My “kitchen” in the guest house I’m temporarily living in means that “cooking” is very limited. No stove, no freezer, you get the picture. I have borrowed my friend’s Avocado Green Automatic Fry Pan. You probably remember these handy little pieces of kitchen equipment. Depending on your age, you either cooked with it all the time, or remember your Mom cooking with it. I fall into the “Mom used it” category.
My Mom’s automatic fry pan was her favorite go-to item. What she cooked in it, I really don’t remember, but I do know that it was still in her kitchen when she died at age 81 just a few years ago. I bet it worked too. But at the time, I had no interest in vintage cooking so it went to the auction of Mom’s stuff we didn’t want.
One hallmark of the recipes from the 1960s and 70s when these pieces of equipment were popular are that they cut corners like crazy. A mom’s world was beginning to revolve around speed, shortcuts using canned and frozen products, and well lets face it nothing like Aunt Lil’s cooking from scratch. And quite frankly it tasted like that. My Shrimp and Rice reminded me of my Mom’s cooking.
I loved my Mom dearly, but her cooking was typical of the 60s/70s. Bland, tasteless, but filling. That’s what I got with the Shrimp and Rice. Here’s the recipe if you might like to give it a try:
Here's the shrimp and rice in the Fry Pan!
Shrimp and Rice
- 1 c chopped onion
- 3/4 cup chopped celery
- 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (fresh or canned – yes it says canned)
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 1 6oz. can tomato paste
- 2 cups hot water
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 ts Worcestershire sauce
- 3/4 tsp thyme
- 2 cups cooked shrimp
- 1 cup cooked green peas
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Preheat your Fry Pan to 300 degrees.
Saute the onion, celery and mushrooms in salad oil (yes, it says salad oil) until golden brown. (note – the celery didn’t cook long enough so it was crunchy – ugh)
Add remaining ingredients, except shrimp and peas
Turn temperature dial to 220 and simmer covered for 30 minutes
Stir in shrimp and peas and heat through for another 5-10 minutes
Yield 4-5 servings.
It was easy to cook and easy to clean up after being done all in one pan. But as for taste, well it just sort of lacked something. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great. It does go to prove that cooking from scratch does make a difference!
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