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How to Cook Raw Shrimp

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or the SUPER EASY way to cook raw shrimp

We get this question a lot from friends. It seems like many people struggle and stress about cooking raw shrimp. They always tell us a horror story about overcooked and rubbery shrimp with hardly any flavor- YUCK!

Well, we have a solution to your shrimp cooking troubles:  Introducing the easiest way ever to cook raw shrimp.

This method is a combination of quick cooking and quick chilling (if you are going to eat the shrimp cold like in a shrimp cocktail) to prevent the shrimp from overcooking.

If you are using frozen shrimp (like Trader Joe’s frozen raw shrimp) make sure to thaw them before cooking. This is easily done by placing the shrimp in a plastic zip top bag, removing the air, and submerging the bag in a bowl of lukewarm water for about 20 or so minutes. We place another  bowl on top of the shrimp to keep them under the water while we are thawing. Check the water every 5-7 minutes and add warm water when necessary.

What you need:

  • 1# of raw shrimp (we like Trader Joe’s frozen raw shrimp) thawed if they are frozen
  • 1 lemon cut in slices

How to:

1. Fill a 4 quart or larger pan with water and bring to a full rolling boil.

2. Add the lemon slices and the thawed raw shrimp.  Stir a couple of times

3. Turn the stove off, cover the pan and leave to cook for 4-5 minutes. Now if you have super small shrimp, check them after 3-4 minutes of cooking- If you have very large shrimp, check them after 5 minutes they may need another minute or so.  Shrimp are fully cooked when they are a solid “white” in the center.

4. Drain and the shrimp are ready to eat.

If you are going to serve the shrimp cold, place the hot cooked shrimp into a bowl of ice water, and stir for a couple of minutes, adding more ice if needed until the shrimp are cold to the touch. Refrigerate until you are ready to use them.

Variations:

  • “Old bay” type seasoning
  • Trader Joe’s Taco seasoning
  • Garlic
  • Onions
  • Lemons and limes slices

You can add any of these items to the boiling water or to the  shrimp once they are cooked.

We hope you enjoyed this easy way to cook raw shrimp. Now you will be able to cook and add shrimp quickly and easily to many meals. We like to eat shrimp in tacos, with pasta and tossed on a salad.

What is your favorite way to eat shrimp?

Trader Joe’s Roasted Poblano Peppers

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Trade Joe's Roasted Peppers

Trade Joe's Roasted Peppers

Last night we tried a new product for dinner: Trader Joe’s Roasted Poblano Peppers. They are two to a package, and the peppers are filled with Spanish rice and shrimp.

We heard about this Trader Joe’s product from my Aunt who happened to mention it when we were together last week.  We were talking about how much we all LOVE shopping at Trader Joe’s and some of the products that we constantly fall back on and purchase again and again. My Aunt’s favorite “emergency” items are the frozen guacamole and the Roasted Poblano Peppers.

One of the cool parts of this conversation is that folks were from all over the country, California, Washington DC, Boston, New Mexico and us from Tucson and yet we all shop and just LOVE Trader Joe’s stores. We did feel sorry for the folks from Kansas City, who sat at the table green with envy wishing that Trader Joe’s would open up a store for them (Hint Hint Trader Joe’s- Please expand in the Kansas City area!)

So as the conversation continued, we both became interested in trying the Poblano Peppers. We both love poblanos as they are a nice, medium spicy chili (many times they are used in making chili rellenos) and they just sounded wonderful stuffed with rice and shrimp.  My Aunt lives in Santa Fe, so we were wondering if this item was even available in the Tucson area, as we were not familiar with it at all. I guess we need to spend some more time checking out the frozen items at our Trader Joe’s Store!

So the last time we went shopping at Trader Joe’s we set out to scour the freezer section look for this tasty sounding item. And low and behold, there they were, big as life, right next to the tamales and the burritos.

They have sat in our freezer until last night when we could not stand the suspense any longer. We took them out and followed the directions on the package for the oven baking. While we let the oven heat up, we removed the packaging. Interestingly the peppers were individually wrapped up in plastic to keep them fresh.

Individualy Wrapped Peppers

Individualy Wrapped Peppers

Trader Joe's Poblano Peppers

Before the oven

The package directions said to cover the pan loosely with foil and cook for 25 minutes or until the shrimp were thoroughly cooked and then let stand for 2 minutes before serving. Did I say that the shrimps were raw? Yes! So poke around and make sure that they are fully cooked before letting them stand for those extra 2 minutes.

Also, take care when you prepare this item, as in our oven the shrimp were not fully cooked for another 20 minutes more than the package caused me to expect.  This caused our dinner to be served a bit later than expected…

But they were completely worth the wait. The pepper was spicy, the rice yummy and the shrimps were covered in a delicious red spice.  These peppers were a medium- hot to me and would almost suggest serving them with a salad that had a creamy dressing to sort of “put out the fire” so to speak. We served them with some plain cooked vegetables (Trader Joe’s Organic Foursome) to counter act the spiciness.

Bottom line: we both loved these peppers and would purchase them again.