Submissions Thread for F&DB Shrimp Challenge - Dec. 10, 2020

I started out looking for something unique and maybe Asian. And then I saw a YouTube of someone making stuffed shrimp and I became obsessed with wanting to eat some. While this shrimp recipe is not innovative, it is damned delicious and it satisfied my food craving.

Crab Stuffed Fried Shrimp

Stuffing:
1/2 cup mayo
1 Tbs mustard (grainy or yellow)
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbs hot sauce (optional, I used sriracha)
1 Tbs dried parsley
Generous sprinkling of Tony’s or Old Bay or Slap Ya Mama or your fave)
1 pound jumbo lump crab meat (All we could find was lump, not jumbo)
18-20 butter crackers (like Captain’s Wafers or Lance or Ritz) crushed

Whisk the first six ingredients together until well blended.

Gently fold in the crab meat. Try not to break up the lumps too much.

Fold in the finely crushed cracker crumbs, 1/2 of the crumbs at a time.

Make about 1.5 to 2 inch long quenelles of the stuffing (ovals). Chill in fridge while you prepare your shrimp.

Shrimp:
1 to 1 1/2 pounds of the biggest shrimp you can find. 10-15 count is what I used.
2 eggs
1 cup milk
Flour
1/2 package of Louisiana or Zatarain’s fish fry (or seafood or shrimp fry)
2/3 cup cornmeal
More seasoning

Peel and devein, but keep the tails on.

Butterfly your shrimp, being careful not to cut all the way through.

Get out the refrigerated crab and start building your little shrimp and crab boats.

Chill in freezer for 20 minutes so they’ll hold together better.

Dredge the stuffed shrimp through the seasoned flour, shaking off excess.

Dip in mixture of the eggs and milk, which have been whisked together.

Final dredge in combo of the fry mixture and cornmeal.

Deep fry at 350 until golden. Hold batches in 250 degree oven while you finish them all.

Merci!

Here is an old favorite at our house



Shrimp with White Wine Sauce and Arborio Rice

Ingredients for Rice:

1 Cup (less 3 Tablespoons) Arborio Rice
3 cups of chicken stock
3 Tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons finely diced onion
3/4 cup Sauvignon Blanc wine
2 teaspoons Parsley
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

No additional salt was added to the rice because of the amount of chicken stock used provided plenty of saltiness for the dish.

Ingredients for Shrimp and White Wine Sauce

14 medium large shrimp, peeled, and deveined
1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
2 Tablespoons Sauvignon Blanc wine
1/8 teaspoon Black Pepper
Dash of Louisiana Gold hot sauce

Ingredients for White Wine Sauce

Note: This is not really a Beurre Blanc Sauce, but close
in flavor

2 Tablespoons of the Butter you used to cook the shrimp
1 Tablespoon of the Olive oil you used to cook the shrimp
1 Tablespoon finely diced onion or shallot
1/4 cup Sauvignon Blanc wine
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

For plating:

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon chives

Directions:

- Peel, devein and season the shrimp, then set aside

Cooking the shrimp:

- Heat butter and olive oil in a shallow sauté pan.
Add the finely diced onion or shallot and sauté until tender.
- Add the shrimp and 2 Tablespoons of white wine.
As the shrimp cook (over low heat), add the hot sauce (to taste)
- When the shrimp are done, Add the red pepper flakes and chives. Heat for a moment and then remove the shrimp from the pan.

Cooking the Rice:

- Preheat the chicken stock. It needs to be warm/hot when
added to the rice:
- Add butter and olive oil to the sauté pan at medium heat.
- Measure the rice.
- Add the rice to the pan with the hot butter and olive oil.
- Add the finely diced onion
- Cook the rice with stirring until it begins to change color toward tan, then add the 3/4 cup of wine
- Cook until the wine has been absorbed and then add 1/2 cup of the hot chicken stock
- Gently stir occasionally to make certain all the rice continues to be exposed to the liquid.
- Cook until the liquid is absorbed and then add the next 1/2 cup of stock.
- Continue until all the stock (3 cups) has been used. The rice should be al dente by this time.
- Add and stir in the shredded parmesan, parsley, and black pepper.

Making the White Wine Sauce:

- Make the sauce by adding the wine to the seasoned butter
and oil used to heat the shrimp, reduce by half, and then add the fresh lemon juice. If the sauce needs to be tightened up, whisk in another Tablespoon of butter

Plating the dish:

- Serve the shrimp over the rice and garnish with a few chopped chives and red pepper flakes
- Add the sauce over the shrimp, and on the plate.
- Accompany this dish with a green salad.

Shrimp and Grits Sliders

Alot of Variables to be played with when making this 1, that's why I like making it so much.

- Poblano, Havarti, Panko Grit cakes
- Blackberry Preserves
- Medium Heat Red Peppers
- Lemon, Bacon, Onion sauce



8 cups grits, 2 cups poblano, stick of butter, 14oz Havarti into the pot





Grits into sheet pan to cool and gel together over night



Cut grit cakes, I did circles so I could serve to a large group in cupcake paper



Batter grit cakes - egg wash and Panko



Fry grit cakes



12 strips bacon into the pot



Remove bacon, cook half of a large purple onion in bacon grease, then add 1/4 cup lemon and 2 pounds shrimp, add chopped bacon back to pot once shrimp are done



Plating with a small amount of blackberry preserves and medium red pepper slice



Finish plating with shrimp, bacon, and sauce.



EAT!

quote:

---

‘Twas great, can confirm

---

See...I am going to need some samples to confirm your confirmation

Yours is beautiful, MD. I'm pretty sure I'll be sitting on the sidelines this time.

But Oh, Holy Grale!

This one started the day before with me making a marinara sauce from peeled whole tomatoes, a LOT of garlic, olive oil, red pepper flake and some herbs. We enjoyed “make your own pizza” night and I reserved the remaining sauce.

Not in this photo are two cups of grated Parmesan cheese and some Pinot Grigio.

Toasting the rice and reducing the shallots in butter.

Risotto is prepared and spread onto a sheet pan for cooling in the fridge.

The shrimp were boiled, peeled, chopped, and set aside.

See where this is going?

Fini

Shrimp Arancini (Italian for boudin ball.)

Garlic Shrimp with Chili Jam

I love shrimp - I love the texture and the flavor, and thought about all the ways to cook it - shrimp roll, fried shrimp, shrimp cakes, shrimp kabobs, etc, but I decided that my favorite ways to eat shrimp is just whole shrimp, cooked in a variety of ways - boiled, baked, skewered, etc.

So I decided to go with a little Asian flair and keep it simple.

Ingredients:
1.5 lb 21-25 ct shrimp
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp sesame oil , toasted
1 cup water
2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
8 garlic cloves , very finely minced
2 tsp chilli flakes
3 tbsp dark brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup Sriracha
2 tsp soy sauce , light or all purpose

I picked up shrimp at the local Fresh Market, removed the shells and deveined them. I pan seared them for about 45 seconds on each side and set them aside.

I sautéed the garlic in the sesame oil for a minute and added the ginger for another minute. The smell of garlic and ginger sautéing in sesame oil is one of the great smells on this planet. I then added the rest of the ingredients to the pan and brought it to a boil. I reduced the heat and let it simmer - let it reduce until it was syrupy.


I then added the shrimp back into the pan and cooked for 4-5 minutes.


I plated it with rice and broccoli and garnished with green onions and sesame seeds.



This dish is spicy, and it is a sweet heat. Your lips will be tingling when you're done, guaranteed, but the heat does not overwhelm the flavor of the shrimp. You can adjust the heat by adding/subtracting pepper flakes and sriracha. I added a squirt or two of sriracha sauce while cooking the sauce down. I could drink the sauce...

This is an easy recipe. The shrimp can be done in the time it takes you to cook the rice. Quicker, if you don't have to peel the shrimp and chop the garlic.

Tennessee Hot Shrimp & Waffles with Spiced Watermelon

Served with homemade remoulade and maple syrup of your choosing.



This is quite obviously a play on Nashville hot chicken, but I don't live in Nashville, and this is a shrimp challenge. I see shrimp as an excellent bruch option, as with shrimp & grits or shrimp and crab cakes, so combining the hot shrimp with waffles seemed like a perfect combo, and then some spiced watermelon to round out the main part of the dish.

To start, I had to hunt down some shrimp... the local Kroger where I do most of our shopping didn't have any that looked appealing so I made the trek to Whole Foods and found some good looking 10-15 count white shrimp.



They all got peeled and then a generous coating of pepper, cayenne, and garlic powder. Add salt here if you want, but it really isn't necessary as there will be enough salt by the end of the dish.





The shrimp then went into the fridge to wait while I worked on the remoulade and then the waffles.

For the remoulade, if you want to make it at home, it's really easy and there are plenty of recipes and variations, but I went with one cup of mayo to start, one juiced lemon, then added minced garlic, TN Whiskey habanero hot sauce, worcestershire sauce, groud mustard, cayenne, and paprika to my liking. Whisk until it's all combined and place in the fridge to set.



For the waffles, I made buttermilk waffles, but without the sugar as these are for a savory dish. 2 cups flour, 2 eggs, 2 cups of milk, 8 tablespoons of melted butter, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, a pinch of salt, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix the batter until thick, and then I broke out the trusty waffle iron to cook up a few batches of waffles.







And now, back to the shrimp... next step is to get them battered and ready to fry, which means an egg wash with four eggs, a cup of milk, four tablespoons of the TN Whiskey habanero hot sauce, and then just one tablespoon of the Tabasco scorpion sauce. The dredge is flour and a little bit of salt and pepper... you can spice this up if you want, but with Nashville-style hot the real heat comes later.



Whisk all that together (start with the dry ingredients if you only have one whisk) and if you have a helper, this is the perfect time to put them to use! After the whisking is complete, a few shrimp at a time go into the dredge, then into the wash, then back into the dredge, and onto the pan for future frying.









Once all the shrimp are ready, get the oil up to 325, and start frying a handful of shrimp at a time. I turned them each once during the process and they cooked all the way through even at this size in less than 10 minutes. Really about 4 minutes per side is good if the oil is good and hot. After each batch get the oil back up to temp or it's going to throw off the cooking time.







While the shrimp are getting cooked a batch at a time, I went ahead and got the spiced watermelon ready, which is really simple. I sprinkled chili powder, paprika, and cayenne on a plate and dipped one side of cubed watermelon into the spice mixture. A little sweet and spicy on the side pairs well with the shrimp and waffles.





Once all the frying is done, kill the heat on the oil and get the spice mixture ready. This is 6 tablespoons of cayenne, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon each of chili powder, garlic powder, and paprika. As soon as the cooking oil cools down enough, grab a cup off the top and mix into the spice mixture, whisking to get the spices evenly distributed and the brown sugar dissolved. NOTE: If you don't like it HOT, back off on the cayenne here. This is where the heat really comes in on this dish compared to all the previous steps.





Once it's ready, add in however many shrimp you want to top your dish with (I went with 8) and let them soak for a few minutes while you plate the waffles, watermelon, and sauces. Or open up a beer to go with whatever meal you're having!



Add the shrimp to the plate and there you have it... Tennessee Hot Shrimp & Waffles with Spiced Watermelon.





Obligatory fork shot.