I Love Fried Shrimp.

 

I LOVE shrimp.

Love it.

And fried shrimp?  Love it even more.

There's just something about frying shrimp that really brings out the shrimp flavor.

Frying shrimp makes the shrimp shine.

Here's my lunch:

fried shrimp, fried with yet another batter

cucumber salad

coleslaw

cocktail sauce

tartar sauce

And oh, what a fine lunch it was!

  

 

 Fried Shrimp

1/3 cup cornmeal

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup cornstarch

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Mix all ingredients together.

Peel shrimp, leaving the tails intact, and de-tract shrimp.  I don't say de-vein, because that's not a vein running down the back of the shrimp.  That's the digestive tract.  Some people don't bother to remove it, but I bother.  It's gritty and unsightly.  And that other "vein" that runs down the belly?  That too is not a vein.  It's a nerve.  But I don't bother messing with that.

Mix all batter ingredients in a container (You can use a paper bag.), add shrimp, and shake, shake, shake to evenly coat shrimp.

Heat a heavy pot with 2 or so inches of peanut oil to 375°. Get an instant-read laser thermometer.  Inexpensive and worth every penny.  

Carefully drop the shrimp in the hot oil, one at a time. Fry about 6-8 at a time.  And DO NOT CROWD the pan.  If you throw in too many shrimp, you'll drastically lower the temperature of the oil.  This results in soggy, greasy shrimp. 

I use an 8-inch diameter and 4 1/2-inch deep heavy pot filled with about 2 inches of oil.

Fry 60 - 75 seconds, or until shrimp is a beautiful golden brown.  Scoop out shrimp and drain.

Rosie Note:  I use peanut oil because it has a high smoke point.  Cooking oils react differently to heat and, the hotter they get, the more they tend to break down and start to smoke, imparting a burnt flavor to the fried food or, worse, starting a fire.  This means that certain oils are better for high-heat cooking (like deep frying) than others.  Also, an oil's smoke point does not remain constant.  The more times you use an oil, heating it, the lower its smoke point becomes.  Frying in an oil will cause batter or breading particles to drop off into the oil, lowering its smoke point even more.  So do not over-use your oil.  I drain and filter my oil after each frying to get rid of those particles so I can reuse the oil.  And after 2-3 fryings, I dispose of it.

 

Ooooh...  Look at those pretty black pepper specks!

I served this with coleslaw and a cucumber salad.

For the coleslaw dressing, I mixed 1/4 cup mayo, 1 TB cider vinegar, 2 tsp sugar, and 2 TB buttermilk.  I like the tang that the buttermilk brings to the party.  Whisk all together and season with a pinch of kosher salt and a few grinds of pepper.  Taste test!  Adjust ingredients if you desire.  Pour dressing over your coleslaw mix and toss to coat.  For my coleslaw, I used about 1 1/2 - 2 cups shredded Chinese cabbage, with julienned (matchstick) carrots, and some diced multi-colored pepper.  

All measurements are estimates.  Generally, when I make something I've made hundreds of times, I just throw it all in together.  No need for exact measurements here.

For the cucumber salad:  Peel and thinly slice as much cucumber as you want.  Peel and chop some tomato.  Sprinkle some sugar over top, then drizzle on some cider vinegar.  Add kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.  Toss to coat.  Give it some green.  I used fresh dill sprigs, but you could try something entirely different if you like - mint or basil.  Either would work.

For the dipping sauces, I have the ubiquitous cocktail sauce and tartar sauce.
Again, no exact measurements.  I'll just give you ingredients and let you sort it out.

For the cocktail sauce:
ketchup
horseradish
lemon juice
Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
If I had to guestimate, I'd figger 1/4 cup ketchup, 2 TB horseradish, and a tablespoon each of the lemon juice and Worcestershire.  And when I mix these ingredients together, I don't make a homogeneous mixture.  I like pockets of flavors in which to dip my shrimp.  Sometimes I'll dip into the lemon, sometimes the Lea & Perrins, and sometimes I'll get a sinus-searing slap of horseradish.

 For the tartar sauce:
mayonnaise
vinegar
sugar

pickles - salad cubes, bread and butter, relish (You can use any combination or all three.)
optional capers, if desired
fresh dill
chopped scallions
Combine all ingredients.

Enjoy!

Rosie Fries Fish!

 
 Yup.  That's the ticket!

Fried cod with an ethereally light batter.
Coleslaw, tartar sauce, cocktail sauce, and toasted cornbread muffin slices.
This was perfect.

The fried cod was perfect.
The accompaniments were perfect.
 My batter was perfect.

Sometimes everything comes together in what I call "culinary synergism."
That's when the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
And that's what this meal is.
Plus it's fried fish and that's always a plus in my book.

First, I made the cornbread muffins, then the coleslaw, cocktail sauce and tartar sauces, and lastly the batter for the fish.



America's Test Kitchen's Cornbread Muffins
  Rosie is always on the search for the "ultimate" cornbread.
I'm not sure there is one or, if there is, I'll even know it.  But I think this is close.

Anyhoos, I've made cornbread and corn muffins every which way but loose.
And here's a new way for cornbread muffins.
I liked them immensely.
I ate them right out of the oven, still hot and steamy, with a slathering of unsalted Plugra butter.
They were divine.
Today, I sliced the muffins into about 5 pieces, topped with butter, and toasted them.  Served them with the fried cod.
Again, divine.
Tomorrow, I might just sauté some muffin slices for breakfast. Add some homemade salsa.  Serve alongside my pourable scrambled eggs with Cheddar cheese, grated nutmeg, freshly ground pepper, and a pinch of homemade cayenne flakes.  I like a loose curd when it comes to my scrambles.

Ahhhh...  But I digest.
Back to the cornbread muffins.

Mr. Hawthorne and I are regular watchers of America's Test Kitchen.  Comes on here at 2PM on PBS, Monday through Friday.  Unlike Food Network, you can actually learn things from this program.  Their testers test every recipe upside and down, sideways and across, tweaking improvements, and tell you the what, why, and how of what they've done.  It's a very informative cooking program and I highly recommend it along with their book, The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook.

Oops!  Digesting again.
Back to the cornmeal muffins.

I was watching ATK the other day and they were doing cornmeal muffins.  I wrote the recipe down as they prepared and explained the how-dones.  Good thing I did because my copy of their cookbook had a different recipe for cornbread muffins.  My copy is from 2001 - 2015.  I noticed the book shown on the link above goes to 2016.  So this recipe is probably an improvement on the one in my book.  Constant tweaking will do that.

The recipe from the show was straightforward and basic - a dry mixture added to a wet mixture.
 However, there was a technique involved in this cornbread that intrigued me.  It had to do with the wet mixture.  Cornmeal was mixed with water.  Whisked in.  And the resulting combination was a grainy liquid.  The liquid was then nuked for 1 1/2 minutes.  Whisked again to smooth it out.  Nuked again for another minute.  Whisk and continue this for about 20 minutes.  Or until the mixture was a smooth, thick combination.  I did this nuke and whisk about 5-6 times, decreasing the nuke time to 60 seconds after the second nuke.  This process was interesting to watch.  The cornmeal against the bowl gets quite thick - polenta-like - and needs to be evenly processed with the center liquid after each nuketation.

From ATK: 

Savory Corn Muffins 

Why This Recipe Works:

For a corn muffin with great cornmeal flavor and proper muffin structure, we used a ratio of 2 parts cornmeal to 1 part flour. We ditched the copious amount of sugar found in most recipes for a truly savory muffin. To help make up for the moisture that sugar normally provides, we used a mix of milk, butter, and sour cream for the right amount of water and fat. Finally, in order to get extra liquid into the batter, we precooked a portion of the cornmeal with additional milk to make a polenta-like porridge. By hydrating and gelling the starch in the cornmeal, we trapped free water and produced a supermoist muffin.

Now that the muffins are done, let's continue with the accoutrements.

Rosie's Coleslaw
3 cups finely chopped or shredded cabbage
1 small carrot, peeled and shredded
Mix together cabbage and carrot in medium bowl.
Toss with dressing.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Dressing:
2 TB mayonnaise
2 TB sour cream
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tsp sugar
1 TB cider vinegar
few shakes of Lawry's seasoned pepper
pinch kosher salt
Mix all ingredients.  Pour over slaw mixture.  Toss to coat evenly.

Rosie's Cocktail Sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
2 TB+ horseradish
2 tsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp lemon juice

For extra oomph, I like to press the liquid out of my horseradish.  More heat to the mix.
Combine all ingredients casually.  You don't need a homogeneous mixture.  I prefer pockets of flavor.  You dip into one section and get a few flavors here, then dip into another section and get more flavors there.  Add more horseradish if you like sinus-cleaning.  I do.

 Rosie's Tartar Sauce
2 heaping tablespoons mayonnaise
1 TB sweet relish
1/2 - 1 tsp chopped capers
2 tsp chopped fresh tarragon
1 heaping TB chopped red onion

Combine all ingredients.
If you don't have fresh tarragon in your herb garden, not to worry.  Substitute with fresh parsley and/or chives, which is a totally different flavor, but quite doable.

 Rosie's Super Light Batter For Fish

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 tsp dried mustard

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

pinch kosher salt

1/2 tsp cayenne flakes

1/2 cup club soda

Mix dry ingredients, then whisk in club soda until batter is smooth.

Let sit a few minutes.

Cut cod into 1 1/2 - 2 inch chunks.

Pat dry.

Drop into batter, turning to coat.

Heat about 2 inches peanut oil to 350° - 375°.

Gently slide in a few cod pieces.  (Heh...  Cod pieces!  I'm 12.)

Fry 3 minutes, until golden brown.

Drain on paper towels on wire racks.

Yup.  That's the ticket!

Mr. Hawthorne Fries Oysters And Rosie Makes Tartar Sauce.

 

 The Hawthornes are having fried oysters today for lunch.

Mr. Hawthorne is preparing the oysters 

and I'm making a tartar sauce with a twist.

 

The twist on my tartar is roasted pepper.

The accents are exquisitely fresh herbs.

When we were at Uncle Bubba Deen's Restaurant

in Savannah last month,

we were served a tartar sauce with roasted red pepper in it

which we both liked 

and I've been wanting to use this idea, Rosie's way.

I happen to have an orange pepper from the garden,

 but I like the color of the red better.

When we were at Food Lion this morning,

I checked out the red peppers.

They wanted $1.67 a piece

and each pepper was sealed in cellophane.
I passed.

Rosie's Roasted Pepper Tartar Sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp white wine vinegar

2 TB sweet relish

1 TB freshly parsley, chopped

1 TB fresh dill, chopped

1 scallion, sliced

1 TB roasted pepper, chopped

Mix all together.

Now for the process:

I skewered part of the pepper

and charred it all over.

If you don't have an open flame,

put the pepper a few inches away from your broiler.

And watch it.

Be sure you get the nooks and crannies charred.

After blackening the pepper,

immediately plunge into ice water.

I picked dill, scallion and parsley.

I couldn't resist the pretty dill flower.

Some white wine vinegar going into mayo.

If you want to make this your own,

taste test as you go along.

I'm giving you the basic guidelines,

but you can tailor it to your tastes.

Caution:  If you tailor it to your tastes

and don't like it,

then don't send me nasty emails

telling me my food tastes like crap.

That said,

proceed with caution.

Add in the sweet relish.

Parsley.

Dill.

Green onion.

Back to the pepper.

Rub off char.

You don't need to be OC about this.

A certain amount of char imparts a nice flavor.

I didn't use the whole half pepper.

The rest, I put in a plastic bag,

poured a little oil in, massaged it,

and refrigerated it.

Pepper in.

Next time, I'll use red pepper.

And more of it.

I love this tartar sauce.

Mr. Hawthorne tossed his oysters in

a combination of 3 parts flour, 1 part cornmeal,

and 1/2 part cornstarch, 1 TB Old Bay Seasoning.

In 355-365 degree canola/vegetable oil mixture

for less than 90 seconds.

Mr. Hawthorne says that canola oil will not really

brown the oyster.

Corn oil will brown a fried oyster more,

but Mr. H. prefers the lighter canola oil.

Oysters in one at a time.

Drain.

Another Happy Meal

for the Happy Hawthornes!

Perfectly lightly breaded and lightly fried oysters,

a sufferingly bland cole slaw offered by Mr. Hawthorne

(We disagree vehemently on cole slaws, potato salads, et al.),

cocktail sauce

 (Ketchup, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce and lemon,

swirled, not mixed through.

Remember:  pockets of flavor.),

and Roasted Pepper Tartar Sauce.

Hmmm....
I wonder if I'll ever hear about Mr. Hawthorne's
"sufferingly bland cole slaw."

He doesn't read my blog much.
He has to live it.

Mr. Hawthorne Makes Dinner.

Mr. Hawthorne is making dinner tonight. For joy!

Apparently we're having stuffed peppers. Those are sweet, not hot, peppers, and I want to grow them in my garden this summer. They're the perfect size. Mr. Hawthorne sliced off the tops and cleaned out the seeds before stuffing.

Apparently, Mr. Hawthorne is Semi-Ho'ing dinner. Unbeknownst to me, he tossed in a few extra items in the basket while we were at Food Lion - Rice-A-Roni Spanish Rice and a package of shredded Mexican cheese. Usually, I'm on top of things in the supermarket, but somehow these items got past me. I could have whupped up some excellent Spanish rice and I'm perfectly capable of grating my own cheese, thankyouverymuch.

Mr. Hawthorne stuffed the peppers with the rice and cheese, then secured the tops with toothpicks.

Mr. Hawthorne is going to batter and deep fry these babies. At least he didn't Semi-Ho the tempura batter: 3/4 cup cornstarch 3 cups cake flour 2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp Kosher salt Mix 3 parts tempura mix with 2 parts sparkling water. And he used club soda. I'd have to have a side-by-side tasting to tell the difference.

I liked these glass beads on my counter top.

Mr. Hawthorne's fry station - stuffed peppers, tempura batter, hot oil. I'm going to clean the kitchen tomorrow. Really I am. That corner is killing me.

Just a few stuffed peppers at a time. You don't want to crowd the oil and decrease the temperature.

Drain on paper towels.

Fried stuffed peppers and fried sliced pickles.

What? You never had fried pickles? Try 'em!

The squiggle down the center is Rosie's Pig Shack Sauce, her excellent version of Boar and Castle Sauce. On the left is my Mango Habanero Pineapple Salsa. On the top right is Mr. Hawthorne's Tartar Sauce and the bottom right is a delicious Remoulade Sauce. I got the recipe from Mark, the owner of Lucky 12 Tavern in Nags Head.

Perfectly fried. Excellent. Good job, Mr. Hawthorne.