Back in 1984 on a business trip to Puerto Rico I happened to stay at a resort along the north coast. While there I had a shrimp dish that I found particularly nice. It was a shrimp stew that was seasoned perfectly and served over white rice. Many years have gone by and I've never come across that dish in the USA mainland. Recently I thought about the stew and I decided to find a recipe and try making it. Thus, the recipe below is my first attempt and I will report back with results ... and likely a few changes as well.

Two of the ingredients listed below, sofrito and sazón, are common items found in hispanic grocery stores or ethnic foods sections of some supermarkets. Sofrito is a nice salsa used as a base in many hispanic dishes. It is easy to find at the supermarket though you can also make it easily if you want to look up a recipe on the Internet and acquire the various ingredients. Sazón is a seasoning composed of dry spices and typically sold in packets, boxes or plastic spice bottles. I have included the recipe for sazón below so you can make it instead of searching for it at the supermarket. All other listed ingredients are commonly found in any supermarket.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of olive oil

4 tablespoons of sofrito

2 bay leaves

5 to 10 pimento stuffed green olives

1/4 pound of smoked ham (diced)

1 1/2 teaspoons of sazón

1 cup of tomato sauce

1 can (14 1/2 ounces) of stewed tomatoes

1 pound of raw shrimp (medium size, peeled and cleaned)

salt to taste

pepper to taste

4 cups of cooked white rice

Sazón Ingredients: (makes five tablespoons of sazón)

1 tablespoon of ground coriander

1 tablespoon of ground cumin

1 tablespoon of ground annatto seeds (or paprika)

1 tablespoon of garlic powder

1 tablespoon of salt

Directions:

Make four cups of cooked white rice. Follow the directions for the type of rice you purchased. Keep the cooked rice covered and warm in a 180 degrees F warming oven.

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot. Add the sofrito, bay leaves, olives and ham. Saute over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the sazón, tomato sauce, and stewed tomatoes. Bring to a boil and them immediately reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add the shrimp and cook it at a simmer until it just turns pink, about 5 minutes.

Add the salt and pepper to taste and allow to simmer for 1 more minute.

Serve hot with the cooked white rice.

Enjoy ...