Thai Shrimp-Scallop Curry

We've had quite the eventful week. The kids are back in school after enjoying a two week long spring break. This is a big deal for two reasons, one, summer break is literally just around the corner two months from now, and secondly, this is my daughter's last quarter in High School. Ever. She is graduating in 9 short weeks and I'm not sure if I'm ready. I keep looking at pictures from when she was just a teeny one year old and keep thinking where did all the time go? We are also getting ready for prom, which is coming up this weekend and the following weekend (yes, she is going to two). We happened to find the perfect dress over break and this week it is just mayhem trying to pick everything up that still needs picking up, along with various other school functions. Dinners during weeks like this have to be quick and well planned out.

While looking for inspiration in my magazines last weekend trying to come up with my weekly dinner menu, my eye caught a recipe for a Thai Curry. I found this recipe in my newest bon appétit magazine in their "weeknight cooking section". So far my experience with Thai food has been pretty much limited to eating it at a restaurant, but the recipe sounded easy enough that I was willing to give it a try. Halibut and Shrimp was the magazine's choice of fish in this dish, but after contemplating these ingredients and checking my freezer, I decided to switch it up slightly and go with big, juicy scallops and shrimp instead; and I'm so glad I did. I also ended up adding some extra chili garlic sauce and more curry paste for additional heat and flavor, increased the fish sauce and used light coconut milk since this is what I had on hand.

My kids were all extremely leery when finding out what I was cooking, none of them trusted that this "strange" hodge podge of ingredients would come together. I guess it worked though, as proven by my empty pan. Every single one of them asked for seconds and the dish was incredibly tasty. The flavors are wonderful and the shrimp and scallops worked beautifully together. I used pretty large scallops and shrimp, so cooking it at 5 to 6 minutes was spot on, the scallops were perfect with just the slightest bit of opaque inside and tender as can be. However, if you plan on making this and you use smaller shrimp or bay scallops, you will have to reduce the final cooking time to avoid turning them into rubber.

This recipe was a great new discovery that has already been requested again and will be a great addition to my ever growing recipe collection. I really hope you consider giving this one a try!

Thai Shrimp-Scallop Curry

~makes 6 servings~

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

3 large limes

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup chopped shallots

1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch dice

1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger

4 teaspoons Thai red curry paste

2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce

1 13 1/2 to 14-ounce can unsweetened light coconut milk

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 pound large scallops

1 pound deveined uncooked large shrimp

Kosher salt and pepper

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

Preparation:

Finely grate enough peel from 2 limes to measure 1 1/2 teaspoons. Squeeze enough juice form 2 limes to measure 2 tablespoons. Cut third lime into wedges.

Heat vegetable oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chopped shallots, diced red bell pepper, and minced ginger; saute until shallots are tender and pepper soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in curry paste, chili garlic sauce, coconut milk, fish sauce, 1 1/2 teaspoons lime peel, and 2 tablespoons lime juice. Simmer gently, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle scallops and shrimp with salt and pepper. Add scallops and shrimp to curry sauce. Return to very gentle simmer and cook just until scallops and shrimp are opaque in center, 5 to 6 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Gently stir in cilantro and basil; serve with lime wedges.

Adapted from: bon appétit

Black Beans with Rice and Coconut Shrimp

Is it Monday already again? Time seems to be flying lately and weekends go by way too fast. We had a fun hot weekend here in the Southwest with plenty of World Cup watching. Go Germany!

We also had a eventful food weekend, I was busy trying out a few new recipes and my wonderful husband was making homemade sausage. I'm hoping to have him write a guest post sometime soon about the great things he makes in the kitchen.

This weekend I set out to make a meal I have only had in restaurants so far, Coconut Shrimp. While thinking of side dishes I figured why not make homemade black beans served over white rice to keep the Caribbean feeling going. 

Beans were first. I found the recipe on Foodnetwork.com and was really happy with how the dish turned out. The beans are not complicated to make, but they do take a lot of time if made with dry beans, which I did. The beans are brought to a boil, then set aside for an hour, brought to a second boil and then lowered to a simmer for another hour and a half. After that you add spices along with onions and peppers, and once again the beans are cooked for another hour and a half or until soft. More seasonings and red wine vinegar finish off the dish. Thankfully after all this time the flavor in this dish was incredible and I will be making these beans many more times.

While the beans were cooking away I started working on the shrimp. I found the recipe on allrecipes.com, which was a good basic start but needed some alterations. Practically, shrimps are dipped in a seasoned flour mixture, get a quick bath through a simple beer batter, and are then tossed in unsweetened coconut. The coated shrimp are then laid out on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper and take a chill in the refrigerator before being fried in oil. While we all enjoyed this recipe along with the beans and the rice, it was agreed that I would continue looking for a different coconut shrimp recipe. Don't get me wrong, this is a decent recipe but I wanted a little more oomph, and these were lacking a bit of that.

Following are the recipes for both, plus stay tuned for a giveaway coming on Wednesday! It is truly a great one and you don't want to miss it!

Black Beans

(Print this Recipe)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups (about 1/2 pound) dried black beans

12 cups water

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped

4 garlic cloves, mined

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Salt and black pepper to taste

Cooked white rice for serving (optional)

Directions:

Put the beans in a large saucepan, add the water and bay leaf, and bring to a boil. Set Aside, covered, for 1 hour.

Return the beans to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer, cook uncovered, for 1 1/2 hours.

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and peppers and cook, stirring, until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, oregano, and coriander and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute more. Add the onion mixture to the beans and continue simmering until the beans are very tender and the liquid has thickened, about 1 1/2 hours more.

If the beans seem to thick, adjust the consistency with a little bit of water. Stir in the vinegar, season with cayenne, salt and pepper to taste. Serve with white rice if desired.

Adapted from: Food Network

Coconut Shrimp 

(Print this Recipe)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup flour, divided

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and Pepper 

1 egg

2/3 cup beer

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups flaked unsweetened coconut

24 shrimp, cleaned

3 cups peanut oil for frying

Directions:

Place 1/4 cup flour in a shallow bowl. Season with onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Set aside. In a medium bowl, combine egg, 1/2 cup flour, beer and baking powder. Whisk together.

Place coconut in another shallow bowl.

Hold shrimp by tail end, and dredge in flour, shaking off excess flour. Dip in egg/beer batter; allow excess to drip off. Roll shrimp in coconut, and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) in a deep--fryer or large pot.

Fry shrimp in batches: cook, turning once, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Using tongs, move shrimp to paper towels to drain. Serve warm!

Adapted from: allrecipes.com

Grilled Shrimp Tacos

A few weeks ago I received a preview magazine for Cuisine at home in my mailbox. After looking through it and loving a lot of the recipes, I decided to subscribe to it since I'm always trying to get inspired by new and different things. I received my first issue a few days ago and the poor magazine is now covered in little sticky notes for all the recipes I'm planning on making.

The first one I chose caught my eye immediately as I flipped through the first few pages. I picked the Shrimp Tacos. The picture just screamed "summer time" and they looked incredibly delicious.

There are 3 components to this recipe. The marinated shrimp, a wonderful (and easy) slaw, and an incredibly tasty chipotle sauce. What makes this recipe even better is that the shrimp are grilled, to us that means the oven stays off, which is an added bonus for us here, especially since our temperatures have hit 110 degrees F over the past weekend.

The meal comes together quickly, the shrimp marinates while you prepare the sauce and the slaw. Grilling the shrimp takes no more then a few minutes from start to finish, I would almost go as far as calling this a "fast-food" meal, since dinner can be on the table in 30 minutes flat.

I have always enjoyed a good fish taco and still do, but this is my new favorite seafood taco. The taste is absolutely mouthwatering and amazing, but what makes this even more interesting is that each of the components of the taco aren't calling for a whole lot of ingredients, but once you put this together it's so good.  I didn't make a lot of changes, but went ahead and used double the ingredients in the sauce since it was so tasty.

I served these Tacos with Mexican Rice and Refried Beans. Stay tuned this week for recipes for both of these side dishes. They were just as good, plus you don't want to miss this weeks Ice Cream Flavor, it is out of this world!

So if you are trying to celebrate summer to it's fullest, and you love seafood, then make these tacos, they sure were a hit at our home.

Grilled Shrimp Tacos

~serves 4~

(Print this Recipe)

Ingredients:

For the shrimp tacos:

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 pound (about 24)large shrimp, peeled and deveined

8 (6-inch) flour tortillas

For the chipotle sauce:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

3 teaspoons chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, minced

2 teaspoons honey

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

Salt to taste

For the red slaw:

4 cups shredded red cabbage

1/2 cup scallions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon white vinegar

Salt to taste

Directions:

Whisk together 1/2 cup lime juice, 1 tablespoon oil, and chili powder for the shrimp. Add the cleaned shrimp to the marinade and chill until ready to skewer (about 10-15 minutes).

Preheat on side of the grill to medium-high and the other side to medium-low.

In a small bowl whisk together mayonnaise, chipotles, honey, and lime juice for the sauce. Season with salt and chill until ready to serve, or up to 2 days.

Combine cabbage, scallions, cilantro, 1 tablespoon oil, and vinegar for the slaw. Season with salt and chill until ready to serve, or up to 1 hour.

Warp tortillas in foil. Thread shrimp onto metal or soaked bamboo skewers.

Grill foil-wrapped tortillas, covered, over medium-low heat, 3-4 minutes. Flip and grill 3-4 minutes more. Grill shrimp skewers, covered, over medium-high heat, 1-2 minutes per side. Remove tortillas and skewers from the grill.

To serve, divide slaw and shrimp among 8 tortillas; drizzle with sauce.

Adapted from: Cuisine At Home