Tag Archives: shrimp

The Nation Has An Appetite

Gumbo z’herbes changed my life…..

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Okay, not really, but! But! this dish proves that kale isn't a joke being played on us by the hip kids. (As you may may have guessed, I'm a kale skeptic, but this was super delish) I adapted this recipe from here.

You'll need - ->

  • 3tablespoons vegetable oil
  • one link of smoked cajun sausage diced - or some tasso
  • 1yellow onion, diced
  • 2shallots, minced
  • 2garlic cloves, minced
  • 1jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
  • couple dashes Worcester sauce
  • a dash or two of your favorite cajun seasoning blend -Cajun Two Step, Tony C's are great but dial down additional salt,  Donnies spice mix is also great
  • 8ounces fresh spinach
  • 1bunch fresh curly kale, large stems removed
  • 2cups vegetable stock, fish stock or clam juice
  • 1(14-ounce) can coconut milk - I used light instead
  • 1pound fresh or frozen okra, trimmed and cut into ¼-inch pieces
  • 3medium Yukon Gold or other yellow potatoes, diced
  • 1tablespoon filé powder
  • 1tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
  • 1pound head-on prawns or shrimp, peeled and deveined - I used Louisiana brown gulf shrimp  and I highly recommend that you do as well or at least try to find domestic shrimp to avoid engaging in slave labor practices rife in international shrimping.........
  • ½pound lump crab meat (preferably Dungeness crab) -blue swimming crab meat is a-okay here
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • Cooked white rice, for serving
  • Lemon wedges, for serving
  • Crystal hot sauce for serving

Method - ->

slice and dice the onion, shallot, garlic, and jalapeño (seed and devein if you're worried about heat). Chop up the sausage into tiny bits. Heat a bit of oil in a dutch oven or deep soup pot. Brown the sausage and remove from the pan, add the onion, shallot, jalapeño, garlic, dash of Worcester, pinch of salt, black pepper, and cajun seasoning (The spice level is a dealer's choice thing, you do you). Add a bit more oil and sauté until veg is translucent and soft. Add the kale, spinach, 1 1/2 cup water, 2 cups stock, and one can of light coconut milk (you can use the unleaded type here and the end product will be .... extra) and wilt the greens (5-10 minutes over medium heat). Remove the greens to a blender (or use your immersion blender) and add a cup (or more) of the pot liquor and blend the greens until smooth. I used a vitamix to really, truly ensure that I wouldn't encounter a single, recognizable piece of kale when finally consuming this dish.......Return the puree to the pot, stir to combine, add potato dice and simmer until the potato is tender - about 10 minutes or so. Add the shrimp and continue to simmer until the shrimp are cooked through. Add tiger file and thyme,  and rinse the crab meat, remove the pot from the heat, add the crab meat and ring the dinner bell. Adjust for salt, serve over rice with lemon. Kale, not all bad. I still skipped the okra. Okra is still gross.

The Nation Has An Appetite

The Nation Has An Appetite: Garlic Shrimp in Coconut Milk

4 Comments

A few weeks ago, when I was planning for a long-term quarantine, I decided that at some point I'd make a red curry. But when I opened my fridge this past week I discovered that I didn't have enough curry paste and I needed to come up with a different plan. Glancing around the internet I found a few recipes that seemed like I could try for, but none for which I really had all the ingredients. And I wasn't going out for more. So here's what I came up with:

INGREDIENTS
Lots of jumbo shrimp. The bigger the better.
Olive oil
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 small onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch ginger, grated
Salt
Crushed red pepper flakes
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 can coconut milk
Juice of 1 lime
Basil (I used dried, since it was available)

Fry the garlic and ginger in hot oil, about 1 minute.
Slice the peppers and onion, add to the garlic, cook until soft - about 5 minutes.
Add the can of coconut milk* and tomatoes, salt, basil, 1/2 of lime juice, red pepper flakes, bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
*I've seen it suggested that coconut milk should not be stirred up before adding it to the pan, and should be melted down and slowly mixed in as it cooks. That's what I did here and it worked really well, so it seems like that is true?
Add the shrimp, keep over heat until just cooked through.
Add the rest of the lime juice, and more red pepper flakes to taste.

I served over rice noodles and with a slice of toast (good toasted bread is perfect with this for soaking up the milk).

This definitely seemed like it could use some fresh herbs - One of the inspiring recipes called for cilantro. Maybe something with a little more crunch sprinkled over the top too, though I'm not sure what. Also, if anyone has suggestions for cooking process that would help improve this, I'd be happy to take those. I definitely plan on making this again - the shrimp came out perfect, the left-overs heated really well (no leftover shrimp... that should probably go without saying, right?), it came together really fast and easy, etc. So any improvements are appreciated!

The Nation Has An Appetite

Shrimp Lettuce Cups

3 Comments

Given some of the culinary smart-people we have running around this site, I hardly feel qualified to put up a recipe.  But I'm just so darn happy with how dinner tonight turned out (no recipe, this just made sense to me! I'm sure I've had something like it somewhere else before, of course. Still...), that I figured I'd put something together.  Also, many of these ingredients came from our CSA this week. Also, I want other people to put up recipes more often, in dedicated Nation Has An Appetite form, so they're easier for me to find when I want them.  So I'll lead the way. Continue reading Shrimp Lettuce Cups →

The Nation Has An Appetite

It’s Bean a Good Year: Tuscan Shrimp with White Beans

2 Comments

The countdown to the New Year has begun. What better excuse do we need for a little culinary exercise. This recipe is ridiculously easy and will serve 5-6 generously.

This dish is a variation off a recipe from Michael Chiarello. The Napa-based chef comes across as supremely arrogant, but the dude can cook, and has a passion for creating attainable recipes. (I was rooting for him in the Next Iron Chef competition against the even-more arrogant Geoffrey Zakarian). And this recipe is a simple slam dunk.

Of course, I've taken some liberties.

2 lbs peeled, deveined shrimp 3 cans Cannelloni white beans 1/2 tsp chile flakes
4-6 cloves garlic, sliced 1/4 cup finely diced smoked ham 1/4 cup finely diced celery
1 shallot, finely chopped 1 cup diced, fresh tomato 2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
juice of 1/2 lemon finely grated zest from the lemon (optional) a handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
a sprig of rosemary, broken into several pieces, 2-3 inches each 1 tsp fresh rosemary, roughly chopped good olive oil

Drain the beans over a bowl, reserving the liquid. You will need about a cup of the liquid. Saute the ham with extra virgin olive oil for a couple minutes, then add the rosemary sprigs, celery and shallot. Sweat for a couple minutes, then add a pinch of salt and a few good grinds of pepper. Saute for a minute until fragrant, then add the beans and enough of the reserved liquid to moisten. Stir to combine and keep warm. You want the beans moist, but not swimming.

I like to brine my shrimp for 20 minutes or so before-hand, then drain well, pat dry, and mix in a couple tablespoons of olive oil to marinate slightly before sauteing. If you do brine, you don't really need to add any (or much) salt to this dish. Stir in the chopped rosemary and a few grinds of black pepper.

Heat a large skillet to smoking hot. Add olive oil and saute the shrimp in 2-3 batches until just done (about a minute), reserving in a bowl. Reduce heat to medium. Add more oil if needed, then saute the garlic for a minute. Add the chile flakes and saute another minute. Add the tomato and spinach and saute until the spinach is just wilted. Return the shrimp and any juices to the pan. Add the lemon juice. Stir to re-heat, then stir in the lemon zest and sprinkle with parsley.

Spoon the beans into pasta bowls (remove the rosemary sprigs). Drizzle with good olive oil (optional) and top with a generous serving of shrimp. Serve with crostini and a big salad. Ask zooomx for a nice white wine to accompany. Enjoy.