Shrimp season starts in September and goes roughly until April. The “rule of thumb” is that the shrimp is fresh in the months that have an “R” in them.

We usually buy our shrimp in the Malecon. Ask them to clean and de-vein the shrimp and put them on ice for the ride home. The price of shrimp costs approximately $5 to $7 per pound, depending on the size. This Labor Day, for my annual shrimp fest, we ended up getting shrimp at one of the stands en route to the Malecon because it was crazy busy. Yay for tourism but we didn’t feel like fighting traffic.

This years Steph’s Shrimp Fest recipes, found on Pinterest:

Shrimp Scampi Dip…courtesy of damndelicious.net

8 ounces medium shrimp (Clean the shrimp under cold running water to make sure all the shells are removed and all are de-veined. Chop roughly)

2 Tbsp. butter (or olive oil)

4 cloves garlic minced (I used jarred not fresh)

½ tsp. red pepper flakes

¼ cup white wine

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice (I omitted this because I didn’t have any lemon and it turned out fine)

4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature (I forgot to do this, oops)

¼ cup sour cream

3 Tbsp. mayonnaise

½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan

2 Tbsp. parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

***Note*** This is the original recipe for 4 servings, but I doubled it for my group of 6 and really glad I did because it was rich and delicious and spicy.

Pre-heat oven to 350. Oil or spray a 9-inch baking dish.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add shrimp, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring until shrimp is pink. Stir in wine and lemon juice (or extra wine instead of lemon juice). Bring to a simmer.

Remove from heat and stir into the baking dish with the cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, parsley, Parmesan and mozzarella. Bake until bubbly and golden 10-12 minutes (or longer if you forgot to soften the cream cheese).

Cilantro Lime Black Bean Shrimp and Rice was our main course…courtesy of juliasalbum.com (this is the original recipe, which I doubled for our group).

1 pound shrimp

2 tablespoons olive oil (or butter)

4 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp. red pepper flakes

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth

½ cup water

1 cup rice (I love Verde Valle from Super Ley)

2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice (or more to taste)

1 can black beans rinsed and drained

½ cup fresh cilantro chopped (or more to taste)

Salt and pepper to taste

I used the same large skillet (see how the main shrimp ingredients are the same in both recipes, nice right).

Add olive oil to the skillet. Add shrimp, minced garlic, and red pepper flakes to the skillet and cook on medium heat. Remove shrimp to a bowl and cover.

Now to the same skillet, add broth, water, uncooked rice and bring to a boil, mix everything well and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer until rice is cooked.

Mix in lime juice, black beans, and cilantro into the cooked rice.

Add the shrimp back into the rice and serve.

Enjoy!