Camarones Salteados

In order to make this dish, you first need to make some Brown Sauce. That's a process in and of itself, so it's a good thing we had a free Saturday to spend some time in the kitchen.

Brown Sauce or Salsa Espanola

• 1/4 cup beef drippings
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon minced ham
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 peppercorns
• 1/4 cup parsley, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup tomato puree
• 4 cups beef stock
• 1/4 Madeira wine (or sherry or another substitute)
• Salt to taste

Melt beef drippings and butter in a large saucepan and saute the vegetables and ham. Add the flour and cook until light brown. Stir in the herbs and seasonings, tomato puree and beef stock. Cover and simmer over low heat for 2 hours. Add wine and season with salt to taste. Makes about 4 cups. 

This sauce can be used as a base for many recipes. For example, we turned it into Chicken Mozarella by spooning some sauce over and under the cheese on a cooked chicken breast, then broiling it until the cheese melted, and serving it over rice.

We also made this sauce a few years ago, to use in Filet Steak Columbia, but I never shared that recipe. Maybe I will in the future. It's pretty similar to this shrimp recipe, using a bacon-wrapped filet mignon steak in place of the shrimp and chorizo.

Shrimp Saute or Camarones Salteados

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2/3 cup sliced onion
• 2/3 cup sliced green pepper
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms (fresh or canned)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 small potatoes, cubed and fried
• 1 chorizo, thinly sliced
• 28 medium-size shrimps, peeled and deveined (about 8 ounces of 41-50 size)
• 2/3 cup dry white wine
• 2/3 cup Brown Sauce (see recipe above)

Saute the onion and green pepper in the oil until limp. Add the mushrooms, garlic, potatoes and chorizo. Add the shrimp and cook 3 minutes, then add the wine and brown sauce and simmer for 2 minutes. Makes 2-3 servings.