Creamy Lemon Shrimp and Rice

Tonight I made a delicious shrimp and rice dish that I adapted from a Giada de Laurentiis recipe. Her recipe was from her grandmother, Nonna Luna. Cooking is kind of like the "telephone game". One person cooks something up. They pass it on to another person who makes it but changes a few things. They in turn pass it on to someone else, the recipe slightly changes again...and on it goes. Kinda cool huh?

I decided to added some brown rice to the mix for some extra fiber and I cut a bit of the butter and salt but the dish is pretty amazing the way it is. The creamy lemon sauce over the shrimp and fluffy rice is a little bit of heaven. It was hard for me to stop at two servings. 

Thank you, Giada. Thank you, Nonna Luna.

Creamy Lemon Shrimp and Rice

Adapted by Foodism Mom from a Giada de Laurentiis recipe

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 cups long-grain rice, I used a ratio of 2/3 white and 1/3 brown
• 3 1/2 cups organic chicken stock
• 2 tsp chopped garlic
• 2 pounds shrimp (20 to 25 per pound count), peeled and deveined
• 1/2 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce (optional, I left it out so that my kids could eat it)
• 1 cup whipping cream
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

In a medium nonstick sauce pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium-low heat. Add the rice and cook, stirring frequently, until golden, about 6 to 7 minutes. Add the chicken stock and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer covered for about 25 minutes until the rice is tender and all the liquid is absorbed. Remove the pan from the heat and rest covered for 5 minutes.

In a large skillet, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute until aromatic. Add the shrimp, lemon juice, and hot sauce (optional). Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the shrimp is pink and cooked through. Stir in the cream and heat through. It may appear curdled at first, just keep stirring and it should become smooth. Turn off the heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Using a fork, fluff the rice and arrange on a platter. Spoon the shrimp and its cream sauce over the rice and serve.