Shrimp Celebration Bisque

For more information and video instructions, check out Shrimp Celebration Bisque!

Shrimp bisque is one of the great graces in life. Creamy, fragrant and just the very essence of shrimp - mmmm. It's divine!
When I get my hands on great seafood, I like to work it for every drop of flavor. In this dish I made shrimp stock (easy) and used just a handful of ingredients to enhance the 'shrimpiness' that I wanted. I kept the broth simple, but it still just pops with flavor. So not only is it delicious, it's easy, and that's makes it Bombshell any day of the week.

The Recipe!


You'll need:



•4 cups shrimp stock

•2 cups heavy cream

•8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

•1 1/2 pounds fresh shrimp, cleaned and deveined

•4 Tbl butter

•4 Tbl flour

•1/2 cup sherry

•1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

•kosher salt and pepper to taste

•3-4 Tbl minced chives

1.Over medium heat, bring shrimp stock, cream and cream cheese to a bare simmer.

2.Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until cream cheese has melted and incorporated.

3.In a small bowl, make a buerre manie - that's just French for 'kneaded butter'. Mash the butter and flour together until you have a paste. This allows you to add flour to a hot liquid without getting lumps. Add the buerre manie to the hot stock, stirring well. Make sure you're keeping the stock at a bare simmer. Adjust heat as necessary. Add cayenne pepper.

4.Add the shrimp to the stock, and simmer for about four minutes. Allow the stock to simmer since you need to make sure the flour is fully cooked, and that it has a chance to 'do its thing' for thickening.

5.Remove from heat. To serve, I like to make a little shrimp island in a bowl, then surround it with the silky soup. Top with minced chives - and you're good to go!

How to Make Shrimp Stock

For more information, try How to Clean and Prep Fresh Shrimp.
If you are lucky enough to get your hands on fresh shrimp then you are lucky indeed. Check out How to Clean and Prep Fresh Shrimp, if you aren't sure how to deal with it when it's fresh. But make sure you hang on to the shells. Those shells are going to give you one of the best secrets in the culinary world - a great stock.




Shrimp stock can be used in just about any seafood preparation, although I have to say my favorite is in dishes that also contain shrimp. Use it for chowder, or stew, or a shrimp pot pie - any of these go from delicious to stellar when paired with a stock made of the same flavors as the main ingredient.



The best part of it all is that it is amazingly easy. Throw everything in a pot, and simmer. Not much more to it than that - and the reward is fabulous flavor!

For video instructions, check out How to Make Shrimp Stock.
You'll need:




•The shells (and tails if you have them) from about four pounds of shrimp. A note here - every time you work with shrimp, just toss the shells in a baggie and stash them in the freezer. You can add to it as you get more. Just use them within a couple months.

•1 1/2 yellow onion, roughly chopped

•1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped

•2 ribs of celery, including leaves roughly chopped. If you have the leafy heart, use that - those leaves have beautifully delicate flavor. Just use a few more since they're smaller.

•2 Tbl butter

•1 large sprig fresh thyme

•1 Tbl olive oil

•2 quarts of water

•1 Tbl kosher salt

1.In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, melt butter and add olive oil. Add the shrimp shells, carrot, onion, thyme and celery. Sprinkle with salt.

2.Saute for about five minutes, or until the shrimp shells are pink and the onions begin to show translucency.

3.Add water. There should be just enough to cover the shells and vegetables. Add a touch more if necesary. Bring to a boil.

4.Reduce heat until the pot is at a bare simmer. Simmer the shrimp stock for about 45 minutes to an hour, keeping the heat low, so the surface of the stock is barely moving.

5.Remove from heat and strain. Press the solids to get every drop of juice. If you want the stock absolutely clear, you can strain it through a couple of layers of cheesecloth. I normally simply use a fine wire mesh strainer.

That's all there is to it - you're ready to go. This is an amazing little process - you'll be stunned at the intensity of the flavor. Now - go find some shrimp!

Creamy Cheese Grits Primavera

Growing up in the South, we had grits all the time, and in the Appalachian mountains, most of those were stone-ground. That's simply a heartier, richer version of the traditional white grits most people are used to.




Now my Aunt Bettye makes some rockin' cheese grits - she got her recipe from my great Aunt Betty Bell - and from her mom and so on. Now I won't mess with the Aunts - their version is incredible and stands on it's own. But this is very different - the cream cheese melts, and gives a tiny tang and supurb rich creaminess without overwhelming the fresh veggies. The veggies are pan roasted then lightly braised quickly - and they give their bright crispness to the grits. It is just a little old love fest in a bowl. Completely different and absolutely delicious.

To see the video demo, click here!
You'll need:




•4 cup(s) of chicken broth

•1 cup(s) of stone ground white grits

•2 tsp. of kosher salt

•1 tbsp. of butter

•1 1/2 tsp. of olive oil

•1/4 cup(s) of yellow onion, diced

•1/2 cup(s) of broccolette, broccolini or broccoli florets

•1/4 cup(s) of diced orange bell pepper

•1/4 cup(s) of diced red bell pepper

•1/4 cup(s) of diced cherry tomatoes

•1/4 cup(s) of white wine

•1/4 cup(s) of chicken broth

•1 tsp. of kosher salt

•1 tsp. of cracked black peppper

•4 ounce(s) of cream cheese

1.In a medium saucepan, bring chicken broth to a boil. Sprinkle in grits, and reduce to a simmer, whisking well to prevent lumps. Add salt, and allow to simmer for about ten minutes while preparing other ingredients.

2.In a large skillet, melt together the olive oil and the butter. When the butter has become foamy, add onion and broccolette. Saute for about 3-4 minutes, or until onion has started to become translucent, and the vegetables are beginning to become fragrant.

3.Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt. Add peppers and cherry tomatoes to the skillet, adding another pinch of salt. Saute for another 2-3 minutes.

4.Add chicken broth and white wine to the skillet, scraping up any fond from the bottom of the skillet. Allow to simmer for another 2-3 minutes, reducing by about half.

5.Add cream cheese to the grits, whisking well to incorporate and allow cheese to melt fully. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Add approximately half of the vegetable mixture and most of the juices from the skillet to the grits, folding them in gently to incorporate.

6.To serve, place a cup or so of the creamy grits in a bowl, and top with a spoonful or two of the vegetable mixture, and a drizzle of the juices. That is all there is to it!

Tequila Lime Thyme Shrimp

Shrimp is a beautiful thing. It's gorgeously good for you - they're high in calcium and protein both. If cholesterol is an issue, you will need to use some moderation, but it isn't enough to worry about unless you're eating it daily.
Fried shrimp is the most popular preparation in the United States, which immediately crosses it off the menu for many people. Good news though - you can have this little beauty with far less mess, fat and prep time - and still have all the benefits of that beautifully tender seafood. Especially with this awesome little method I outline here.
Now - it's important to remember that there is NO recipe here. This is all about the method - you can take what I show you and go crazy. Try it the first time with one of my flavor combos, then use your own tastes and imagination. You'll fall in love - and I bet that fresh shrimp makes its way onto your table far more often for now on.

The Method!

 You'll need:
Fresh shrimp - however much you like. If you need a little help cleaning it and getting it ready - check the video.
Aluminum foil
The ingredients for the flavor profile you choose. In the video I demonstrate six different ones. For an example I'll use the Tequila Lime Thyme Shrimp. So for each serving, you'll want

• about 8 medium shrimp
• 1-2 tsp good tequila
• 1 lime, halved - slice one  half, and save the other half to juice
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• a tsp olive oil
• a pinch of kosher salt

1. Heat a clean, dry skillet over medium heat. Allow to preheat while you're preparing your shrimp.
2. Place the cleaned shrimp in the middle of a square of aluminum foil. Drizzle with oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Drizzle with tequila, top with lime slices. Squeeze the juice from the other half of the lime over the shrimp, and top with the thyme sprig.
4. Fold the aluminum foil over the shrimp to make a little packet.
5. Place the packet on the hot skillet and allow it to sit, untouched, for four minutes. If you use large or jumbo shrimp, you'll need about five minutes at most. The beauty of this method though is that it cooks the shrimp completely without over cooking them - which ruins the shrimp.
6. At four minutes, pull the packet off the skillet. Allow it to rest for about one minute. Open the packet, and gently toss the shrimp in the sauce that has formed in the bottom of the packet. That's it!

I love this - it goes together in seconds, cooks in under five minutes, and the flavor is just amazing. My favorite way to serve it is with some angel hair pasta - or you could go with rice, or couscous - whatever you like. Try BBQ flavors and some southern style creamy grits, or the soy/mirin with a great green salad and Asian dressing. There are endless possibilities here.
Some of the other flavors that I use:

• Salt, drizzle of oil, BBQ rub
• Salt, olive oil, black pepper, minced garlic, and sliced cherry tomatoes
• Salt, butter, capers, lemon and rosemary
• Onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper, oil or butter
• Salt, dash of mirin, soy sauce and sesame oil
• Thai chili paste, sesame oil and soy
• Salt, oil, coconut milk, lime and fish sauce
• Salt, oil, diced tomatoes, oregano, minced garlic and a sliver of bay leaf

See? You can do almost anything you want - and adapt this to as many servings as you wish. Use more or fewer shrimp, add or delete flavors - and on top of it all - have nearly no clean up. BOMBSHELL!

Salisbury Steak

Forget the frozen stuff that comes in the red box. You'll never want to LOOK at that thing again once you see how easy it is to make this classic American fare at home. Better than that - wait until you taste it! This stuff is out of this world - tender, succulent, and bathed in a fabulous mushroom-onion gravy. It doesn't get better than that - oh wait! It does!

Did I mention that's it's easy? Check the video - from start to finish it takes less than half an hour, and if you remember a couple of tricks which I teach, you'll be Bombshell in no time.
The Method!


You'll need:




•2 pounds lean ground beef or ground sirloin

•1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

•1 egg, lightly beaten

•1-2 tsp kosher salt

•1 tsp garlic powder

•1 tsp onion powder

•1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

•2 Tbl Worcestershire sauce, divided

•1 tsp butter

•1 tsp olive oil
•1/2 tsp ground mustard

•2 cups beef stock (not broth)

•3 Tbl all purpose flour
•8 ounces sliced mushrooms, I prefer crimini mushrooms when I can get them

•1 small diced yellow onion

•salt and pepper to taste

•1 Tbl butter

1.In a large bowl, place ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, onion and garlic powders, and Worcestershire sauce. Combine gently, but completely, making sure ingredients are well incorporated. Don't over mix though - or your steaks will be tough.

2.Divide mixture into six to eight equal portions. I use eight because I feed children, and they like smaller portions. For adults, I'd make six. Shape each portion into an oblong patty, indenting the top a little. This keeps the patty from becoming a meatball as it cooks.

3.In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and olive oil. Once the butter becomes foamy, add three-four of the steaks. Cook on each side for five-six minutes, until cooked through, but not overdone. As each one finishes, transfer to a platter and set aside. They'll rest, and reheat a little in the sauce in a few minutes.

4.Remove as much of the beef grease from the skillet as possible, retaining the brown fond (fond is French for that brown crusty wonderful stuff) on the bottom of the skillet. Add butter back to the skillet and allow it to melt.

5.Sprinkle flour into the butter, and start whisking well. You want to begin bringing all the fond off the bottom of the skillet, and making sure that the flour has no lumps. You aren't really trying to cook off the flour at this point.

6.As soon as you've whisked in the flour really well, drizzle in the stock and Worcestershire sauce, whisking well the entire time. You should really feel the fond lifting off the skillet at this point.

7.Add the mushrooms and onions to the skillet, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally. The mixture will reduce somewhat, and the onion and mushrooms will soften significantly. Taste for seasoning, and re-season with salt and pepper if necessary. Turn heat to low.

8.To serve, slip each steak into the gravy for about two minutes, just to let them warm through. Serve each steak covered with gravy, and if you are seriously in need of comfort, a great big bunch of creamy mashed potatoes.

Meatloaf Southern Style

Meatloaf - Southern Style

When meatloaf is good - it is heavenly. It consistently ranks in the top ten on comfort foods lists - and a trend in recent years has been for upscale restaurants to add this homey dish to their menus - where it sells like crazy.
Meatloaf isn't always good though. It can be dry or greasy, full of funky bread products or strange vegetables, and maybe worst of all, with a density approaching that of lead. Perhaps aged mahogany. I've even had examples that exhibited ALL of these characteristics.
Recently I was asked for meatloaf - my friend Angel wanted to know if I had a recipe. Well, yes - I actually have a bunch. You can take a basic meatloaf and give it all kinds of culinary twists, many of which are divine. So I'll give you the meatloaf recipe that I adapted from the one I grew up with. However, more than that, I'm going to give y'all the method. The specific ingredients fall into two categories - those with a flavor to give, and those with a function to fulfill. When you know which is which, you know what you can change with abandon. Nice, huh? I LOVE that trick!

The Method!

You can make meatloaf out of almost anything - including tofu, although I'm not so sure about that one. I guess that would be tofuloaf. Veal, chicken, pork, turkey and of course beef all show up in recipes, with the absolute classic being a combination of beef, pork and veal.
What is important to remember here are that there are three factors to consider in the meat. The first is texture - how finely ground, or how the particular protein cooks up. The second is flavor - I'd love to use veal for it's delicate flavor if I could ever find it. Instead I count myself lucky if I can find ground pork - which is delicious. The final factor is fat. All meats will contain some fat, but some such as pork have far more than others - such as ground turkey breast.
With that said - you want to avoid so much fat that you end up with a greasy mess. If the meatloaf on the plate gets that yellowish scum on top that congeals - ew! On the other hand, you need some fat or else you'll have a dry, flavorless bit of jerky. And not even good jerky. So keep that in mind. My personal preference is ground beef with about 7-10% fat, with some ground pork in there as well. Quite often I can't find ground pork, so I usually make an all ground beef meatloaf. If you are able to find other ground meats, or have a grinder - knock yourself out!
The ingredients that go into the meatloaf fall into three categories - binders, flavorings and moisturizers.

1. Binders are simple. They are the ingredients that hold the meatloaf together - so that you don't have a crumbled mess. You want to use enough to have the meatloaf hold it's shape, but not so much that you taste nothing but binder. In this case I've used eggs, which are pretty common, and oats, which are less so. I like to grind the oats for a better texture (it just occurred to me that if you have a pass from your doctor, oats are all right on a gluten free diet, depending on the condition and the type of oats). You can use just about anything you want - breadcrumbs are the most common. But the type and texture of the breadcrumb can vary all over the place.
2. Flavorings can often open up a can of worms when discussing meatloaf with die hard proponents. I'm not going to argue - I like all kinds of variations. The recipe I used in the video and which I outline below is very simple, the way my grandmother made it. I like this one - it's quick and easy, and bakes off nicely. It also is basic - the veggies and seasonings enhance the flavor of the meat without competing or overwhelming it. But as long as you're careful with the flavors that double as moisturizers, you can make any substitutions you want.
3. Moisturizers are the veggies. You have to have a little fat, but not too much, and you need some moisturizers, but not too much. I give amounts below, but you can see in the video I didn't need quite so much for this one. Sometimes I use it all. Sometimes less. It depends on the mixture of meats and their fat contents. The onion and pepper, once ground release a great deal of liquid - which also keeps the breadcrumbs or oatmeal, and therefore the meatloaf, juicy. Swap veggies if you like - again, I grew up with these. You'll also need some liquid. Ketchup is nice, and very traditional, as is tomato sauce or diced tomatoes - you can even use salsa and add cumin or chili powder. Just remember you need something.
4. The last thing to remember is not to over mix the meat, and not to compress the meatloaf to death. See how I really loosely combine the ingredients in the video, and just pat the meatloaf together. This makes sure the meatloaf is very tender. You can use a loaf pan, but frankly that's fussier than I want to mess with. But if your mama did it that way, you'll think I'm a heretic, so that's all right.

That's it - the big rules. This is incredibly versatile. And yummy.

The Recipe!

This makes two regular size meatloaves - I either do them both if my brothers are coming, or wrap one well and freeze it for up to a month. That's my favorite -dinner done and waiting on me!
You can always cut it in half, no big deal. I just hate have something like just a little bit of ground pork or ground beef leftover - they come in 1 lb packages usually. A half recipe leaves not enough for a second application. So I often tweak recipes to come out with no bits of leftover ingredient (veggies like onion don't count since I use those so much), and I did that here to give myself a 'freebie' dinner on a busy night.

• 2 lbs lean ground beef- I like to use 90-93% lean
• 1 lb ground pork - not sausage though
• 1 cup tomato sauce or V-8 juice
• 1/2 cup uncooked oats
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 of a large yellow onion
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbl hot sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

For the sauce:

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbl hot sauce (or less - make it yours!)
• 1 Tbl honey or brown sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine everything except the meat and sauce ingredients and pulse well to combine and form a loose paste.
3. In large bowl, mix the meat with the v-8 mixture, mixing lightly but thoroughly. Don’t over mix the meat, it will make the finished meatloaf too tough.
4. If you wish, divide the meat mixture in half. Form the mixture into two loaf shapes. At this point I freeze one, or just bake off both depending on how many I'm feeding. One will feed a family of four easily.
5. If you make two loaves, then simple experience tells me that each takes about 1 1/4 hours. However, the best way is with a thermometer - and an internal temperature of 150-155F. 
6. About a half an hour into the baking time, pour the sauce on top of the loaf and continue baking. I usually paint goofy messages on top of mine - it makes my children crack up. If you have a baking rack, it works for removing or keeping the fat away from the loaf. A turkey baster works well too - or just pour it off once or twice as it renders.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

There are times when you take a classic and give it an 'update' or 'modern' twist, and times when you keep your hands off and do it the way it was meant to be done. This is absolutely the case with my Granny's Pineapple Upside Down Cake. This is the real deal - Southern to the core, baked in a cast iron skillet and all the way 'scratch'. The really cool thing? It's simple - there just isn't much here to mess up.
This is the way this cake has been done in my family for at least five generations - it was my great-grandmother Frankie's way, and how I'm teaching my children to make it. I LOVE having that kind of connection between generations. I use it to tell stories about these beautiful women that they never met - and to help keep the love they passed on moving on down the line.
I've seen recipes using cake pans, or fresh pineapple and cherries, or a much more delicate cake - and I think it's all extraneous. I've done them that way, and the recipes are good, but not this good. Everything about this homey, country Southern dessert is just right. So do it country Southern dessert is just right. A wonderful crumb on a rich yellow cake, the caramel layer on top with the fruit, the ease of preparation. So do it Granny's way. Period.

The Recipe

• 6 slices of canned or fresh pineapple
• 1 1/2 sticks butter
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup pecan halves
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 generous pinch table salt (I like it to bake with because it distributes more evenly through the batter)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 6 maraschino cherries, drained

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. Over low heat, melt butter in an 8 inch cast iron skillet. Sprinkle in the brown sugar, whisking to combine well. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. In the bowl of a mixer, cream together the rest of the butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Add eggs one at a time and mix just until incorporated.
5. Alternating in three batches, starting with the buttermilk, add the buttermilk and flour mixture. For more information, check out the video. Mix just until each addition is fully incorporated, and scrape the sides of the bowl often.
6. In the cooled sugar mixture in the skillet, arrange pineapple in a pretty pattern. Place a cherry in the middle of each pineapple slice, and arrange the pecan halves between pineapple slices.
7. Gently spoon the batter over the top of the pineapple slices in the cast iron skillet.
8. Bake for about 25-35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
9. Allow the skillet to cool for just about five minutes, then immediately invert onto a serving platter. If you lose a slice or two of pineapple, just pop it back in place. Again - I show this in the video.