by Elizabeth Dengler, The Huckleberry Home
We have finally moved into some cooler weather, days are getting shorter, and we had a little bit of rainfall. I even noticed our fire danger in Stevens County dropped from “Severe” to “Very High”, so I’m starting to feel optimistic as we move towards the autumn season. And I want to give a huge “Thank you” to all the firefighters in the area who worked ‘round the clock to get the 15,000+ acre Ford-Corkscrew fire under control. Watching those aircraft on continuous loops from the lake to the fire line was something to behold. Thank you so much!
I thought I’d share with you all one final recipe that I did outdoors at the end of the last heat wave. I’m not quite sure what inspired this meal, other than I wanted to do something different for dinner. I got to thinking, “why don’t we ever do a shrimp boil?” Of course I didn’t want to melt standing over a boiling pot of anything so, I thought, why not do it up outside in my electric skillet? I knew I’d have to boil the corn, but I wouldn’t have to babysit the boiling pot. Our friends dropped off a mess of corn the previous day, which was perfect and I had leftover Hill’s German Sausages in the fridge. I always have shrimp and hash brown potatoes in the freezer. It really came together quite easily. I served up the Shrimp Skillet with a side of freshly sliced veggies from our garden. My husband said it was a proper southern meal that reminded him of his time in New Orleans. I like trying new things with food, especially when they turn out so tasty. I hope you enjoy this one as much as we did!
For a print copy of this recipe, click here.
Shrimp Skillet
1/2 pound frozen Southern style hash brown potatoes (I use Mr. Dell’s, we called them “home fries”, they are not the shoestring looking hash browns)
1 lb medium shrimp shelled and deveined (because I was shelling them anyway, I removed the tails, but you can buy cleaned shrimp with the tail on and use it as is)
2 ears of corn cut into 2 inch pieces (for the love of God, be careful that you don’t chop off a finger, keep those digits clear of the blade)
1/2 pound or 3 large links of smoked sausage, sliced (andouille has the best flavor, but almost any smoked sausage will work: German, Polish Kielbasa, Hot Links etc.)
4 T butter, divided
2 T Old Bay Seasoning
1 t dried oregano
½ T dried parsley
Ground black pepper to taste
Chipotle Chile powder or cayenne pepper or cajun seasoning to taste
Put your corn pieces in a pot of salted water, bring to a boil, boil for 90 seconds then remove from heat. Your corn can hang out in the hot water while you prepare everything else. Turn your skillet to 375 degrees, add 2 T butter. When the butter is melted and bubbly, add your frozen hash brown potatoes. Cook your potatoes, uncovered for 5 minutes, toss and cook for an additional 5 minutes until nice and browned. Add your sliced sausages to the skillet along with your corn pieces. Heat, uncovered for 5 minutes. Add the last of your butter, all the seasonings and your shrimp. Give it a couple gentle tosses with your spatula and cover. Cook until the shrimp turns that nice pink color, should only take a couple minutes. Turn off the skillet, gently toss again, taste. Add more seasons accordingly. Serve it up with some fresh sliced veggies on the side and dirty rice (wild or white rice works too). For drinks, you can’t beat sweet tea or lemonade, although cherry coke is pretty good too.
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