We Cooked Something Yummy!

Winter is here, and it is the best time to hibernate and embrace being a homebody. Back in late January, we got together to enjoy a chill Friday night as we were gearing up for the start of the new academic semester. And of course we had to do it for the blog! So we decided to try our hand at a homemade Shrimp Dip and "Lose Your Shoes" Margaritas. The Garlicky Shrimp Dip was featured on Delish's Facebook page, and the "Lose Your Shoes" Margaritas were a gift from Pinterest.

The Garlicky Shrimp Dip has a very simple recipe to follow. The shrimp are seasoned with salt, pepper, and minced garlic before being quickly cooked in a skillet pan. Then, the cooked shrimp are chopped up and combined with cream cheese, mayonnaise, parsley, lemon zest and juice, mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese. And then the dip is then baked in the oven. After what felt like hours (we were starving!), the dip was ready to eat....and it was delicious! The combination of flavors worked really well with the shrimp and made the dip truly rich and decadent. We decided to eat the dip with Garlic Parmesan pita chips, which paired really well with the dip. The dip does call for a parsley garnish on top once it is out of the oven, but the margaritas had kicked in by that time and Simone forgot to garnish it. But that didn't stop us from enjoying the dip!

We should share that the Shrimp Dip does have a strong lemon flavor. This was delightful for Simone who really loves lemon, but it was slightly too lemony for Damien. If you are a huge fan of lemon, we encourage you to prepare the dish as presented on the recipe. If you are less of a fan of lemon, we suggest you cut down on the amount of lemon juice and/or zest. In addition, we would definitely recommend broiling the dip after it has finished cooking for a couple of minutes to generate a golden crisp on top for some added texture and depth of flavor. And finally, we added Old Bay to the dip because we are Marylanders and love that flavor, and it always pairs well with seafood.

As our entree we had Chicken Avocado Burgers that Simone had cooked earlier in the week (they were fantastic, so let Simone know if you want the recipe!), but the purpose of our adventure was the dip and the margaritas. So, speaking of the "Lose Your Shoes" Margaritas, they were amazing! They were definitely strong but were really delicious. Simone decided to only make half of the margarita recipe because tequila is sneaky and it was just the two of us. The "Lose Your Shoes" Margaritas were composed of tequila, triple sec, lime juice, lemon juice, lime, and lime zest. We both definitely enjoyed the one, er...two glasses of margaritas that we had---it was a great night!

Overall, we would give the Shrimp Dip and "Lose Your Shoes" Margaritas a 4 out of 5. The Shrimp Dip was really good, but the lemon flavor in it was definitely intense. We enjoyed the dip, but it might not be for everyone. In the future, we would recommend using half (or even less) of the lemon juice and zest to tone down that flavor in the dip, as well as add some additional seasoning to the dip for extra yumminess. The great thing about this recipe is that it could easily be modified and recreated with different ingredients. For example, you could use crab meat instead of shrimp, or add in alternative seasonings to take the dip in a different direction. And the "Lose Your Shoes" Margaritas were super strong, but so good and great after a long week. For a future Margarita Monday (that's a thing, right?), we would recommend using less tequila and adding in some orange juice to the mix. But overall, you could definitely bring the Shrimp Dip and "Lose Your Shoes" Margaritas to your next potluck or prepare them when you are having company over for a special occasion. Until next time, don't be afraid to get in the kitchen and have some fun!