The Blue Willow Inn Cookbook

As the school year has started I find that I have less time for cooking. I love to cook and love to try new recipes, but it always takes me a few weeks to get back into the routine of the school year. Steve would take me out to dinner every night if that's what I wanted, but we both get tired of eating out. We enjoy eating out more if we don't do it too often. I prefer to cook when I can.

On the weekends I do have time to put together decent meals. Yesterday, for example, I made red beans and rice; I might have been inspired by my recent trip to Don's Seafood, or maybe it was a deep longing for fall to hurry up, but either way, they turned out pretty good. I like to use a mixture of andouille and regular pork sausage in my red beans and rice. Plus, it makes lots of leftovers for the upcoming week!

Today I'm going to make a shrimp and rice casserole that is in The Blue Willow Inn cookbook. The Blue Willow Inn is in Social Circle, GA, about an hour out of Atlanta. I've never been there but my sister gave me their cookbook for Christmas last year and I've made nearly everything in it. It's good old, bacon-grease-laden Southern cooking! (Yesterday I made their banana pudding recipe to go along with my red beans and rice). Many of their recipes use boxed or canned ingredients (like cream of mushroom soup), which most purist cooks scoff at, but the Blue Willow philosophy is that in all likelihood that's how your grandmother cooked. They are all about recreating that authentic Southern home cooking taste.

I'm glad I don't live near enough to the Blue Willow Inn to eat there often because by the looks of their cookbook, I'd weigh 500 pounds in no time.

Here, for your enjoyment, is Savannah Shrimp and Rice, from the Blue Willow Inn Cookbook.

1 small onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
8 cups cooked rice
1 pound cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 (10-3/4 oz.) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
salt and pepper
1/2 plus 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese

Sautee the onion and pepper in the butter. Preheat the oven to 350. In a mixing bowl, combine the onion and pepper with the rice, shrimp, soup, curry powder, 1/2 cup grated cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Pour shrimp mixture into a 9 x 12-inch baking dish. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until bubbly. Remove from the oven, and immediately sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Serve hot. Makes 8 servings.

(Photo credit: Bluewillowinn.com)