Little Shrimp You Will Roux the Day!

Has this ever happened to you:

You look up from a busy day and suddenly it's 6 p.m., the husband arrives home, and just as you both profess starvation you realize that you have no idea what to make for dinner?

Fear no more, this scrumptious meal is here to save your day and reclaim your title as hero of all things! (Not to mention the fact that it was created in about 15 minutes and was a perfectly balanced meal.) Beginning your sauces with a simple variation on a roux will thicken soups, sauces and make you forget about the magic of chinese food takeout.

Spicy Shrimp and Soyccotash over Whole Wheat Pesto Couscous (click here for recipe)

What is roux you ask? According to wikipedia, it's any mixture of flour and fat. And since we know that wikipedia has the answer to all things we don't ask questions. (Sarcasm people!)

Depending on what you are making you may want to add stock to the flour (this makes a lovely pan gravy if you use drippings from a roasted bird or formerly living creature as there is no need to add additional fat), olive oil to the flour (in the case of this quick stir fry and for extra rich sauces), or just stick with the traditional butter. Either way, starting a dish with roux adds depth and makes your family think you spent an extra long time preparing that meal.

The only secret to creating a good roux is to make sure you keep it on the heat long enough for a paste to come together a bit a few times, adding the fat slowly to make it a thick mixture (think elmers glue) and then to cook it long enough to get the raw flour taste to cook out and the nutty richness to set in.

You might even roux the day you learned to make roux...for your family might never call for take out again. Here's to hoping!

Spicy Shrimp and Soyccotash over Whole Wheat Pesto Couscous

Spicy Shrimp and Soyccotash over Whole Wheat Pesto Couscous

Ingredients:
Bag of frozen uncooked shrimp (16/lb count or higher)
Bag of soycutash (Trader Joe's, and no, that is not my flickr account!)
1 cup whole wheat couscous
Basil Pesto (home made or jarred)
Sriracha (the king of all hot sauces) to your preferred spiciness
Soy sauce to taste
1 tablespoon of flour
Chicken stock (homemade or store bought)
1 tablespoon oil (you can use hot sesame if you want to be fancy)
1 tablespoon peanut butter (we like the crunchy kind)
sesame seeds (optional)

Immerse bag of frozen shrimp in a warm water bath with faucet running.

Bring one cup of chicken stock to boil on the stove. Once it boils add 1 cup whole wheat couscous and 2 tablespoons of pesto, turn off the flame, replace lid and allow this to sit.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil (canola/olive/your lube you pick!) with 1 tablespoon of flour and mix thoroughly. When the mixture is fully mixed add in a tablespoon of stock to make sure it remains the right consistency (again, think elmers). After about two minutes the roux is not going to taste flour-y and you can begin building your sauce.

To the roux add soy sauce, sriracha, peanut butter and bring to a boil. Make sure it is a bit more liquid-y than you want (remember we still have to cook frozen veggies) and add frozen soycottash mix.

Remove shrimp from the bag, peel and reserve shells (what, you don't make your own seafood stock! don't worry, that post will follow shortly), and add to the wok with the veggies and sauce.

Cover and leave to cook for about 3 minutes. Remove top and make sure to mix it around a bit so that everything gets ample heat. Once the shrimp has curled and the veggies are crisp but warm turn off the heat.

Toss couscous with a fork to fluff, put .5 cup in each bowl followed with a generous serving of the soyccutash and shrimp, ladle a bit of the sauce on and enjoy yourself a quick and healthy meal.