Firecracker Shrimp with Honey Sauce

Firecracker Shrimp..steaming hot!

I tried this dish only for the first time a few weeks ago, although we have always liked stir-fried type dishes here.  I think the description "firecracker" turned me off from it because I do not like hot things, with the exception of horseradish.

But this is a dish you can make as hot as you want so I toned it down a bit, but if you like it hot, heap on the red pepper flakes. It is a type of sweet (honey) and sour (soy sauce) dish.

It is very simple, and takes very little time to prep and make.  It makes an elegant meal, or a fast and quick one for those days when you have worked all day and need something fast.

FIRECRACKER SHRIMP WITH HONEY SAUCE
1 LB shrimp (if you choose to use uncooked, then make sure you cook the shrimp until it's pink, otherwise I use the cooked kind.)
1 red pepper, chopped
1 pkg snow peas
several ounces of green onions
1/4 c minced garlic


Using olive oil in hot skillet, saute the garlic, then all other ingredients.  When the vegetables and shrimp are cooked, add the below sauce.  Continue cooking until sauce has thickened.  Great with curry rice.

HONEY SAUCE
1/4 c honey
1/4 c soy sauce
1 T red wine vineagar (or rice wine vinegar)
Several teaspoons of grated ginger and orange zest
2 t corn starch
red pepper flakes to taste

Whisk together and add to shrimp and vegetables.

What is also great about this type of dish is that you can add whatever ingredients you like.  Try fresh Italian green beans instead of the snow peas, or add regular onions when you saute the garlic.  You could use any combination of colors of peppers, or try lemon or lime zest instead of the orange. You could easily change out the shrimp for chicken.  The variations are limitless.

We get a lot of customers who call us from the south and I usually ask what the weather is like.  I get so jealous when I hear it's 78 degrees in Texas, or a balmy 83 degrees in Florida, while it's been below freezing here for weeks.  But today, when I got up and went outside to feed the chickens, I was glad to live in Illinois when you can see sights like this, right here in my own yard!

Our own christmas tree and my garden hive

The woods full of hoar frost.  Beautiful!