Shrimp Burgers

According to my wife "this is my best recipe ever", but then she has always been easy to impress, after all she married me didn't she.

I have been thinking about making these for a while but just never got around to it. Today the sun was shining, it was in the 70's a perfect day for grilling out. My wife decided to defrost our freezer and said we have a couple bags of shrimp in here. So naturally my thoughts turned to what new recipe can I come up with for shrimp. Well here it is.

Shrimp Burgers
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tbs Old Bay
1 tsp parsley
1 tbs onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/4 red pepper, finely chopped

Sauce
1 tbs mayo, I used light
2 tsp sour cream, I used light
2 tsp Chili Sauce
1/2 tsp horseradish, or to taste

For the sauce mix all ingredients aside and let the flavors combine.

Preheat the grill to medium. The shrimp will cook quickly, so don't set this on high or the outside will be cooked and the inside will be raw. We don't want sushi shrimp burgers.

Combine shrimp (set 8 aside), Old Bay and parsley in a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients are pureed. Put in bowl.

Chop vegetables into pieces. Cut each of the 8 shrimp into 3 to 4 pieces. Thoroughly mix all of the chopped pieces into the pureed mixture. Form the mixture into 4 burgers. Grill until cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Place cooked burgers on a bun with a dollop of the sauce on top.

Quick and Easy Pasta Sauces

I am going to give you the recipe for 3 different pasta sauces that all can be made in less time than it will take the pasta to cook. Most pastas in the United States are over sauced, the sauce should coat the pasta not drown it. Notice how you can see the plate through the sauce in the picture above, but you had sauce on every bite. If you want a bowl of sauce with pasta on the side I am sure they still sell Spaghetti O's somewhere.

Tomato Sauce

This is my standard sauce. I like it because it has no preservatives or other things that you can't pronounce in the ingredients and takes just a little more effort than opening a jar.

1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

2 tbs olive oil

1 tbs dried basil or 3 tbs of fresh basil, cut into fine ribbons

2 cloves of garlic add more or less to taste

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl a let the flavors marry while the pasta is cooking. You can add oregano to this a use it as a pizza sauce. 1 Batch should do 2 pounds of pasta depending on the pasta shape.

Garlic Pasta Sauce

5 cloves of garlic, cut into slices, you can add or subtract to fit your taste

1/4 cup olive oil

crushed red pepper flakes to taste

Saute the garlic slices in the olive oil over low heat. Make sure the heat is low you don't want to burn the garlic. After the pasta is cooked add it to the pan with the garlic oil and toss to coat. This will make enough for about 8 ounces of pasta. Variation after the garlic is sautéed add 2 tsp of lemon zest and toss with the pasta.

Pasta Herbs

1/4 cup olive oil

5 cloves of garlic, cut into slices, you can add or subtract to fit your taste

2 to 3 tbs mixed herbs finely chopped (You can use basil, marjoram, parsley, mint, etc.)

Saute the garlic over low heat, 2 to 4 minutes take care not to let the garlic burn. Add the herbs and then the pasta (about 8 ounces). Toss to coat the pasta with the garlic herb oil.