Recipe of The Day: My Shrimp Etouffee!

It's no secret I love to cook. Our family loves shrimp and I love southern recipes. For those that don't know, I am of Puerto Rican decent. I love the food from my island and I love food from the south (New Orleans style). I decided this weekend that I was going to create a dish with both my Caribbean flavor and the Cajun flavor to represent both Puerto Rico and New Orleans with a twist. Last week Giant had their shrimp bags on sale for $3.99. They originally $7.99 so that $4.00 savings is just what I needed to get two bags to feed my family of 4.

My kids love shrimp so much, they'll eat it every day if they could. I started to prepare the shrimp and peel away the shell. I set them aside and started working on my rice. I have included step by step instructions for both my rice and the shrimp etouffee.

What you'll need:

• 5 pounds fresh shrimp, peeled, and deveined
• 1 cup of butter
• 4 tablespoons of pancake mix
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 large white onion, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons paprika
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 tablespoon of Goya Adobo
• half a packet of Goya Sazon
• 1/4 teaspoon of oregano
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• Goya medium grain rice
• 1/4 cup of Canola Oil
• 1 teaspoon of sofrito 

I use a caldero to cook rice. A caldero is a Spanish rice pot. For the 3 piece set, you'll pay $26.99 + Tax at Target. Which you can see pictured below. The sofrito is made from scratch. You can always buy the store bought version but making it homemade is always better. There are many different  recipes for sofrito that you can find online. My family adds something a little different and since it is a family recipe, I'm afraid I won't be able to share that. 

Directions for white rice:

In a medium caldero (spanish rice pot), pour 1/4 cup of canola oil, 2 cups of white rice, 2 1/2 cups of water, and salt to taste and cook on medium heat until the water evaporates.

Turn down to low heat, cover with lid and cook for about an hour. 

Move the rice around on occasion so that the rice is cooked evenly.

Directions for shrimp:

1. In a large skillet, melt butter and saute onions, and garlic for about 45 minutes or until they are cooked down.
2. Stir in pancake mix and cook briefly, do not brown! Stir in shrimp until they turn completely red (10 minutes).
3. Pour in 2 cups of water. Stir in paprika and season with salt, white pepper and black pepper, oregano, sazon, adobo, chicken bouillon cube, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 30 minutes. The sauce should be thick and have a gravy-like consistency.
4. Serve shrimp over rice and enjoy!