Camarones en Crema con Cilantro (shrimp in a creamy cilantro sauce)

Despite the fact that at least half of the meals I cook at home are Cuban in origin, I haven't shared many of those meals on the blog yet. Maybe it's because we tend to eat those meals so quickly I don't get a descent photo of them before they're gone. Needless to say, there will be many starch-free versions of Cuban recipes in the future.

This is a really simple and delicious recipe to make, and can be a quick dinner if you don't have much time to spend cooking. I used a version adapted from this book.

Camarones en Crema con Cilantro
6-8 servings
3 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 large, ripe tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves (I usually put in a lot, because we love cilantro)
1/4 cup dry sherry
2 1/2 lbs large raw shrimp, shelled and deveined

for the sauce:
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup fish stock, chicken stock or clam juice (I used chicken stock, because I had that on hand)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
few dashes of Tabasco sauce, optional

1. In a large skillet over low heat, melt the first amount of butter. When it begins to foam, add the garlic, tomatoes, cilantro, sherry, and shrimp, and cook, stirring, 4-5 minutes.

2. To prepare the sauce, in a saucepan over low heat, melt the second amount of butter. When it begins to foam, raise the heat to medium and whisk in the stock, milk and cream and cook, whisking, until the mixture comes to a boil. Add the salt, pepper, Tabasco and Worcestershire.

3. Add the sauce to the shrimp, stir to blend, and cook over low heat 3-4 minutes. I like to serve this with either cauliflower "rice" or mashed cauliflower (as in the photo).

Homemade Pesto & Baked Pesto Chicken

{baked pesto chicken and kale}

For most of my life, I thought I didn't like pesto, but I think I was comparing store-bought to home made. And man, does it make a difference if you're eating it home made. Pesto is one of the quickest and tastiest sauces around and I like that it's so versatile. You can use it with baked chicken, zucchini noodles, starch free bread, on fish, etc. And you can change up the herbs and nuts depending on what you have available. I like to use walnuts, but almonds will work just fine. (P.S. I'll tell you about making kale another day.)

Pesto
makes about 1 1/2 cups
2 cups fresh basil or cilantro leaves (packed into a measuring cup)
3-4 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup walnuts or almonds
3/4 cup coarsely grated/shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 a lemon's worth of freshly squeezed lemon juice
salt and black pepper to taste

1. Wash basil/cilantro leaves if needed and dry. Put basil leaves and sliced garlic into food processor (or a blender if you don't have one) that's been fitted with the steel blade and process until basil and garlic is finely chopped, adding oil through the feed tube as you mix. You're going to have to take off the lid and scrape the sides with a rubber scraper periodically to make sure it all gets mixed.

{processing the basil & garlic}

2. Add walnuts, Parmesan cheese, and lemon juice to the chopped basil mixture and process 1-2 minutes more, until the pesto is mostly pureed and well mixed. Season to taste with salt and black pepper and pulse a few times more.

3. Store any leftover pesto in the refrigerator, where it will keep for more than a week. Pesto can also be frozen.

Baked Pesto Chicken
makes 4 servings
1 lb. chicken (I used boneless thighs, but breasts work well too)
salt and black pepper
1 cup pesto
4 oz. mozzarella cheese (I buy mozz. in a block because shredded cheeses usually have added starches to keep it from clumping)

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Trim all visible fat and tendons from chicken pieces and season with salt and pepper. 

2. Spray a 9" x 12" baking dish with non-stick spray, then spread 1/2 of the pesto over the bottom of the dish. Lay chicken pieces over the pesto, then spread the rest of the pesto over the chicken, making sure to cover all of the pieces.

{pre-baking chicken + pesto}

3. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil (or use a baking dish with a tight-fitting lid) and bake the chicken for 25-30 minutes, just until chicken is barely firm and cooked through. But don't cook too much at this point, or the chicken will be overcooked by the time the cheese is melted and browned.

4. When the chicken is barely cooked through, remove foil and spread the chicken with mozzarella cheese slices. Put dish back into the oven without foil and cook 5 -10 minutes more, until the cheese is melted and lightly browned. (If your broiler is separate from the oven, start preheating it when you take the chicken out.) After I melted the cheese for 5 minutes I switched my oven to broil and broiled for 5 minutes more, just long enough to get the cheese lightly browned.

{ready to eat}

Fancy Scrambled Eggs

Eggs. If you're keeping starch free, eggs become a very versatile part of your diet. On weekend mornings, we usually stick to some variation of eggs (whether they're scrambled, fried or in omelet form) along with a fresh fruit and maybe some bacon. Almost all berries and melons can be counted on to be starch free, so we eat those breakfast fruits most often.

One of the things that's nice about scrambled eggs (omelets too) is that you can use whatever you have on hand as the extras. I usually throw in some chopped green onions, either fresh cilantro or basil, deli ham if we have it and some cheese at the end. I'm including some different flavor combinations after the recipe for you to try out. (The scrambled eggs pictured were made with green onions, cilantro and white cheddar cheese.)

Ingredients:
4-6 eggs
salt and pepper
cream or whole milk
herbs, cheeses, etc. 


For 2 people, crack 4 (or 6 if you're really hungry!) large eggs into a bowl, add a pinch of salt and pepper, a splash of cream/whole milk and any herbs or extras you're using. I usually don't add my cheese until the end, but you can mix it in the bowl before you cook the eggs, if you like.

Put a small saucepan (don't use stainless steel for eggs, they'll stick) over low heat and add a tablespoon or two of butter. Let it melt until it gets frothy, then pour the eggs into the pan and stir them slowly. I use a silicone spatula to stir the eggs because it lets me scrape everything from the sides of the pan, so none of the eggs stick.

Your eggs are done then they're silky and looking slightly underdone. They still cook themselves after you put them on your plate, so you want to remove them from the pan before they look completely cooked or they'll actually overcook and get leathery. Once on your plate, grate the cheese of your choice on top of the eggs.

Variations:
-- deli ham and cheddar
-- green onions, cilantro and white cheddar
-- basil, 1/2 tomato (chopped & drained) and swiss
-- bacon (previously cooked and crumbled) and your choice of cheese
-- cilantro, monterey jack and home made salsa (These should be added after the eggs are done. And we use home made salsa because store bought salsas usually test starchy.)
-- sauteed onions, basil and swiss

I'm sure there are a million more.  What are your favorites?