Showing posts with label #SundaySupper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #SundaySupper. Show all posts

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Louisiana Roasted Barbecue Shrimp


In New Orleans, this dish is simply known as barbecued shrimp despite its method of cooking, which doesn’t get anywhere near hot coals or even an electric grill. I’ve added “Roasted” so you know that the oven is where the action takes place. 

I came to barbecued shrimp late in life. It wasn’t something either of my Cajun grandmothers made, at least, I don’t recall ever eating it at their houses. Fresh gulf shrimp in their hands became an étouffée or were boiled whole in spicy seasoned water along with baby new potatoes and corn on the cob. Even my mother, born and raised in New Iberia, Louisiana, is more likely to bread and deep-fry shrimp or, if company is coming, cook them in a cheesy rich Newburg sauce. Now we are going back a few years but it was my cousin, Misty, who first introduced us, me and the barbecued shrimp. It was love at first bite.

We were visiting Misty one summer at her lovely home in New Orleans and she baked the shrimp with a full cup of butter and a package of wonderful seasonings from the folks at Bolner’s Spices. You know I had to go buy a packet or two right after that. But, living as we do overseas, remembering to buy enough spice packets to keep us going from year to year often just didn't happen. It was time to figure out how to do it on my own, from ingredients I could get. This week’s Sunday Supper theme of Fat Sunday - sharing decadent or Mardi Gras inspired recipes – was just the motivation I needed. I am calling this homemade version of roasted barbecue shrimp a great success based on my husband’s comment after the meal, “We could have this again, and often.” Why, yes. Yes, we could!

Ingredients (to feed two greedy people on shrimp and bread or four normal people, if you include side dishes like potatoes and salad)
1 lb 10 oz or 750g fresh shrimp or prawns (without heads, shells still on)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
4 cloves garlic
Olive oil
1 lemon
1 small purple onion
1/2 cup or 115g unsalted butter
1/4 cup or 60ml Worcestershire sauce
To serve: Chopped green onions for garnish and French bread for sopping up the sauce. Sides of boiled baby new potatoes and salad – optional

Method
Use a mortar and pestle to grind together into a thick paste the paprika, black pepper, salt, red pepper flakes, the leaves off of your sprigs of rosemary and thyme and the cloves of garlic.



Add in a couple of glugs (perhaps two tablespoons) of olive oil and stir until loosened.



Spoon the spice paste into a medium-sized bowl with your shrimp. Using a microplane or a fine grater, zest the yellow peel off of your lemon.

Give everything a thorough stir to make sure that the spices and zest are well mixed with the shrimp. Set aside.



Finely mince your purple onion. Put the minced onion and the butter into a large ovenproof pan on the stovetop. Gently melt the butter and sauté the onions over a medium heat.

When the onions are translucent, turn the fire off and remove the pan from the stove. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and allow the mixture to cool.



When the pan is cool enough not to cook your seasoned shrimp on contact, pour them in and mix thoroughly. Set aside to marinate further.



Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.  When the oven is hot, give the shrimp another good stir and pop them into the oven, uncovered, for about 20 minutes or until they have turned pink and are cooked through. Squeeze on some of the lemon juice from your zested lemon.

Sprinkle with a little chopped green onion, if desired. Serve barbecued shrimp with sliced French bread to dip in the pan juices because, honestly, that’s the best part! This is a meal you will eat with your hands. It's gonna get messy but it's gonna be good!


Enjoy!








Whether you celebrate Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday, the final day of indulgence before the start of Lent, or just love decadent dishes, desserts and cocktails, you are going to love our round up today, hosted by the talented Leslie of La Cocina de Leslie. I know I want to try everything on the list!

Cocktails & Other Beverages:
Appetizers:
Main Dishes:
Side Dishes:
Desserts:

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Meyer Lemon Butter Sauce Prawns with Linguine

Meyer lemons, thought to be a cross between Eureka or Lisbon lemons and mandarin oranges, are only available for a few months at the beginning of the year. They work well in both sweet and savory dishes, especially seafood.

If you’ve been reading this space for a while, you know that last year, for the very first time, I found myself living somewhere I can buy Meyer lemons.  I brought a bag of six home and spent a great deal of time creating recipes that would let them play an important role. After all, they were not cheap. And, to reiterate, I only had six. This dish was one of our favorites and it’s just perfect for today’s Sunday Supper Valentine Recipes for Two theme.

Ingredients
1 lb or about 450g prawns or shrimp, cleaned and peeled
Sea salt
1 Meyer lemon
6-8 cherry tomatoes
1 clove garlic
2 shallots
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Olive oil
2/3 cup or 155ml dry white wine
1//2 cup or 120ml cream
7 oz or 200g linguine
Generous handful arugula (rocket) or fresh spinach

Method
Thinly slice half of your Meyer lemon.  Juice the other half and set the juice aside.



Split each prawn in two down the middle with a sharp knife and give them a light sprinkle with sea salt.


Mince the shallots and garlic.

In a large non-stick skillet, pan-fry the lemon slices over a medium heat in a drizzle of olive oil.



When the slices are nicely browned, removed them from the pan and set aside. Add in two tablespoons of the butter and let it melt and sizzle.

Now toss in the prawn halves and cook them until they are all curly and just pink through.


Remove them from the pan and set them on the browned Meyer lemon slices.


Add in the last two tablespoons of butter, then the minced shallots and garlic. Turn the fire down and sauté them until they are soft and translucent.



Meanwhile put water on to boil for the linguine.

Add the wine and lemon juice to the shallots and garlic, along with the cherry tomatoes.  Stir well.

 Cook until all of the liquid has almost evaporated, keeping an eye on it and stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile put your linguine in the boiling water with a teaspoon or two of salt. Cook according to package instructions but set your timer for about one minute less than the prescribed time. When the linguine is almost done, toss in the greens, allow them to wilt.


Drain the whole pot through a colander.  Set aside.


When the shallot/garlic pan is almost dry, add the prawns and Meyer lemon slices back into the pan. Give it a good stir.



Pour in your cream and stir again.

Season with some extra salt and a few good grinds of fresh black pepper.


Divide your pasta into two bowls and then share the creamy, lemony butter sauce with prawns over the top.


Enjoy!


If you are looking for special Valentine’s Day inspiration, you’ve come to the right place! We’ve got dishes for two galore today!  Many thanks to our host this week, Susan from The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen, who just happens to have the perfect red Valentine kitchen.

Alluring Appetizers:
Exquisite Entrees:
Decadent Desserts and Drinks:


Sunday, February 2, 2014

Spicy Roasted Corn Shrimp Dip




This spicy, extra cheesy baked corn dip with shrimp will become a party favorite. For a vegetarian version, substitute chopped black olives for the shrimp. 

Today is the biggest game day of the season for those who follow American football. It’s the championship they call the Super Bowl and it’s a pretty big deal even for folks who don’t have a team they normally support in the game. Over the years, we’ve woken up at some pretty bizarre times to watch the Super Bowl, because live television was the only way to catch the action. Now, with one-click record at the ready, we can watch at our leisure the next day, at a decent time and eat things like chips and dip.  (Nobody but me feels like chips and dip at 3 a.m., which is such a shame.) Anyhoo, I’m just here to tell you that I will be scarce on social media on Sunday evening and Monday, until we can watch the recording, because folks do persist in giving blow-by-blow accounts of the game as it is played and I don’t want to find out like that! Sort of ruins the fun, I’m sure you will agree.

What I wouldn’t mind a blow-by-blow of, on the other hand, is what you are serving so feel free to share those leading up to the game! The best part of Super Bowl watching parties is always the food and drink. If you are still dithering over what to make, the Sunday Supper group has got you covered with 50 great recipes for any game day!  I can highly recommend this cheesy corn dip with shrimp.  I brought it out sailing yesterday and even at room temperature, it got rave reviews.

Ingredients
12 oz or 340g shrimp or prawns, already peeled and cleaned
Olive oil
4 cups or 625g frozen corn, thawed (and drained, if necessary)
1 onion
Small bunch green onions (Mine weighed about 1 2/3 oz or 45g.)
1 large red chili pepper
1 jalapeño
12 oz or 340g extra sharp cheddar
1/2 cup or 110g mayonnaise
2 1/2 oz or 70g cream cheese, at room temperature
Freshly ground black pepper

For serving: Tortilla chips for dipping

Method
If you have a pan that can go from stovetop to oven, use it.  Otherwise, we’ll do the first steps in a skillet and then transfer everything to an ovenproof dish for baking.

In your pan of choice, cook the shrimp with a drizzle of olive oil until they are just cooked through.

 Remove them from the pan and chop roughly.  Set aside.



In the same pan over high heat, add another drizzle of oil and fry the corn until it gets a little browned or even charred, stirring every once in a while to keep it from sticking.

My lighting is poor but it really does have browndy bits.




Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Mince your onion, green onions, red chili and jalapeño and grate your cheddar cheese.



When the corn has some nice browned bits on it, remove it from the pan and set aside to cool a little.

Add yet another drizzle of olive oil to that same pan and, over a medium heat, sauté the chopped onions and peppers until everything is soft and the onions are translucent.  This will take about 10 minutes.  Stir regularly to avoid the onions scorching.




Remove the pan from the heat and add in the corn, chopped shrimp, cream cheese, mayonnaise and about two-thirds of the grated cheddar.  Give the whole thing a good couple of grinds of fresh black pepper.  Stir well to combine.



If your pan is ovenproof, spread the mixture out evenly and top with the remaining cheddar cheese.  Otherwise, transfer to a baking dish and do the same.



Bake for about 15-20 minutes in your preheated oven or until the dip is melted and the cheese on top is bubbling.  Don’t bake it too long or the oil starts to separate out of the cheese.

Serve with tortilla chips for scooping up big bites of the dip.



Enjoy!

Check out all the delicious party food we’ve got for you this week. Appetizers, main courses and sweet treats – there’s something for everyone here. Many thanks to this week’s Sunday Supper host, Heather from Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks! And may your own favorite team win!

Game Day Appetizers:

Game Day Entrees:

Game Day Desserts:









Sunday, January 19, 2014

Squid with Garlic Chili Olive Oil

Despite the title, this wonderful tapas dish also has smoked bacon pan-fried to crispy nuggets of deliciousness, along with the chilies, garlic and squid. And please don’t forget the squeeze of fresh lemon juice at the end. It elevates this dish to brilliant like a flood of hot sunshine on a sparkling white Majorcan beach.


Sunday Supper is getting the party started this week with tapas recipes. Delicious bites or snacks that are made especially for eating with drinks. And since, as I mentioned in my #CocktailDay post, this is my birthday week, I'm going to pretend that they are all for my own virtual party. Yay! Such fun!

When we were living in Paris, we took advantage of charter flights to head south and get away from the cold, damp winters that extended way too long into months we felt should have been quite rightfully spring. I’ve already written about Portugal here but one of our other favorite holidays was to the island of Majorca. To date this is our only venture into Spanish territory but I remember it so fondly, with its fresh seafood, white sandy beaches and clear, aquamarine waters that I knew immediately what I wanted to cook when the tapas theme was announced for Sunday Supper.

Majorcan traditional cooking uses mostly seafood and pork, so a dish of bacon and squid, with some garlic and chilies was perfect! I don’t mean to imply that this dish is authentic in any way or that I remember eating it there. I do want to say that it brought me back, in a way that only the clean smell of the sea in seafood and a good imagination can. I can almost feel the sand between my toes.

That little blondie is our elder daughter - Majorca, 1994


Ingredients
4 oz or 115g smoked slab bacon
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 or 2 small red hot chilies
Olive oil
1 lb or 450g whole fresh squid (I prefer baby squid, if I can get them.) Or about 9 oz or 260g already cleaned and sliced squid rings.
Sea salt flakes
Small handful fresh parsley leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked off
1/4 large lemon

Method
Slice your garlic thinly and split the red chilies in half lengthwise. Chop your parsley and fresh thyme. Set aside.



Chop your bacon into the small, slim chunks the French like to call lardons.

Pan-fry them with a good drizzle of olive oil over a low heat while you clean and slice the squid.


For those of you using squid rings, you can skip this next part. Move ahead to where we are making sure the bacon is golden and crispy.

To clean the squid, first grab hold of the part that has the tentacles and pull it out of the tube-y bit. (I tried to find the technical terms for you but I didn’t think they’d be helpful after all. Who would have known what the mantle is? Yeah, me either.)

You can discard the leggy body bits from the squid but I happen to like the look of the little tentacles once they are cooked. If you agree, cut that part off just below the eyes and discard the part with the eyes. The ink sac is in that part. If you happen to pierce it, just wash everything off with water and put to dry on a paper towel. The squid ink is harmless. In fact, a lot of cooks use it to color pasta or add it to sauces.



Run your finger around inside of the tube-y bit until you find the hard thing that feels and looks like plastic. Pull it out. It should be almost as long as your squid tube so if it breaks off short, fish around and get the rest of it out and discard.

See, that thing. Take it out and throw it away.


Go check on the bacon. It should be starting to render the fat and fry gently. Give it a stir.



If you do decide to keep the leggy bit, turn it over and pinch out the hard bit with the black spot in the center and discard it.



Go check on the bacon. Give it another stir and make sure it isn’t burning.

Now peel off all the colored stuff from the outside of the squid tubes. You can use your hands but the easiest way is to rub it off with dry paper towels and then discard them. Rinse your squid in clean water and put it on paper towels to dry.



Your squid is clean! Slice it into wide rings.



Direct your attention to the bacon and turn the heat up a little if it’s not golden and crispy yet.

When it is golden and crispy, add in the garlic and chilies.

Sauté briefly until the garlic starts to brown around the edges and then put all the squid in at once. Give it a good stir. The squid should turn white and start to curl up.




Now is the time to sprinkle with sea salt and then the parsley and thyme. Give the whole thing a good stir.



Add in another generous drizzle of olive oil. Flavored olive oil is the best for dipping bread in so don’t be shy!

Squeeze in the juice of your lemon, give the dish one more good stir, and serve with slices of a fresh crusty loaf of French baguette.


Food Lust People Love: A wonderfully fragrant tapas dish with smoked bacon pan-fried to crispy nuggets of deliciousness, along with the chilies, garlic and squid. You'll love this Squid with Garlic Chili Olive Oil.
Enjoy!


Join our Sunday Supper host, Conni from Cosmopolitan Cornbread and travel with us to Spain or some other sunny clime for a festival of tapas.

When you are eating tapas, you need a glass of wine: Best Wines To Pair With Tapas from ENOFYLZ Wine Blog.

Pin Squid with Bacon and Garlic Chili Olive Oil!


Food Lust People Love: A wonderfully fragrant tapas dish with smoked bacon pan-fried to crispy nuggets of deliciousness, along with the chilies, garlic and squid. You'll love this Squid with Garlic Chili Olive Oil.


And for those of you who scrolled all the way to the bottom, I reward you with two more Majorca holiday photos. :) Thanks for stopping by!