I couldn’t go wrong. Both Emeril and Ellie were in my kitchen
When I asked the girl serving at the fish counter in our local market about 1 1/2 lb of medium, raw shrimp, she steered me away from the ones in the display and, pointing to the “Emeril” bag of frozen shrimp, said “these are your best choice”. Who am I to question that fishy chick?
I was excited about this CEimB night and cooking up a shrimpy dish because I really enjoy shrimp. A true seafood lover which is why I could never declare myself a true-blue Vegetarian. When I saw what Cookies With Boys chose as tonight’s main feature, I was beside myself! And FETA cheese as well?! Oh Heaven!
I surfed a little and found a couple of suggested alterations for this recipe which were right up my alley. 1. Add a little crushed red pepper. 2. Add wine.
Adding the wine was a no brainer since there was so much to use from our Wine and Food Pairing Party last Saturday. I like a little spice in my life so the red pepper worked for me. However… I forgot to add it.
I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned. Not sure why because this time of year in New York (maybe even where you are), the tomatoes look really nice, all red and plump, but they lack flavor. Still… something about “fresh” makes me think “better”. They sure did smell good when being chopped and smashed! A green bell pepper was also a spur of the moment addition.
Here are the ingredients used with another change: I tossed that old McCormick Dill Seed and used Spice Hunter dill.
My procedure:
I cooked the onion with 3/4 green bell pepper (chopped) for about 6 minutes.
Ted smashed the chopped fresh tomatoes and, after adding the garlic, we added the tomatoes along with 1/4 cup very light, somewhat sweet red wine (the Abby Rose). Brought our mixture to a boil, however instead of thickening, it got juicier. Probably – well, definitely, the fresh tomatoes fault.
After simmering for 10 minutes, I transferred the mix to a baking dish with a slotted spoon to get rid of some of the juice. Added my cilantro instead of parsley, dill, shrimp, salt and pepper, put in the oven for 20 minutes.
We served our Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta with broccoli and snap peas cooked in Glenora Riesling (another left over wine).
What did we think of this dish? Well, Ted enjoyed it and I was not thrilled. I really wish I hadn’t forgotten about that crushed red pepper. In my opinion, it needed a bit more flavor.
- Was it the tomatoes?
- Was it the wine?
- Was it the Emeril shrimp?
- Was it the cilantro instead of parsley?
- Should I have used fresh dill?
I really don’t know. It was easy to make and with some adjustment, we just might embark on this adventure one more time.
Good pick Pamela of Cookies With Boys!
Your last photo is seriously gorgeous! Great job!
The picture looks just like Ellie’s. :o) Thanks for cooking along with me! I think it needed a bit of a kick, too. I skipped the fresh dill and parsley, so my flavors came from the tomatoes and the garlic. Next time, I would add some red pepper, too. I used frozen shrimp, too. It’s so easy and I always have some in the freezer. Thanks again!
It looks phenomenally good! Sorry you didn’t love it. Maybe the pepper will be just the ticket next time. I used fresh tomatoes as well (grape, diced up) and though the dish was very flavorful. Just didn’t get as much of it as I had hoped.
It looks great, your presentation definitely makes it look delicious! Sorry you didn’t like it as much as you had hoped.
Well, it certainly looks great. I make this recipe all the time and think it is quite tasty. You should give it another try.
I had read a comment on the CEimB page about lack of flavor so I threw in a little dried oregano…I also added some of the red pepper flakes too, that seemed to work. I used fresh tomatoes too…they smelled so good all cut up! Yours looks great… maybe you can try again with some extra spice?
Yeah…it really wasn’t my favorite either. But my husband liked it. Great post.
It looks delicous. Sorry it didn’t turn out. There is always next time.
Looks delicious! Sorry it lacked flavour- I’m sure you could adjust it to taste next time 🙂
I hate that you thought the recipe lacked flavor. I added some white wine and tomato paste and thought the dish was fabulous. I should have thought to add some red pepper flakes too!! I will definitely be making this dish again and I hope you give it a try again too!
I added a little white wine to mine and I had to use chicken but we thought it was very tasty. Sorry it didn’t measure up with you, but yours looks fantastic. And I love your post on lip balm!! Mine probably crackle right now, but I’ve had some fever this week so I’m allowed.