The Hawthornes Entertain. And We Are So Freakin' Entertaining!

My favorite niece is visiting tonight.

The Hawthornes really don't entertain that much,

but we're looking forward to a good meal
 AKA "A Celebration of Life" tonight.

Wait a minute...

I take that back.

The Hawthornes are extremely entertaining.

It's a regular Algonquin Table every afternoon.

Some people have been known to call it

"The Mike 'n' Ann Show."

I don't know why.

And I don't know who Mike and Ann are.

But I digest...

Favorite Niece brought arugula and other greens.

I picked some mesclun mix, microgreens, and

some lovely black seeded Simpson lettuce 

that came up around my compost pile.

Added some garden radishes and sliced red onion.

Carrots and tomato.

This was tossed with the
Strawberry Balsamic Dressing Mr. H. made.

It was most excellent.

Mr. Hawthorne's Strawberry Dressing

1 cup sliced strawberries

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 TB sourwood honey from the Blue Ridge Mountains

(Mr. H. has a connection.)

1 TB Dijon mustard

1 cup Extra Light Bertolli Olive oil

pinch of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 tsp Herbes de Provence,

 prepared by my Dear Friend, Mar, of FoodiesUntie blogdom

Mr. Hawthorne processed this in the Magic Blender.

We tasted and let it sit for a while.

After an hour, I suggested orange juice.

He added 1/4 cup.

Perfect.

Not long ago, I'd made kale pasta. 

Had a little of the raw spaghetti left,

so I dropped it into salted boiling water.

Homemade pasta cooks in a fraction of the time as storebought.

I added homemade pesto from my last "Hurricane Harvest."

Whenever a hurricane is coming, I make pesto.

A lot of pesto.

 My basil plants wouldn't make it through a hurricane.

The bright green in there is asparagus from the garden.

Shave some Parm on top.

Crack some pepper.

And we have a nice side dish.

On to the main event ...

Coconut fried shrimp

Rosie's Coconut Fried Shrimp

Peel and de-tract shrimp.
I don't say "de-vein" because it's not a vein.
It's the digestive tract.
Leave the tails on.

Batter
2 cups flour
1 cup cornstarch
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
freshly ground pepper
about 12 oz. beer
Whisk dry ingredients.
Slowly add in enough beer
 until you have a pancake-batter consistency.
If you need more liquid,
add in a little pineapple juice.

Dredge the shrimp through the batter and shake off excess.

Next, dredge the shrimp through a mixture of
 1 part coconut and 1 part panko breadcrumbs

Fry in 350° peanut oil for about 1 - 1 1/2 minutes,
or until golden brown.
Do not crowd the pan.
It lowers the temperature of the oil
and you'll end up with soggy, greasy shrimp.
Drain on a rack, not paper towels.

Serve with my dipping sauce.

Rosie's Pineapple/Orange Marmalade/Horseradish Dipping Sauce
1 cup chopped pineapple
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup orange marmalade
1/4 cup roasted red pepper, chopped
2 TB horseradish
1 tsp minced fresh jalapeno
Mix all together.

Cover and refrigerate at least an hour to let the flavors meld.

Add a little cilantro with its flowers.

Dem's good eats!