15 Minutes and a World of Flavor

Not just for crabs anymore!

There are very few scents that I associate with summer more than the spicy and pungent Old Bay Crab Seasoning®. When I was younger, it was thought to be a one dimensional seasoning used for dousing over a steaming plate of Jersey Blue Claws. Perfectly flavoring the juice running down my fingers as I picked that sweet meat from the belly of the crab...it defines "finger licking good"!

But now, Old Bay is used in so many different recipes in the past few years, that its' sales have more than tripled and I couldn't be happier to be cooking in a time when its versatility is so widely displayed. From Bloody Mary's to French Fries, this 60 year old seasoning is HOT! So much so, that its Facebook page is climbing in "likes" by leaps and bounds, and I am just one of almost 500,000 fans that eagerly look for a new recipe to find its way on to the news feed!

Which brings me to a a recipe that was posted of a few days ago that simply caught my eye! I search the internet for recipes that will work so easily in my own kitchen that I know they will work in yours. "Old Bay Shrimp Scampi is just that sort of recipe! And the best part is that it only takes 15 minutes to make a delicious dinner for four (which does concern me because I only had enough left for lunch tomorrow. May need to exercise portion control here.) Anyway, simple ingredients lead to a simply wonderful and easy meal. Seriously, on a difficulty scale of 1 to 10, this is a -2!

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 1/2 teaspoons OLD BAY® Seasoning

1 tablespoon lemon juice

pasta or rice (optional)

1 teaspoon McCormick® Parsley Flakes

DIRECTIONS

Heat oil in large skillet on medium. Add garlic. Cook and stir 30 seconds or until fragrant. (Do not brown.)

Add shrimp and OLD BAY. Cook while stirring 3 to 4 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Stir in lemon juice and parsley. Serve over cooked pasta or rice. (I choose Capellini pasta which made this dish deliciously light!) 

The only slight deviation I made from the recipe above was adding a small amount of white wine when sauteing the garlic. Why? Well, as pop artist Estelle sings "because I can".  In my kitchen, garlic, olive oil and lemon sing a chorus that cries out for a small splash of white wine! And I always oblige. Also, as instructed by the great Italian chef Lidia Bastianich, always put a small ladle of the pasta water into the shrimp mixture to extend the broth. Then, after fully draining the pasta, add it directly to the frying pan and mix it well. It is the best way to totally saturate the pasta with the flavorful broth! 

Magic mixture!

And just so you know, this blog is not a paid endorsement of any product I write about. My love for this great seasoning comes straight from the heart (and taste buds). Its spicy mixture consist mainly of celery salt, celery seed, mustard seed, red and black pepper, cloves, pimento, and paprika, and its bright orange coloring will add a "glow" to any dish.

How ever you decide to use Old Bay, do not limit its use to seafood. It works wonderfully as a dry rub for chicken and corn cooked on the grill, or in the broiler. Or, make a summertime version of Buffalo wings, by coating with Old Bay before frying or grilling while adding a fresh Ranch flavored dip. I also freely add it to my most requested recipe, which is Maryland Crab Soup. If you don't have Old Bay, don't make the soup. Enough said. 

I promise, once you try a few of Old Bay Crab Seasoning recipes, you too will be clicking their Facebook "like" page and joining to help make a "summertime" taste into a year round adventure! I will be waiting to hear from you!

Photos by ImageGoggle and Jo Ann Phelps