Main Dish Pasta Seafood & Fish Side Dish

Caramel Sea Salt Shrimp + Bonus Recipe

January 10, 2014

When I was approached by Private Selection to see if I’d be interested in sampling their new finishing butters, I think it took less than a millisecond for me to say yes. Um, butter? And you have six flavors? And you want me to taste them? Yes, yes, yes! One of my favorite things on earth is a toasted piece of bread with fancy butter on top. My mom makes a concoction with butter, Parmesan, oregano, and basil and I could eat my weight in it. Not only is fancy butter great for spreading, but it can be the finishing touch on so many meals. I wanted to get creative and use one of the sweet butters for a savory dish, so Caramel Sea Salt Shrimp was born!

Caramel Sea Salt Shrimp | So, How's It Taste?

So, how’s it taste?

I love shrimp for so many reasons. They’re quick and easy to cook, high in protein yet low in calories, and they go so well with a variety of flavors. This dish is really simple and looks so pretty served over rice with colorful peas and carrots. The sauce is sweet from the brown sugar, but finishing it with the Caramel Sea Salt Finishing Butter gives it such a rich touch. The Caramel Sea Salt butter is a bit more maple tasting to me than caramel, but it worked perfectly in this dish. The sauce and shrimp together are pretty sweet, so when you’re tasting it, you may think it’s ruined. Once the rice is added, it’s amazing! The sweet mellows out and it’s just perfect. There’s a very slight hint of salt, but you may want to add a touch more.

Lemon, Garlic, & Herb Butter Noodles | So, How's It Taste?

For my second dish, I wanted to tackle one of the savory butters. It was tricky thinking about what I’d like to make because I didn’t want the fancy butter to get lost. Then it struck me…butter noodles! Back in college, one of my roommates used to eat noodles and butter. That’s it. I thought it was so plain and boring and such a waste of good pasta. But what if that butter was filled with lemon, garlic, and herbs? Now we’re talking! Here’s what you do: Boil your favorite pasta according to package directions, drain. Add Lemon, Garlic, and Herb Finishing Butter until you reach your desired taste. My noodles got a little shiny when they were ready. I used about a tablespoon of finishing butter per 2-ounce serving of pasta. Finish the pasta with a sprinkling of chopped fresh parsley. A squeeze of lemon juice would be nice, too!

Private Selection Finishing Butters | So, How's It Taste?

As you can see from the two recipes above, I’ve really been enjoying those finishing butters. Honestly, my favorite thing to do with them is schmear them on toast or a toasted bagel. I think my favorite is the Roasted Garlic & Herbs. My little tub is almost gone because I’ve been slathering my toast with it like it’s going out of style. Delicious!

Giveaway Details – Contest Closed

Now that I’ve tempted you with butter, I’ve got good news! Private Selection wants you to have the opportunity to try their new finishing butters, too! One winner will receive a Private Selection Kit filled with a sample of their artisanal-inspired ingredients, and to be able to try the finishing butters and the recipes above, a $100 gift card to Kroger!

Mandatory: Leave a comment on this post telling me which butter you would like to try first! Giveaway open to contiguous U.S. residents only. One mandatory entry per person only. Multiple entries (except for the optional entry below) will be removed.

Optional entry: For one additional entry, tweet the following: “Win a Private Selection Kit and @Kroger $100 gift card from @SoHowsItTaste! Enter here: http://bit.ly/19Qen2d” and leave a separate comment that you tweeted.

Contest ends on Wednesday, January 15, at 5 p.m. central. Please make sure you enter a valid email address as an alternate winner will be chosen if I don’t hear from you within 48 hours. Good luck!

Congrats to Lillian Rosillo, comment #22!
You’ve won the $100 Kroger Gift Card Giveaway!
Winner chosen using random.org.

Yield: 4 servings

Caramel Sea Salt Shrimp

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. water
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled & deveined (I also remove tails)
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen cut carrots
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup low-sodium, fat free chicken broth
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. fish sauce
1 tbsp. Caramel Sea Salt Private Selection Finishing Butter
2 cups rice, cooked

Directions:

1. Combine water and cornstarch in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk; set aside. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add shrimp; sauté 2 minutes or until shrimp begin to turn pink. Add peas, carrots, garlic, pepper, and salt; cook 1 minute. Remove from heat.

2. Combine broth, sugar, and fish sauce in a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil; stir in cornstarch mixture. Cook 30 seconds or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly.

3. Pour sugar mixture over shrimp. Return shrimp mixture to medium-high heat and add Caramel Sea Salt finishing butter; cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated and finishing butter has melted. Serve over cooked rice.

Disclosure: Private Selection provided me with six finishing butters at no cost and a $100 gift card to Kroger. I was not compensated for this post. All opinions expressed here are solely my own, as always.

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  • Janice January 10, 2014 at 9:08 am

    I would use the Roasted Garlic and Herb. I love anything with roasted garlic.

  • Janice January 10, 2014 at 9:10 am

    I tweeted

  • amy @ fearless homemaker January 10, 2014 at 9:27 am

    I love citrus, so the lemon, garlic, and herb would be my first choice! Looks fab!

  • amy @ fearless homemaker January 10, 2014 at 9:27 am

    And I tweeted!

  • Kelly January 10, 2014 at 9:30 am

    Ooh the honey or the lemon pepper sound good and pretty versatile. Yum!!

  • Kim Day January 10, 2014 at 9:41 am

    The Lemon, Garlic & Herb has my name written all over it !!!

  • Kim Day January 10, 2014 at 9:43 am

    And I love butter sooooo much, I just tweeted this contest…

  • Chris January 10, 2014 at 10:51 am

    Carmel sea salt. It’s sweet, it’s salty, it’s an adventure!

  • Sandy January 10, 2014 at 2:40 pm

    This looks great, bought the shrimp definitely need to go back for the finishing sauce. Will definitely try them all just bought some marvelous wine that I use to enhance the flavor of anything I am cooking.
    I have seen the butter advertised but not in the store will definite ask about them.
    Thank you for telling us all about them!

  • Kelly D January 10, 2014 at 3:55 pm

    I would like to try the lemon pepper first.

  • Sarah January 10, 2014 at 5:10 pm

    I’m always making sweet things so definitely the Cinnamon and Brown Sugar

  • Amy L January 10, 2014 at 6:27 pm

    I’d like to try the Lemon Garlic & Herb

  • Amy L January 10, 2014 at 6:29 pm

    tweeted
    https://twitter.com/amylou61/status/421800750662942720

  • Natalie January 10, 2014 at 7:02 pm

    I would love the roasted garlic and herb! Yum!

  • Debbie B January 10, 2014 at 8:10 pm

    i’d love to try the Honey Butter or the Cinnamon and Brown Sugar

  • Debbie B January 10, 2014 at 8:11 pm

    i posted a tweet:

    https://twitter.com/bellows22/status/421826589001662464

  • Jessie C. January 10, 2014 at 8:44 pm

    I would like to try Caramel Sea Salt Finishing Butter first.

  • Jessie C. January 10, 2014 at 8:45 pm

    -https://twitter.com/tcarolinep/status/421834787792236545

  • Starla Bates January 10, 2014 at 9:55 pm

    Both of those dishes look delicious. I would love to try the Roasted Garlic and Herbs first. I am a garlic fanatic!

  • Starla Bates January 10, 2014 at 9:56 pm

    I tweeted: https://twitter.com/mmstarla/status/421852914588450816

  • Elena January 10, 2014 at 10:15 pm

    I want to try the cinnamon brown sugar butter

  • Lillian Rosillo January 10, 2014 at 11:29 pm

    Lemon & garlic for sure!!! Mmmm

  • Melissa January 11, 2014 at 12:33 am

    I’d most like to try the cinnamon brown sugar

  • Melissa January 11, 2014 at 12:37 am

    tweeted: https://twitter.com/justtellmewhen/status/421893453669072896

  • Mami2jcn January 11, 2014 at 8:38 am

    I’d love to try the caramel sea salt.

  • Nicole Elliott January 11, 2014 at 10:50 am

    The garlic herb butter sounds great!

  • Ashlee January 11, 2014 at 10:52 am

    That caramel sea salt sounds amazing!

  • Tessa January 11, 2014 at 10:57 am

    Roasted garlic and herb all the way! That sounds delicious.

  • Ashlee January 11, 2014 at 10:58 am

    I just tweeted!

  • Michelle Smiles January 11, 2014 at 11:04 am

    All of them! But I think I would like the try the lemon pepper tossed with some steamed broccoli first. Yum!

  • Heather January 11, 2014 at 11:20 am

    I’d like to try the lemon, garlic & herb!

  • Traciwilbur January 11, 2014 at 11:37 am

    Caramel Sea Salt, all the way!

  • Lesley Eats January 11, 2014 at 11:52 am

    I am so intrigued by the caramel sea salt butter!! I wonder how it would be on tofu. 🙂

  • Shawnte Malone January 11, 2014 at 11:56 am

    Roasted Garlic and Herb

  • Lesley Eats January 11, 2014 at 11:57 am

    I tweeted! @lesleyeats

  • Stephanie G January 11, 2014 at 11:59 am

    I’d love to try the honey butter!

  • Ginger January 11, 2014 at 12:03 pm

    Caramel Sea Salt!!

  • Janice B January 11, 2014 at 12:58 pm

    I would love to try the Honey Butter with some sweet potatoes.

  • Janice B January 11, 2014 at 1:00 pm

    I tweeted.

  • Anne C January 11, 2014 at 1:07 pm

    The lemon one 🙂

  • Cathy Lewandowski January 11, 2014 at 1:55 pm

    Oh my goodness @lesleyeats! I’d looove to try the Caramel Sea Salt Private Selection butter! I can’t even imagine how delish this would be!

  • Jessica To January 11, 2014 at 2:05 pm

    I would love to try the Roasted Garlic and Herbs butter.

  • Michelle P January 11, 2014 at 2:24 pm

    I would like to try the roasted garlic first.

  • Carol January 11, 2014 at 2:32 pm

    Thank you, cinnamon butter would be my first choice!!

  • Lisa January 11, 2014 at 5:01 pm

    Cinnamon Brown Sugar on toast, or melted over chopped apples and walnuts! 🙂

  • Susan Christy January 11, 2014 at 7:46 pm

    Roasted Garlic & Herb

  • Susan Christy January 11, 2014 at 7:47 pm

    Tweeted – https://twitter.com/susitravl/status/422182847126831104

  • rachel January 11, 2014 at 8:49 pm

    The Cinnamon and Brown Sugar butter sounds wonderful.

  • Bethany January 12, 2014 at 11:00 am

    The roasted garlic and herb butter sounds delicious!!

  • Wild Orchid January 12, 2014 at 3:42 pm

    I would love to try the cinnamon and brown sugar butter first. I bet it would be great on a baked sweet potato!

    Thanks for the chance to win!
    wildorchid985 at gmail dot com

  • Wild Orchid January 12, 2014 at 3:43 pm

    TWEET–https://twitter.com/WildOrchid985/status/422483913332621312

  • sharonjo January 12, 2014 at 9:53 pm

    I think the Lemon, Garlic and Herb would be my first choice. They all sound great though. Thank you.

  • sharonjo January 12, 2014 at 9:54 pm

    Tweet: https://twitter.com/sharonjo2/status/422577311083270145

  • Susan Christy January 12, 2014 at 10:05 pm

    I think Twitter is having some problems – my actual tweet is this: https://twitter.com/susitravl/status/422182222175961088 – I hope.

  • Carolsue January 12, 2014 at 10:40 pm

    The Lemon Pepper because it would be good to use on fish!

  • Carolsue January 12, 2014 at 10:41 pm

    I tweeted
    https://twitter.com/MsCarolsueA/status/422588832802828288

  • melissa January 13, 2014 at 8:27 am

    I would like to try the lemon, garlic and herb. I love citrus and garlic

  • Nicole January 13, 2014 at 9:53 am

    The Roasted Garlic and Herb sounds amazing!

  • Shannon January 13, 2014 at 6:54 pm

    I LURVE shrimp so I would love to try this. However, I cannot pass up cinnamon brown sugar butter! I mean, are you kidding me with this?!?!?!?!

  • Rachel K January 14, 2014 at 12:55 pm

    Honey Butter for sure! Perfect on hot biscuits, rolls, and breads! 🙂

  • Mr. Eats January 14, 2014 at 4:06 pm

    Whatever my wife wants to cook with!

  • amanda January 15, 2014 at 12:04 pm

    roasted garlic & herb would be my first pick!

  • Susan Williams January 15, 2014 at 1:50 pm

    Lemon Garlic and Herb butter.
    If it tastes good, I can imagine using that as a finish for veggies, seafood and meats.

  • April August 1, 2014 at 10:39 am

    I LOVE using the Lemon Garlic & Herb butter on french fries. Take them right out of the oven, put a knob of the butter on and toss them in a bowl. Heavenly.