Coconut Shrimp

Hey all you seafood lovers out there! I finally found a great Coconut Shrimp recipe for ya that is super yummy.  Well at least the seafood lovers in my family loved it.  I like to just eat the breading :)  I also created my own pina colada dipping sauce to go with it, that I'll share with you tomorrow. I found this recipe in my new Taste of Home magazine.  I changed it up just a bit. 

The key that I have found over the years is that you never want to add wet, to wet when battering something.  I'll explain...  Shrimp, chicken etc, have a moist surface, so when you are dipping it straight into an egg batter, it doesn't stick as well.  But if you dip it into a dry ingredient like flour, first and then into the wet mixture (like egg) then back into a dry mix (coconut and bread crumbs) it turns out so much better.  The batter all sticks to each other so much better.  Their recipe, doesn't have you dip into the flour first.  I do want to say a little something about the Panko bread crumbs.  They are different than regular bread crumbs. I really like them.  You should be able to find them near the other bread crumbs at any grocery store. 

Coconut Shrimp

1 cup flour

1 egg

1 Tbsp water

1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs (Japanese bread crumbs)

1 cup flaked sweetened coconut

1 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Oil for frying

2 shallow bowls and 1 medium sized bowl

Add flour into a shallow bowl.  Into another, whisk egg and water together.  Combine bread crumbs and coconut into the medium size bowl. 

Dip shrimp into the flour and coat. Then dip into the egg mixture and coat.  Then roll into the coconut mixture, pressing the crumbs to the shrimp to coat well.

In a skillet, heat 1/4 inch of oil at 357 degrees. ( I had it on about medium to medium low heat so it didn't brown to quickly) Fry a few at a time for 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve with Pina Colada dipping sauce.

Kabobs on the Grill

We experimented with a few flavors while grilling this week.  We had a night of Kabobs and made them a few different ways.  My favorite was the chili lime kabobs.  My husband didn't measure as he went, so this recipe is just an estimate.  Have fun with it and see what you can come up with.  I also really like the teriyaki ones.   The olive oil ones weren't my favorite, but I think I just under salted it. It needs more salt than you think for all of those veggies and meats.

We also found that by putting them on the bottom rack, even on low heat, the veggies were done and burning before the meat was done. So, we put them on the top rack this time and had much better success.  We hooked the skewers into the back of the top rack and laid them side by side, so that we could fit more of them on there. It worked out perfectly!

Kabobs on the Grill

Use any type of meat you desire- shrimp, chicken, or beef etc.

Vegetables- peppers, onions, zucchini, yellow squash, etc

Fruits- pineapple, tomatoes etc

For all kabobs: Cube meat, vegetables and fruit. Coat them with desired seasonings.(see below)  Skewer them one by one, in desired order.  Grill on top rack at medium low heat until cooked through.  (cooking times will vary depending on size and types of meat and vegetables.)

Tip:  If using wooden skewers, soak them in cold water for 30 min. so they don't burn.  

Chili Lime Kabobs



1 Tbsp lime juice

1/8 cup water

About a tsp of Salt

1/2 Anaheim pepper chopped fine

Toss meat and veggies with sauce (makes about 3 kabobs)

Teriyaki Kabobs

Terryaki Baste and glaze

Coat meat and veggies with desired amount of Teriyaki Baste and Glaze (I like Kikkomans).

Olive Oil Kabobs

Olive oil

salt  

pepper

Coat meat and vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper.  (don't skimp on the salt)

Grilled Salmon and Mango Salsa

The other day, I was in the mood for some serious grilling.  I also wanted to use up some of the veggies that we got in our basket from Bountiful Baskets. If you don't know about Bountiful Baskets, they are a co-op to get produce for really cheap.  I like to use them every once and a while. It's fun to try new veggies and fruits that I normally wouldn't buy. Each week is a whole new basket.  It all depends on what is in season.  They also have great offerings like bread, tortillas, granola etc. 

In this basket we got some mangos and zucchini that went well with this meal.  There was a bunch of other things that we enjoyed, that I'll post in the upcoming days.  I decided to try a homemade mango salsa recipe.  I had to add a little bit of sugar to sweeten it up, because the mangos weren't quite at their peak of sweetness. This recipe came from All Recipes. I changed it up a little bit to match our tastes. I would also add less lime juice next time.  It was a little too much.

 Grilled Salmon

4 oz. Salmon Fillet

1-2 tbsp butter

salt

pepper



place 1-2 tbsp butter cut into pieces on a piece of tin foil. Lay salmon on top of butter and top with salt and pepper.  Grill at medium heat until desired doneness. 

Tip:  You will only want to flip the salmon once while it is cooking. If you mess with it too much, it will flake apart.

Mango Salsa



1 mango - peeled, seeded and chopped

1/4 cup  chopped tomato

1 green onion, chopped

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon lemon juice

sugar to taste (optional)

 

In a medium bowl, mix mango, tomato, green onion, cilantro,  lime juice, and lemon juice. Cover, and allow to sit at least 30 minutes before serving

Shrimp Scampi

One of my husbands favorite seafood dishes is Shrimp Scampi.  One day I decided to learn how to make it for him.  I tried to make a copy cat recipe from one of his favorite restaurants.  I found a similar one online somewhere (I can't remember where) and changed it up a bit to make it even better!

Shrimp Scampi

1-2 lbs uncooked shrimp, shelled and deveined (I like to leave the tails on)

1/2 C. butter

1 tsp. salt

5 cloves garlic, crushed

¼ C. chopped fresh parsley ( I usually use about 2 tbsp dried parsley)

1 tsp. lemon zest

2-3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 400. Melt butter in a 13X9 inch baking pan in oven.  To the melted butter, add salt, crushed garlic, and 1 Tbsp. of chopped parsley.

Stir well, arrange shrimp in baking pan in a single later. Bake, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Turn shrimp, sprinkle with lemon zest, lemon juice, and the rest of the parsley. Bake shrimp for 8-10 minutes or until just done. Arrange shrimp scampi on hot serving platter; pour garlic butter from pan over the shrimp and garnish with several lemon wedges. Serves 4-6



Grilled Shrimp

Shrimp is a hot item in this house!  I have a 4 year old daughter who will eat shrimp and crab like its going out of style. I'm not even kidding. Its hilarious to watch her and my husband race to see who can get the last piece. Seafood is one of those things that I have tried to enjoy and really just can't get past the gag reflex to make the operation a success.  For some reason though... I do really well at cooking it, even without tasting it.   This recipe is super easy.  We don't splurge too often to buy seafood because its so expensive. But when we do, we like to buy the big bag at Costco and stretch it a couple meals. Tomorrow I'll share another shrimp recipe that is an even bigger hit for my family.

Grilled shrimp

1/4- 1/2 cup Olive oil

1 clove garlic

1 lb uncooked shrimp shelled and deveigned

salt

pepper

Lay shrimp in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Mix garlic and oil together. (you can use canola or vegetable oil also or even melted butter if you want) Drizzle over the shrimp and top with salt and pepper. Let it sit for about 10 minutes in the oil and then lay shrimp on the grill. Cook on low for 3-5 minutes each.side. 

Tip:

You can also add a splash of lemon juice to the oil mixture for a yummy flavor. (at least that's what they tell me :) )