Friday, February 12, 2010

Marinated Shrimp with Olives

Many posts today will be filled with lots of eye candy & sugary delights for Valentine's Day. I guess I'll be the rebel. That's exciting. Or I can tell the truth which is my sweet offerings were a big flop last night. I tried making these mascarpone mini cupcakes with strawberry glaze from Giada's cookbook.


While the taste was right on, the tops separated from the bottom of the cupcake, even after I cooled them a bit. Apparently, from all the reviews, it happened to quite a few people. Maybe they were too top heavy??? As for the glaze, it had potential. I'll have to modify & try again sometime.

Anyway, I bring you some eye candy in the way of a gorgeous appetizer that is so easy to prepare,  delicious & looks beautiful on the table! I made it for my Dad's birthday dinner along with the Spinach Ricotta Rounds & he was pleased!


MARINATED SHRIMP WITH OLIVES from Taste of Home

{ Printable Recipe Here }

2 lbs cooked medium shrimp, peeled & deveined
1 medium red onion, sliced & separated into rings
2 medium lemons, cut into slices
1 cup pitted ripe olives, drained
1/2 cup Olive Oil or Canola Oil
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
3 tblsp lemon juice
3 tblsp red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 bay leaf
1 tblsp minced fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground mustard
1/4 tsp pepper


In a 3-qt. glass serving bowl, combine the shrimp, onion, lemons & olives. In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the remaining ingredients; shake well. Pour over shrimp mixture & stir gently to coat. Cover & refrigerate for up to 6 hours, stirring occasionally. Discard bay leaf before serving. Yield: 14 servings.

{ Food for Thought }

The original recipe stated to marinate up to 24 hours. I was very surprised by this since seafood marinated in any kind of acidity from citrus or vinegar will destroy its texture. I have done it before & ruined food because the texture is awful. Be on the safe side & only marinate for 4-6 hours. Also, I usually leave the tail on for  shrimp appetizers but since this is mixed with onions & olives I should have taken the tail off for easier eating. 


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Since Valentine's Day is around the corner I had to share some sweetness with you. Meet my little guy Tristan's friend Emily. They have been friends since they were crawling together. If you think this is cute....

{ birthday party at Disney Fort Wilderness }

Check out their front side...

{ Christmas parade in town }


Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

41 comments:

starnes family said...

Gorgeous is right! The shrimp and the kiddos.

Venus and Mars said...

Gonna have to check out this recipe ... looks so yummy ! Happy V Day to you and yours as well !!!

Michelle said...

That looks like a perfect appetizer. I agree with what you said about the marinade. Personally I find shrimp to be very tricky to get right.

Tristan and his buddy are adorable. My daughter Kate has had a friend (that is a boy) since they were infants. There friendship grew very naturally. Now that they are in Middle School I swear they act like they don't even know each other. I thin it is because they don't want anyone to think they "like like" each other. :)

SimplySandi said...

The shrimp looks delicious!

Happy Valentine's Day! Love that age!

KatiePerk said...

Too sweet!! That shrimp appetizer looks amazing... I want it now!

Jen said...

Oooo, so romantic.

Kacey said...

Oh my goodness they are so cute. The cupcakes at least look pink! :-) Pink can never taste bad right? :-)

I'm glad your other dish turned out well my dear. I hope you're having a great day! BTW, Ryder came home from pre-school with a girlfriend. Her name is Lily. You know I'll be scoping her out on Tuesday. LOL

Scary Mommy said...

They are precious!! And that shrimp dish? I want!!!

Ronda said...

What an ADORABLE picture of Tristan!! So cute!
And I don't care what they say....I like your cupcakes! The shrimp looks pretty damn good too!
Have a wonderful weekend, and a very Happy Valentines Day!!
XOXO

FROGGITY! said...

mmm, shrimp. i need to take advantage of the fresh gulf shrimp while i can! this is just a really beautiful dish, isn't it?

and the children, well, they are gorgeous! :) have a very happy valentine's day.

Healthy. Happy. Well. said...

wow this looks absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing, this looks like a great idea for V Day dinner!

Chef E said...

Not me, I am all about the main entree and I have to say, shrimp, olives and the bite of red onion has me reeling! I have to buy some shrimps for the weekend! Yes, I say shrimps, cause I cannot get enough shrimps...

The photo of the kids is too precious! Reminds me of when my son was six and he had a crush on the girl across the street from their elementary school, and boy was she cute...I knew he was going to either a heart breaker or heart broken, silly, but its true love is a 50/50 street...

BeautifulDisaster311 said...

What a precious picture of tristan and emily!

Kristina P. said...

You know I love anything with shrimp!

Jenny said...

This recipes looks delicious. And what a lovely family you have.

Debby@Just Breathe said...

The recipes sound really awesome.
I have never cooked with shrimp.
Those two pictures are adorable.

CaraBee said...

The shrimp looks awesome! Love shrimp. Love lemon. Love olives. I will be making.

Chef E said...

"Many posts today will be filled with lots of eye candy & sugary delights for Valentine's Day".-

Not me, so am I vindicated now?

Oh and the cute kids took my mind back to my own at that age, ahhh the memory makers...

kanishk said...

This recipes looks delicious. And what a lovely family you have.
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Meals by Misty said...

Tristan in perfection! Such a stud and an obvious ladies man :) This recipe sounds and looks quite tasty! Happy Valentine's to you and cutie patootie family!

annies home said...

valentine couple super cute and the recipe sounds great

Tami (Pixeltrash) said...

Awe... they are cute, both front and back! That dish looks wonderful. Forget the cupcakes... give me a fork!

Chef Chuck said...

Beautiful meaning both!

Simple Daisy said...

Oh...that shrimp recipe looks wonderful!!
And owell about the cupcakes! At least they are cute:)
Happy Valentine's Day!

nazarina said...

Happy Valentine's day!
There is so much love here and all the great dishes just makes me want to stay.May I have that cupcake now please?

Sherry @ Lamp Unto My Feet said...

Great pics! Those cupcakes and appy look yummy!

Kameron said...

I hate when something I make doesn't quite come out right! Oh well. I guess if it tastes good, who cares! I need to make that shrimp!

Unknown said...

I LOVE that picture so much. So very sweet. Heartwarming for sure. Your appetizer looks so pretty! :) I am not a big olive fan, but I am a HUGE Live.Love.Eat fan!

solid wood furniture said...

Those are so adorable! The recipe and the kids! I can't wait to try the shrimp dish! It really looks so delicious.

~Melody @ 6 Feet Over~ said...

Awww the kidlets are adorable!

The shrimp looks divine...oh how I wish my husband liked it...although, I could make this and then just keep it ALL to myself! That sounds like a better plan than sharing.

~melody~

Unknown said...

The dish sound yummy! The pictures are so cute.

Maria said...

I hope you had a nice Vday! Love the photos!

Nana said...

As usual YUM!!!!!!!

Pam said...

Okay, so they are really adorable!

The shrimp and olive dish has me drooling - yum!

Chelsey said...

this looks so good! I have bookmarked it so I can try it out next week for my dad's birthday.

Sara said...

First things first - kids are ADORABLE!! So cute.

Secondly, the shrimp dish looks divine. Will definitely have to try that one.

Lastly, I too have made those cupcakes from Giada (b/c I have a total girl crush on her) and my glaze turned out horrible. It tasted okay, but it looked awful. I don't know what happened??? And I might add that I made these on Mother's Day for a big crowd. Not good. :) If you make these again and find the secret, please let me know!

strokeofliving said...

Steph,

I tried one of your recipes and blogged about it in the spirit of "Julie & Julia" the film.

It was a hit and I'm looking forward to more and more! I give you a shout out on both of my blogs Stroke of Living and Essential Bindi, FYI.

Anonymous said...

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Michelle said...

Oh that is simply gorgeous. I'll have to remember that someday, and absolutely right on with limiting the marinating time -- especially with them already being cooked! Any thought of making this more of a cerviche type dish modification?

But no recipe for the spinach ricotta rounds? Those are some of my favorite ingredients in what sounds like a lovely combination!

Life, Love And Lola said...

Too stinkin cute!

Nishant said...

The shrimp looks delicious!
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