Rosie Makes Coconut Fried Shrimp.

 The Hawthornes put out a small spread

for visiting Hawthorne Family not too long ago.

It's nice to have company over.

Makes us both clean up

so as not to be shamed.

Sorry for the mess,

but we live here.

 

 Mr. Hawthorne made his special deviled eggs.

It has a secret ingredient

so I can't tell you what it is.

He made 18 halves

and I had to shoot quickly to get the picture.
Deviled eggs are always eaten up first at get-togethers.

Dang, he just brought this out
and there are only 2 halves left.

 We bought the egg dish in Taos, NM.

We also had boiled shrimp,

with a very horseradishy cocktail sauce.

And Mr. Hawthorne called up at Billy's Seafood

to order a "baker's dozen" of steamed blue crabs,

which, for us, because we're special,
 turned out to be 16 crabs.

Wheeeee!

He also picked up the most wonderful tuna salad

which Judy makes at Billy's Seafood.

We had tuna salad on Ritz.

Mr. Hawthorne also made cole slaw.

I was in charge of the coconut fried shrimp

and a dipping sauce.

Let's start with my salsa/dipping sauce.

It's a Pineapple/Orange Marmalade Concoction.

 Dipping Sauce For Coconut Shrimp

1/4 cup orange marmalade

1/2 cup finely chopped pineapple

2 TB roasted red pepper, minced

1 TB horseradish, drained

zest of 1/2 lime

Dish of gardenias

Combine all ingredients except gardenias.

Mix well.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes

to allow flavors to develop.

  Rosie Tip # 698:

Whenever using horseradish,

drain it for a more intense flavor.

 Press the moisture out of the horseradish.

Discard the liquid.

 

 Finished product.

 My gardenia bush is just starting to bloom

 and the living room smells lovely.

 Now I'm getting my batter

and breading ready.

  Batter

2 parts flour

1 part cornstarch

freshly ground salt and pepper

cayenne

2+ parts beer

Whisk all together until you have
 a smooth pancake-like batter.

I used:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

about 5 grinds of salt

about 10 grinds of pepper

about a teaspoon of cayenne

big cup of beer

Breading Mixture

1 part coconut

1 part panko

Mix well.

I like to cut my coconut with panko breadcrumbs..

The panko gives a wonderful crunch to the coating.

I dropped the shrimp into the batter mixture,

shook off the excess,

and dredged through the coconut and panko.

Press the breading into the shrimp.

 

 I fried these in 350° peanut oil for 90 seconds.

Drain on paper towels.

 Tender, sweet, succulent shrimp.

 Crisp-perfect outside.

My salsa is a delightful mélange of flavors.

Enjoy!

Rosie Prepares Coconut Shrimp.

Xmaskatie came to visit Saturday
and I made a special dinner for her.
 Coconut fried shrimp and my rice and bean moreovers.
 Remember, I don't do leftovers.
 I do moreovers.

I had previously made black beans and rice
 for the Hawthornelet's chicken tortilla wraps.
 And now I'm making moreover black beans and rice.
 First, I grated lime zest in the beans and rice,
 chopped some red onion, a jalapeno, and had a tomato waiting.

A quick trip out to the garden to pick up a nice cucumber.

Peeled chopped tomatoes went in along with the chopped cuke.

Chopped green pepper got added to the mix.

Slice an avocado lengthwise and twist to halve,
 then take your knife and whack into the pit to remove.

I sliced my avocado
 and added the juice of one lime to keep it from turning brown.

Xmaskatie was kind enough to bring me a fresh pineapple,
 so I added some pineapple cubes to the beans and rice
 along with the chopped red onion.
 And my rice and bean concoction is done.
 I'll wait until serving to add in the avocado.

 Now, the dipping sauce for my shrimp.

My ingredients:
 2 garlic cloves, minced
equal amount of ginger, peeled, nuked, juiced, and minced
 (For the umpteenth time and for any new readers out there,
keep your ginger in the freezer.
 That way you'll always have it on hand
 and it won't go bad on you.
When you take it out,
 nuke whatever amount you're using for about 20-25 seconds.
That way you can easily squeeze the juice out.)
 2  TB rice vinegar
 6 TB Tamari Sauce
(You could use regular soy sauce.)
 2 TB orange blossom honey
 2 TB sweet chile sauce
 1 TB apricot preserves
 2 TB orange marmalade
 2 TB Maraschino cherry juice

Mix all together and you get this fresh, fruity, sweet, sour mixture.
 Refrigerate.
 Now, I'm ready to fry my shrimp.

First, I have equal amounts of coconut and panko bread crumbs.

In Dish #1, I have:
 1 cup flour
 freshly ground salt and pepper
1 tsp hot cayenne pepper
 1 tsp Montreal seasoning
1/2 tsp onion powder
 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
 1 TB Old Bay
 Mix well.

 In Dish #2, I have
 3 eggs and 2 TB sesame seeds.

 Dish #3 is my coconut/panko mixture.

I poured the flour mixture of Dish #1 into a plastic bag,
 added the peeled, deveined, and butterflied shrimp in,
 and tossed to coat.
 Remove shrimp, shake off excess flour,
place in the eggs to coat,
 then dredge through the coconut/panko.

Add shrimp one at a time to the hot oil,
frying in batches,
 so as not to lower the temperature of the oil.

Shrimp was ready in about 45-60 seconds.

Drain on paper towels.

And here's our dinner.
 Coconut fried shrimp with a sweet/sour dipping sauce
 and my moreover beans and rice salad
with tomatoes, green peppers, red onion,
fresh pineapple, lime zest, and avocado in lime juice.

I love just plain, boiled shrimp
 with a ketchup/horseradish sauce that clears my sinuses,
 but fried shrimp is in a different category altogether.
To me, frying shrimp really showcases
 the pure shrimp flavor in a way that
 no other preparation of shrimp does.

 The shrimp was sweet, succulent, meaty.
 The coating was light and coconutty
and this was highlighted by the dipping sauce.
 And I loved my rice and bean moreovers.
So many flavors and the resulting whole
 was greater than the sum of its parts.
 Culinary synergy.

Dinner Tonight For Mr. Hawthorne and Rosie and Middle Hawthorne and MH's Girlfriend.

Hello, all.
What are the Hawthorne's having for supper tonight?
I just know that's the question on everyone's mind.

Here are my shrimp for my
 Roasted Red Pepper/Shrimp/Sherry/
Freaking/Delicious/AlmostBisque/ToDieFor/Sauce.

Here are the same shrimp, on the same wood block,
BUT!!!with different lighting.

This was shot with the flash.

Photography tip: Even if your camera on automatic doesn't want to use the flash, most of the time your pictures will turn out better if you override the auto feature and use the flash.
This is especially true if you're shooting people outdoors in sunlight.
The flash "fills in" the shadows and gives you a much better picture.

Here, I'm roasting my peppers to char the skin.

I cooked, then peeled and deveined my shrimp, then coarse chopped them.

When you've finished blackening the peppers, immediately put them in a paper bag and close it.
The steam will help you easily peel the skin off.
Just leave them in for about 10 minutes.

And here are my peeled peppers and shrimp.

Into my mini-processor.

Isn't this pretty?

Next, I melted about 2 TB butter (Land o' Lakes Unsalted) and added the roasted pepper and shrimp puree. Cook for a few minutes to enhance the flavors.

I added about 1/4 cup brown sugar.

Some dried thyme.

Pour in about 1/4 cup sherry.

Then I added a cup of heavy cream.

Lastly, I poured in a corn starch slurry
and continued cooking until the mixture thickened up.

Looks about ready.

I decided on coconut shrimp since that's one of Middle Hawthorne's favorites.

Perfectly fried coconut shrimp.

Drain on paper towels.

Next, I squeezed the juice of 1/2 lemon and 1/2 orange, poured in 1/4 cup Chardonnay and cooked over low heat until reduced by half. Then I slowly whisked in 1/2 stick butter and added the capers.

Mr. Hawthorne removes the pins from our mahi mahi.

I saved the egg/beer/flour batter from the shrimp for dipping the salted and peppered mahi mahi. Then I dredged the fish through coarsely ground pistachios.

Here, they're ready to go into my saute pan.

Saute both sides in a mixture of olive oil (I use extra light Bertolli) and butter.

Cook until just browned on each side.
Then bake in a preheated 450 degree oven for about 5-7 minutes.

Mr. Hawthorne prepares his ingredients for his potato salad:
celery, sweet relish, yellow mustard, and mayo.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.

He hard boiled the eggs along with the potatoes.
I love water shots.

Sprinkle with paprika and it's done.

Here's the spread.
Clockwise from top left, my roasted red pepper/shrimp/sherry sauce which is just a taste of heaven, then Mr. H.'s tater salad, coconut shrimp, Mahi Mahi Encrusted with Pistachios, Remoulade Sauce, Pineapple Salsa, and Lemon/Butter/Wine Caper Sauce.

Can you see all the flavors?
Can I just tell you this was sodalicious?
Perfection on a plate.