Recipe time: Spicy Fruity Shrimp

I've got a bunch of recipes that have come about from me futzing about in the kitchen trying to figure out how to use stuff up.  I'll post them from time to time.  The thing with me and cooking is that I tend not to measure anything exactly unless I'm baking or brewing - the upshot is that the measurements here are best guesses of approximately how much I've dumped into something, and the times are less likely to be times than they are "it'll look roughly like x when it's ready."

So here goes:  Spicy Fruity Shrimp on Quinoa

Note:  I've been making this with Pineapple-Habanero Salsa that Brownie and I pick up from a local salsa guy at pretty much every major festival in the area.  The stuff is sweet and hot as all hell.  As far as I can tell, however, pretty much any fruity salsa will work.  The trick is to go a level or  two hotter than you normally would (i.e., I'd normally never go near anything with habaneros in it), because there's some dairy in the sauce that brings the heat level down a bit closer to tolerable.  If you can't find any superhot fruity salsa, get some not-so-hot fruity salsa and throw in a chopped jalapeno or habanero (seed it first) or a few drops of hot sauce.

You'll need:
- 1lb raw shrimp
- approximately 1 1/2 cups of hot, fruity salsa of some kind or another (and maybe a chili or two to heat things up if the salsa isn't already sufficiently hot)
- approximately 1 cup of pineapple (or mango, depending on what you can get ahold of)(peach might be awesome, too)
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
- 1/2 red onion, chopped
- 1 cup quinoa (make sure to rinse the holy hell out of this:  quinoa naturally produces a chemical on its surface that acts as a near-preternaturally-effective laxative.  Rinsing (even just with water) will knock this right off, and the quinoa will be awesome.)
- 2 cups chicken broth (or veggie broth or water)
- 1/3 cup cream cheese (heavy cream will work too, but I didn't have it once and threw in the cream cheese and ended up liking it better that way)

Directions:
Peel and devein the shrimp.  Toss the veins because they're nasty.  Take the shrimp shells and throw them into a pot with the chicken broth.  Let this simmer for about five minutes - the shells will turn pink and the broth will take their flavor.  Once the shells have gone pink and everything smells nice and pretty, strain the broth to get rid of the shrimp shells (which can now be tossed).  Set aside (and rinse the pot, because you'll need it again in a few minutes).  Meanwhile, toss the raw shrimp in with the salsa and toss it around until the shrimp is covered.

Next, heat a drizzle of oil in a large-ish saute pan, and throw in the onion and bell pepper.  Let them cook panuntil softened, stirring as necessary.  When the onion/pepper mix is about ready, heat another drizzle of oil (about a tablespoon) in the pot from earlier.  Toss the quinoa in the oil and let it toast for a minute or two in the heated oil (this makes it slightly nuttier).  Then throw in the onion/pepper mixture and the shrimpy broth from earlier (some cumin might be awesome as well, if you're so inclined).  Plop a lid on the pot to cover it most of the way and let it go for about 15-20 minutes.  If, at the end of 20 minutes, the liquid isn't gone, pop the lid off, stir, and let it go until the liquid is pretty much gone.  Let it sit for a minute or two when it's all cooked.

Meanwhile, dump the shrimp/salsa mixture and the pineapple (or whatever fruit)(and any chili you might be adding) into the saute pan and cook until the shrimp has turned a pretty shade of pink, stirring and flipping the shrimp as necessary to accomplish this task.  Meanwhile, the liquid level in the pan is going to increase some - when the shrimp is mostly done, crank the heat up and boil off some of the excess liquid until there's only roughly 3/4-1 cup of liquid left.  At that point, turn the heat down, throw the cream cheese into the shrimp mixture and stir until the cream cheese has melted into the sauce.  Taste the sauce and adjust seasonings if necessary.

When everything's ready, plop some quinoa on the plate and spoon some shrimp, fruit and sauce over the top.  Enjoy. 

Boozy pairings:  a Reisling works well with this, as does a fairly citrus-tinged IPA (Bridgeport would be a great example).

The leftovers store and reheat beautifully.  This recipe makes somewhere in the 3-4 servings range, depending on how hungry you are.