My sister Diane lives at the beach for the summer. She loves every aspect of it. The sun, the sand, (well, maybe she doesn’t love the sand, but she tolerates it) the heat, the water, the relaxation, and the friends and family that come to visit and share her little slice of heaven. Diane does a lot of entertaining and cooking while there, but she also enjoys the restaurants in the area. I share a love of incredible food with her. Diane will post amazing food and drink pics to her Facebook feed, often with a comment to me, encouraging me to find a recipe to make whatever it was because it was sooo good. And often, I try!

One of Diane’s try-it suggestions was a shrimp toast she had while visiting North Carolina. It was not something I had eaten or even heard of before that, but I looked for some recipes to make it. It’s a bit difficult to find a good recipe for something when you’ve never experienced it yourself, but I’m willing to attempt it based on a description of the food. After some research on the internet, I found a recipe that appealed to me and I subjected my first tier of tasters to it. This shrimp toast got rave reviews from all four of us. Diane will have to let me know if it comes close to what she is looking for when she makes it herself!

Shrimp Toast

Garlic Shrimp Bread (adapted from food.com)  Total Time Required: 35 minutes, Prep Time: 5 minutes, Cook Time: 30 minutes, Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 garlic cloves, minced well
• 12 ounces frozen cooked shrimp, thawed
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 8 ounces sour cream
• 2 teaspoons Old Bay or Crab Dip seasoning
• 1 loaf French bread
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven 350º F. Melt the butter in a large pan. Sauté the garlic until it is soft, then remove it from the heat.

Saute the garlic.

Combine the mozzarella & Parmesan cheeses, sour cream, and crab seasoning and mix it well. Add the garlic and the shrimp to the mixture.

Combine the filling ingredients.

Mix the shrimp filling well.

Cut the bread in half length wise & scoop out some of the bread. Fill the loaf with the shrimp mixture.

Stuff the bread with the filling.

Top the shrimp filling with the cheddar cheese.

Top it with the cheddar cheese.

Cover the loaf with foil & bake it for 25 minutes. Uncover it & bake it for an additional 5 minutes, until the top is golden brown.

Bake the loaf until it is toasty.

Being at the beach would be wonderful right about now!  ~Linda

Garlic Shrimp Bread (adapted from food.com)  Total Time Required: 35 minutes, Prep Time: 5 minutes, Cook Time: 30 minutes, Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 garlic cloves, minced well
• 12 ounces frozen cooked shrimp, thawed
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 8 ounces sour cream
• 2 teaspoons Old Bay or Crab Dip seasoning
• 1 loaf French bread
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven 350º F. Melt the butter in a large pan. Sauté the garlic until it is soft, then remove it from the heat and set it aside. Combine the mozzarella & Parmesan cheeses, sour cream, and crab seasoning and mix it well. Add the garlic and the shrimp to the mixture.

Cut the bread in half length wise & scoop out some of the bread. Fill the loaf with the shrimp mixture.  Top the shrimp filling with the cheddar cheese. Cover the loaf with foil & bake it for 25 minutes. Uncover it & bake it for an additional 5 minutes, until the top is golden brown.