak for dinner. It is eaten up so quickly there's no time for the artistic food picture.

Anyways, this recipe came from Kikkoman, and it's pretty stinkin' good. Here's the details:

INGREDIENTS

1-1/2 pounds boneless beef sirloin steak, 1 inch thick
1/4 cup Kikkoman Soy Sauce
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
Hot Garlic Sauce (recipe below)
6 metal or bamboo* skewers

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut beef into 1-inch square pieces.
2. Combine soy sauce, pepper, oil, lime juice, garlic and ginger; pour over beef in large plastic food storage bag. Press air out of bag; close top securely. Turn bag over several times to coat beef well. Marinate 30 minutes, turning bag over once.
3. Meanwhile, prepare Hot Garlic Sauce.
4. Thread beef onto skewers, leaving space between pieces.
5. Cook kabobs on grill 5 inches from hot coals, 3 to 4 minutes on each side (for medium-rare), or to desired doneness. (Or, broil kabobs on rack of broiler pan, 3 to 4 inches from heat source, 3 to 4 minutes on each side [for medium-rare], or to desired doneness.)

Serve with Hot Garlic Sauce.

VERDICT

I skewered the beef with red peppers and zuchhini, the flavor was great! I'm not really sure what the sauce was for though. It was very runny (1/2 a cup of water??) but it did add some flavor to the plain white rice I cooked up.

French Onion Soup

Well... this isn't exactly a new recipe. It's actually a favorite recipe of ours. But since the "new" recipes are a little scarce this year, I thought I'd share it.

INGREDIENTS:

¼ cup butter

2-3 large yellow onions, sliced

1 cup dry white wine

3 cans (14 oz) beef broth

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp salt

½ tsp dry thyme leaves

French bread, sliced

Provolone cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Melt butter in large skillet. Add onions and cook until brown. Stir in wine. Combine onion mixture, beef broth, Worcestershire, salt and thyme in slow cooker.

Cook 4 hours on low.

Serve with bread and cheese on top, broiled in oven to melt cheese.

VERDICT:

Well, I pretty much already gave you the verdict. This soup doesn't take many ingredients, cooks all by itself while you're doing other stuff, and tastes great.