Southern-Style Butter Shrimp, Steak & Rice

Here’s a Southern-Style Butter Shrimp, Steak & Rice recipe—juicy steak, buttery garlic shrimp, and seasoned rice all in one hearty meal. 🍤🥩🍚

🥩🍤 Southern Butter Shrimp & Steak with Rice

Serves: 4
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 25–30 minutes

Ingredients

For the steak & shrimp:

• 1 lb steak, cut into bite-sized pieces

• 1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined

• 4 tbsp butter, divided

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 tsp smoked paprika

• 1 tsp Cajun seasoning

• ½ tsp onion powder

• ½ tsp garlic powder

• ½ tsp black pepper

• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper — optional

• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

For the rice:

• 1½ cups long-grain white rice

• 2¾ cups chicken broth

• 2 tbsp butter

• ½ small onion, finely diced

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• ½ tsp Cajun seasoning

• ½ tsp smoked paprika

• Salt and pepper to taste

🍚 Make the rice

1. Melt 2 tbsp butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

2. Add onion and cook for 2–3 minutes.

3. Add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.

4. Stir in the rice, Cajun seasoning and smoked paprika.

5. Pour in the chicken broth.

6. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low.

7. Cover and simmer for about 18 minutes, or until the rice is tender.

8. Remove from heat and let it sit covered for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

🥩 Cook the steak

1. Pat the steak pieces dry.

2. Toss with smoked paprika, Cajun seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder and black pepper.

3. Heat olive oil and 2 tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium-high/high heat.

4. Add steak in a single layer. Don't overcrowd the pan.

5. Cook about 2–3 minutes per side, depending on the size and how well-done you like it.

6. Remove steak to a plate.

🍤 Make the butter shrimp

1. Lower the heat to medium.

2. Add 2 tbsp butter to the same skillet.

3. Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.

4. Add shrimp, Cajun seasoning and a little black pepper.

5. Cook about 1–2 minutes per side, until the shrimp are pink and opaque.

6. Add Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice.

7. Return the steak to the pan and toss everything together for another minute.

8. Sprinkle with parsley.

🍽️ Serve

Spoon the seasoned rice onto plates and pile the buttery steak and shrimp over the top. Drizzle the extra garlic-butter sauce from the skillet over everything.

A little Southern-style trick: Add 1–2 tablespoons of chicken broth to the skillet at the end and scrape up all those browned bits from the steak. Let it simmer for a minute, then swirl in another tablespoon of butter. That makes an amazing sauce for the rice. 😋

You could also add sautéed onions and bell peppers to this if you want it more like a Southern steak-and-shrimp skillet.

Classic Spice Cake

A homemade spice cake is warm, moist, and packed with comforting flavors. Since you enjoy baking and experimenting in the kitchen, I've included a version that would also work beautifully with your Cape Breton SHORELINE All Purpose Seasoning if you'd like to give it a signature Mitch & Tonya twist.

Classic Spice Cake

Makes one 9 × 13-inch cake

Ingredients

Dry ingredients:

2½ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon cloves

Wet ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar, packed

½ cup white sugar

¾ cup vegetable oil

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

Optional additions:

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1 cup finely diced apples

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Grease a 9 × 13-inch baking pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together:

Flour

Baking powder

Baking soda

Salt

Cinnamon

Ginger

Nutmeg

Allspice

Cloves

In a large bowl, beat together:

Brown sugar

White sugar

Butter

Oil

Add the eggs one at a time.

Stir in the vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients and buttermilk alternately, mixing just until combined.

Fold in any optional ingredients.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.

Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

¼ cup butter, softened

3 cups icing sugar

¼ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Beat everything together until smooth and creamy.

Mitch & Tonya's Cape Breton Version

Replace all of the individual spices with:

1½ tablespoons of Cape Breton SHORELINE All Purpose Seasoning

Add:

1 cup finely diced apples

½ cup chopped walnuts

The apples add moisture, and the SHORELINE seasoning would give the cake a unique, lightly spiced Cape Breton character.

Serve it warm with a cup of coffee, and your kitchen will smell absolutely amazing.

Could this be made in a bread loaf pan?

Yes — absolutely, and spice cake actually works very nicely as a loaf.

The important thing is that a 9×13 pan holds considerably more batter than a standard bread/loaf pan, so don't put the entire recipe into one loaf pan.

For a standard 9×5-inch loaf pan.

Dry Ingredients 

1¼ cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ginger

½ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp allspice

⅛ tsp cloves

Wet Ingredients

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup white sugar

⅜ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup butter

2 eggs

½ tsp vanilla

½ cup buttermilk

Bake at 350°F for roughly 45–55 minutes, checking with a toothpick around 45 minutes.

Mi'kmaq bannock

Oh yes. If we're going frying-pan bannock, I'd make it a little different from the oven version: crisp and golden outside, soft and tender inside, and with enough fat in the pan to give it that old-fashioned fried-bread character.

One note: there isn't one single "Mi'kmaq bannock" recipe—families and communities have their own versions. So I'd call this Cape Breton–inspired pan bannock, drawing on the simple flour, baking powder, salt, fat and water/milk style of bannock rather than claiming it's an authentic traditional recipe.

🍳 Cape Breton–Inspired Frying-Pan Bannock

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp sugar

¼ cup cold butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup milk

¼–½ cup additional milk, as needed

2–3 Tbsp Crisco or butter for frying

Make the dough

Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl.

Cut in the cold butter with your fingers or a pastry cutter until you have coarse crumbs.

Add 1 cup of milk and stir gently.

Add additional milk a tablespoon or two at a time until you have a soft, slightly sticky dough.

Don't make it wet. You're looking for something you can turn onto the counter and pat together.

Turn it onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead about 6–8 times—just enough to bring everything together.

Pat it into a round about ¾-inch thick.

Cut it into 6–8 wedges.

🔥 Into the frying pan

This is where I'd use one of your cast-iron skillets.

Heat the skillet over medium-low to medium heat.

Add 2–3 Tbsp Crisco. Let it melt, but don't let it smoke.

Put the bannock pieces into the skillet.

Cook for about 5–7 minutes per side, adjusting the heat as necessary.

You want a deep golden-brown crust, but the inside needs time to cook.

If the outside is browning too quickly, turn the heat down. You can even put a lid on the skillet for the last couple of minutes to help the middle cook.

When done, transfer to a plate and rub the tops with butter while they're hot.

🧈 The test

Break one open while it's still hot.

You should get:

crispy/golden outside → soft tender middle → buttery flavour.

If the middle is doughy, put the pieces back into the skillet over low heat for another couple of minutes.

And here's where I'd have some fun with it...

Because you're making spices, you could turn this into a Mitch & Tonya's bannock experiment.

Make the basic bannock, then divide the dough into portions:

Plain & buttery

Maple Coal — a tiny amount mixed into the dough

Italian Harbour — savoury herb bannock

FORGE — a little heat

Shoreline — savoury all-purpose version

I wouldn't go crazy with the seasoning, though. Bannock should still taste like bannock. The seasoning should be the background rather than turning it into a spice biscuit.

And honestly, hot pan bannock with butter and a bowl of your COCK SOUP or BULL SOUP sounds like a pretty damn good Cape Breton supper. 😄

Bloody Mary Pickled Shrimp

🍤 BLOODY MARY PICKLED SHRIMP

Makes: About 4–6 appetizer servings

Refrigerate: Overnight before serving

SHRIMP

1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 bay leaves

1 tsp black peppercorns

½ tsp celery seed

1 Tbsp Cape Breton COAL Seasoning 

BLOODY MARY PICKLING MIX

1 cup Clamato juice

½ cup tomato juice

½ cup finely diced onion

2 celery stalks, thinly sliced

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

2 Tbsp prepared horseradish

1½ Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp hot sauce, or to taste

¼ cup pickle brine

2 Tbsp olive brine

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp cracked black pepper

½ tsp celery seed

½ tsp Cape Breton COAL Seasoning 

2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

OPTIONAL — FOR THE "BLOODY MARY" PART

¼ cup vodka

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook the shrimp

Bring about 2 quarts of water to a boil with the bay leaves, peppercorns, celery seed and seasoning.

Add the shrimp and cook just until pink and firm, about 1–2 minutes depending on size.

Immediately drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking.

2. Make the Bloody Mary mixture

In a saucepan, sauté the onion and celery for about 5 minutes.

Add the cherry tomatoes and cook another 3–4 minutes.

Remove from the heat.

Stir in the Clamato, tomato juice, horseradish, Worcestershire, hot sauce, pickle brine, olive brine, lemon juice, black pepper, celery seed and seasoning.

Let the mixture cool completely.

3. Put it together

Place the cold shrimp in a clean glass container.

Pour the Bloody Mary mixture over them.

If using vodka, stir it in now.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

4. Serve

Spoon the shrimp into a small bowl or cocktail glass with some of the Bloody Mary mixture.

Garnish with:

celery

olives

lemon wedges

pickled green beans

pickled onions

a little fresh parsley

And yes... you can drink the leftover Bloody Mary juice. 😄

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Mitch & Tonya’s Spice Cabinet

Mitch & Tonya’s Taco Hamburger Helper

🌮 Mitch & Tonya’s Taco Hamburger Helper

Serves 4–5

Ingredients

1 lb (450 g) lean ground beef

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

2 cups beef broth

1 cup milk

1 cup water 

3 Tbsp Mitch & Tonya’s Taco Seasoning

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp onion powder

½ tsp garlic powder

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

½ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 Tbsp butter

½ tsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)

Salt, only if needed

Directions

1. Brown the beef

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef over medium-high heat, breaking it up as it cooks. Drain excess grease if necessary.

2. Build the sauce

Add the Taco Seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder and tomato paste. Stir for about 30 seconds.

3. Add the liquid

Pour in the beef broth, milk and water. Add Worcestershire sauce if using.

4. Add the macaroni

Stir in the uncooked macaroni.

5. Simmer

Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 10–12 minutes, stirring occasionally. The macaroni should be tender and the liquid should have thickened into a sauce.

6. Make it cheesy

Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter, cheddar and Monterey Jack until melted and creamy.

7. Rest

Let it sit for 3–5 minutes before serving. It'll thicken considerably.