Shrimp night!

Tonight is shrimp night. I'm a bit hesitant because... I don't eat seafood. Well, to be clear, I only eat traditional fish and chips and that is typically haddock. But it's drenched in batter and deep fried and my brain tells me that I'm not tasting any fish, but simply the delicious combination of batter mix and hot oil. For the purpose of this challenge that I have taken upon myself, I am determined to have a more open mind and am willing to try pretty much everything - within reason. I'm sure you understand what I mean. No exotic pets, nothing that is also considered a human organ, and other things I can't think of at the moment because the thought is too frightening.

I've chosen a recipe from the cute and bubbly Rachael Ray's "Express Lane Meals". I'm going to be brutally honest, I've made recipes from Rachael Ray before, without much success. I have found that the cooking is, well, too quick. Food, in my opinion, needs tender loving care when being put together and frankly, I enjoy my time in kitchen and I'm never in a rush. I don't like to feel rushed when I'm cooking. I did make a blackened chicken pizza of hers once that was very good, but that's about it. So, I'm giving her a shot tonight with:

Spicy Black bean Soup with Limed-Up Shrimp

I have mostly everything required: EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), onion, garlic cloves, chili powder, ground cumin, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, limes, black beans, tomatoes, chicken stock, and hot sauce. I had to buy the jumbo shrimp, heavy cream, and parsley. So, I spent only about $5.00 for this meal. It's a 4 serving meal and takes about 30 minutes to cook. I don't think that counts the prep.

My boyfriend will be helping in the kitchen tonight. Oh, that reminds me, we saw Leap Year last night and it was adorable! The theatre was packed! Mostly women and young girls, but I saw a couple of older men, some really young guys (I'm sure just because the girls were going) and another man or two, same age as my boyfriend. It's a totally typical romantic comedy and Amy Adams is cute and Matthew Goode is hot. Tall, dark, handsome, and hot. I recommend everyone see it for a lighthearted romance and a night on the town.

Back to work. I'm going to get into the kitchen and get my things in order. One thing I disagree with (unless your a true chef) is a description of measurements that she uses - palmfuls. People's palms are different sizes. I mean, if I asked my boyfriend to put 2 palmfuls of chili powder in the pot, I'd probably end up with 3-4 because his palms are bigger. So, I don't think those comments should be made. I understand she's probably wanting you to feel like your a chef, but I think you can only make those types of measurements after many, many years of practice and truly, knowing your hand and what capacity it can hold!

Ok, I'll be back.... People, I just peeled 16 jumbo shrimp! You don't understand. I've NEVER done that before! Funny the things that run through your mind when you've done something for the first time. All I could think about was evolution. How come these things never made it past what they are? Food for thought. Literally.

This is definately going to take longer than 30 minutes. I've just finished preparing the shrimp and the marinade and that took 15 minutes. Now I'm starting on the soup.

The recipe calls for a 14-oz can of "fire-roasted tomatoes". I couldn't find them so I have to substitute regular tomatoes.

The marinading shrimp smells yummy, I have to admit. Garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes and lime zest are probably what I'm smelling... right?

Ahh, the smell of onions and garlic cooking in the pot really brings the kitchen alive. It's like it's telling everyone that something tasty is on the way!

So, on another note, my boyfriend has just finished fixing the dishwasher. Yes, he had all the parts laid out on the kitchen floor as I was working on supper. It's now humming along nicely. He's so talented!

It's now 1 hour into the process and my soup hasn't even started bubbling yet. So how am I supposed to (theoretically) get this on the table for my family in 30 minutes? That, I can officially state, is not the case with this recipe. Plus, there is enough soup in that pot to feed no less than 6 people! There's a ton in there. Another note, the recipe states that the soup will thicken when I mash 1/2 of the black beans. This will help with the presentation of the dish which is to put the shrimp in a "standing" position in the centre of the soup. We'll soon see about that.

My boyfriend says it smells delicious! He tasted the shrimp by itself and feels that it's too limey. He doesn't taste the shrimp at all. Now, everything smells divine, but does it taste that way?

As you can see in the picture, the soup didn't thicken at all,thus, the shrimp didn't stand up. The shrimp is for sure spicy, nice. I'm eating it. The soup has a nice creamy tomato taste. It's spicy as well because of the chili powder and cumin.

People, this is definitely NOT worth the over 1 hour effort it took to cook. The shrimp didn't cook to the point where, being butterflied, it would actually "stand up" in the soup. I would not make this recipe again, nor would I recommend it to anyone. Perhaps the shrimp alone with less lime zest, but then, that would just make it regular shrimp, now wouldn't it? So, as I mentioned in the beginning, I've never really had much success with Rachael Ray's recipes. That doesn't mean that I won't challenger her again, but this one shouldn't have been published.

So, sorry to say, this recipe is only worthy of 2 out of 5 stars.

Have a great weekend everyone and we'll be touch with the next Celebrity Chef Recipe Test!

Cheers!

Colleen