What's in the freezer; what shall I make?

I can't thank my friend Cary enough for her constant IM-ing about how she was eating shrimp in this, shrimp in that...I finally broke down a few months ago and bought a big bag of frozen cooked shrimp (tails on) and discovered that whenever I didn't know what to eat, I could always through a few shrimp in a pan or pot and come up with something. Best of all, even though a bag is fairly pricey ($11-$13) one person won't eat more than a handful, so a bag lasts a long while. It's important to keep it wrapped up tight, and to not leave it out, as shrimp thaws very quickly.

I am not a shrimp fanatic, but being able to throw together shrimp scampi, or toss a few shrimp in a pasta sauce, has certainly brightened up some boring dinners.

The other day I was mulling over all the sausage in my freezer from the local pig we purchased last year, trying to figure out what to do with it. And I thought "I have shrimp, I have sausage, I have rice: Jambalaya!"

I scoured the internet, and what I happened to have in my cupboard and came up with this:

INGREDIENTS

* 2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
* 1/4 pound spicy or mild sausage (not sweet) cut into small chunks.
* 1/2 cup chopped onion (I had no onion, so did not use this)
* 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper (nope, no pepper either)
* 1/4 cup chopped celery (hey, I had celery, so I added about 3/4 cup)
* 4 large garlic cloves, minced
* 2 cups chicken broth (I used the whole 32 ounces, or it would have been wasted)
* 1 can diced tomatoes (mine were Italian herb) The recipe actually called for more tomato, but I wanted diced instead of crushed.
* 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
* 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (nope!)
* 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves (yup!)
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves (yup!)
* 1 bay leaf (I had ONE bay leaf left)
* 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (I used a dash of hot sauce because I threw out all the unmarked red powders. Mark knew what they were. I didn't).
* Salt and black pepper to taste
* 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
* 1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled

Heat a large skillet or medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add the oil, then the sausage, onions, peppers and celery. Sauté until vegetables are tender, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté another minute. Add the broth; increase heat to high and stir to loosen any browned bits in the bottom of the pan. Add the tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, thyme, oregano, bay leaf, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil. Stir in the rice, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Add the shrimp to the top without stirring; cover and continue to cook until the shrimp turn pink, about 5 minutes. Stir to combine the shrimp with the rice. Discard the bay leaf and serve immediately.

Even with my omissions and tweaks, this stuff smells and tastes incredible, and I haven't even added the shrimp yet. I'll even take a picture of it when it's done, just like those foodie blogs.



Wine, plate, newspaper. Perfect.

Post note: Excellent! I would definitely add onions, and use good cayenne powder instead of old hot sauce. Green peppers if you like them. I am ambivalent. And they were right about the tomatoes. A large can of crushed tomatoes is probably a better bet than a small can of diced.

Back to my dinner and my newspaper.