Everybody loves their classic scampi, right? Fat, succulent shrimp sautéed in rich buttery, garlicky, lemony sauce with a splash of white wine, and topped with a sprinkling of parsley and parmesan. It’s perfect in itself! We cook it all the time.
Many scampi aficionados would scoff if you add or subtract anything to it. But at the Beisers’ we experiment with our classics all the time. A few years back, my husband tweaked it just a little by adding some extra Cajun flavors for one special dinner. It was amazing! That was Valentine’s 2017… We want to share this recipe with you this year so you can try it this coming Friday!!
This Valentines do you want to ditch the restaurant and cook something for that most special someone? Let me tell ya, it’s a win win. You are going to save a ton of money, as restaurants charge you bomb on special days.
And what better way to woo your valentine than by cooking a fancy, elegant cracker of a meal. And the cherry on top? It’s extremely quick and easy, so no slaving in the kitchen. Just raise a glass and have a fun date night with this Cajun shrimp scampi.
For the most of the part, it’s your regular scampi. But this is elevated by the Cajun flavors and made creamier by a dash of cream. Mark my words, you are going to fall in love with this new way of scampi-ing!!
What is Cajun scampi?
Before doing Cajun, let’s talk about classic scampi. This fancy and elegant dish is an extremely popular dish in Italian and seafood restaurants. The shrimp comes either just coated or swimming in the most decadent, delicious sauce of butter (of course!), lots of garlic, a hint of lemon, some dry white wine, and topped with fresh of parsley.
Most of the time it comes on a bed of linguine or angel hair pasta as a hearty meal, but some restaurants do serve shrimp scampi with some crusty bread as an appetizer. I would rather have both, as it’s great with pasta and one needs to polish off that buttery divineness with a side of that crusty bread.
Now imagine all this and some added Cajun seasoning and enhanced with a touch of cream. The whole scampi experience is over-the-top beautiful, with your taste buds perking up to amazing Cajun scampi flavors.
Caramel Pecan Dream Bars
Gooey pecan dream bars are the perfect mix of soft and gooey with a little bit of pecan crunch. They use a box cake mix, toffee bits, and sweetened condensed milk to make an easy but memorable dessert.
Ingredients
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 1/3 cup soft butter
- 1 large egg
- 14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup toffee bits
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13-inch pan.
- Mix together cake mix, softened butter and the egg. The mixture may be a little bit crumbly.
- Press the crust into the bottom of the greased pan.
- Stir together the condensed milk, pecans and toffee bits. Spread over the crust.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the filling is golden brown and bubbly.
- Cool completely before cutting and serving.