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For this week's assignment, we were allowed to cook whatever we wanted but we couldn't waste any food. Since we could cook whatever we wanted, it was a little harder on deciding what I wanted to make not just because of the many options that I had but I also had to be mindful of what my ingredients were and make sure that someone else in the class were going to use the same ingredient. Food waste is very common in the U.S., so our goal was to prevent that in the kitchen by using whole foods like a whole fruit, vegetables, herbs, leftovers, etc. It obviously had to be connected to our theme but we had to be careful with portion sizes and consider the whole animal it came from. I decided to make Haitian Creole Shrimp with White Rice.

Since we couldn't waste food, I had to collaborate with my classmates on what ingredients they needed for their dishes and see if we can share. I ended up sharing the habanero pepper with TJ and the shrimp and tomato paste with Jesus.

I didn't really have anything to prep, I only minced my garlic and parsley. So, technically I was already ready to cook.

The next day, got a pot and drizzled olive oil and sprinkled Maggi and added a stick of unsalted butter and I stired. As soon as the butter melted, I added about 2 to 3 cups of water. This was a trick that my mother taught me, usually Haitians and other Caribbeans use a scallion and garlic as seasoning instead of Maggi. Both ways work just fine.

As the water was getting boiled, I measured the shrimps. I need 1lb and I left the other pound for Jesus. I removed the tails off the shrimps and I made sure that they didn't have any shells on them. I then cleaned them with lime and rinsed them with cold water

Then, I rinsed out my rice until I was absolutely sure that it was cleaned. Some people clean it until they can see the rice through the water in a bowl, some clean it until they are sure they don't see anything dirty in the water. I cleaned it until I could see the rice in the water. I added the rice to the water and I stirred. I also tasted the water to make sure that there was salt and I did need to add salt. I added a pinch. Sometimes you don't need to add anything else, but I needed to since I used butter without any salt in it.

In a pot, I drizzled olive oil onto it and added some of the minced garlic and shrimps that I seasoned with the Haitian Blended Seasoning. It's basically bell peppers, onions, parsley, thyme, garlic, scallion, and oil. Sometimes my mother adds other things to add more flavor, but those are the basic ingredients to make the seasoning.

After the shrimps were cooked, I removed them and left some of the garlic pieces. I added tomato paste in the same pot and I stirred it with the remaining oil and garlic left in the pan.

Every now and then, I stirred the rice and when the water dried up, I covered the rice with aluminum foil and covered it with the top of the pot and lowered the fire for 10-15 minutes. This was also a tip that my mother taught me. The aluminum foil basically steams the rice and cooks it so much better than just using the top of the pot.

I added the chopped shallot, parsley, habanero hot pepper and stirred. I then added water and stirred until the paste was absorbed into the water. I used about half of the habanero and gave TJ the other half. I removed the seeds, since it is the seeds that make it spicy, and I minced the pepper.

I seasoned it with Old Bay, salt and black pepper to taste and I let the sauce simmer until it thickened. Afterwards, I returned the shrimps to the pot and added a few drops of lime juice, stirred and let cook thoroughly for about 2 – 3 minutes.

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The rice wasn’t ready yet, so I lowered the fire under the shrimp and kept cleaning my area and I helped Jesus with his dish. He had asked me to taste it and I told him my opinion that it was ready and had a good flavor.

The rice was ready by then and I plated mine and chefs and I put the leftovers in a bowl for home. I made a little too much rice, so I gave Jesus some.

Overall, my experience in the kitchen was great and I ran into no trouble at all. My dish was perfectly cooked and the flavor was spectacular.

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My Story:

My mother actually just made this dish today, April 5th. She made it just like the recipe states except the hot pepper because of my little brothers and she put the shrimp in the spaghetti. My mother has been making this kind of dish with spaghetti many times but not frequently, it’s more like on days when she feels for it or when she wants to make something special. And also she doesn’t waste food. She mostly just uses whatever is in the pack and whatever is leftover is stored in the fridge for the next day.

Ingredients:

Shrimp:

1 lb large shrimps, cleaned and deveined

2 tbsp olive oil

4 – 5 garlic cloves chopped

Seasonings desired

2 tbsp tomato paste (organic preferably)

1 cup shallots/red or white onions (chopped/sliced)

1 tbsp parsley chopped finely

1/8 tsp habanero pepper thinly sliced without seeds

½ - 1 cup of water

Few drops of lemon/lime juice

1 t. Black pepper

1 t. Salt

1-2 t. Old Bay

White Rice:

1 lb of Jasmine White Rice

1 t. of Maggi Chicken Bouillon Powder

1 stick of Unsalted Butter

2 C of Water

Salt

Directions:

Get a pot and drizzle olive oil and add the maggi and right after add butter and stir and as soon as the butter is melted, add water and let it boil
Taste to see if it needs salt, add if needed and rinse your rice 2-3 times as the water boils and add rice
Clean the shrimps with lemon/lime quickly and rinse with cold water, pat dry and set aside. Then, in a deep skillet, drizzle the olive oil and add some of the minced garlic and shrimps.
Let cook while stirring for about 2 minutes. Add your preferred seasonings and let cook for about 2 minutes.
Remove shrimps from heat and set aside and in the same skillet, add tomato paste and stir to mix with remaining oil and garlic left in the pan.
Stir every now and then and when the water dries up, cover the rice with aluminum foil and the top of the pot and lower the fire for 10-15 minutes
Add shallots/onions, parsley, hot pepper and stir, then add water, salt and pepper to taste and let simmer until the sauce thickens.
Return shrimps to skillet and add a few drops of lemon or lime juice, stir and let cook thoroughly for about 2 – 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and serve immediately with the rice and enjoy!!!

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