Fried Shrimp

Have y'all missed me?? Don't worry - I'm never far away from the kitchen.

There's been a bit of fried chicken and some roasted asparagus.

Some boiled shrimp with homemade remoulade sauce and a few glasses of strawberry lemonade.

And ... the Hubs and Dad have been out shrimping a few times since the inland waters finally opened up, and while the catch has been fairly small compared to past years, there have been shrimp! And I have still been busy putting up shrimp - about 21 pounds and counting, but I'm just about done.

And y'all, I have to say, fresh from the Gulf shrimp simply scream out for fried shrimp - so, yes, we have already had fried shrimp, not once, but twice. Hot from the fryer, crunchy and salty, I'm tellin' ya ... it just don't get much better than this folks!

Dad's got some traps too, so Mom also sent me over not 1, but 2 pounds of crabmeat, which frankly if I would have picked all those crabs, I sure would have had a hard time letting go of.

Have I mentioned how much I love my in-laws???

Since we are on the subject of frying, I have to say that I love love love my Waring deep fryer. Until I bought the Waring, I had one of those old fashioned round pot styled ones that I had for far too many years. It really didn't heat all that well anymore, so I didn't use it much. I finally broke down and ordered this one,and wow, what a difference it made. The fryer heats up super fast, foods fry really quick and there is no greasy residue, so I use it all the time now when I'm frying. Everything comes out quick, crisp, crunchy and delicious and the fryer is a breeze to clean too. I can't believe I waited so long to upgrade and this fryer was worth every penny. I especially love it for frying shrimp!

I really do feel privileged to have a hubs who goes out shrimping every year with his dad, so we get to stock up our freezer with fresh Gulf shrimp. But, even if you don't have that luxury, wild caught shrimp from America are available in your local grocery store. You just gotta look for the seal. So, once again, please allow me the opportunity to soapbox and ask you to PLEASE stop buying that imported shrimp they sell in the grocery stores, if it is at all possible that is. Our fishermen and women right here in the good old US of A are suffering because of these imports, and they really need your support. And besides Wild American Shrimp just tastes, well ... superior over the imports. Okay, off the soapbox now...

I don't really have a recipe for fried shrimp, but here's what I do. I always use an egg and milk wash on my shrimp and fish, despite the fact that my husband will not consume milk with a seafood meal because his grandma told him he should never do that. I never understood this old wives tale myself, considering chowders and things like the oyster stew my mama made, both have cream and milk in them. And I often make a cream sauce with shrimp and crabmeat to top fish, like pan fried trout. So despite the old wives tales, I use the wash and I'm still here to talk about it after all these years.

Fried Shrimp
Posted at http://mynew30.blogspot.com/

A pound of shrimp, peeled and deveined
One egg
About a cup of milk
About two cups of White Lily self-rising flour
Couple shakes of Slap Ya Mama (or your favorite) Cajun Seasoning
Couple shakes of Old Bay seasoning
Large pinch or two of kosher salt
Half a dozen turns of a pepper mill
Deep Fryer with Fresh Canola Oil

Preheat the deep fryer to 350 degrees. Peel and devein shrimp, rinsing well. Pat dry with a paper towel to remove most of the water. Whisk together the egg and milk and add shrimp to mixture. Stir together the flour, Cajun seasoning, Old Bay, salt and pepper. Dunk the shrimp from the milk mixture to the flour mixture and then to a colander set over a plate or tray. Let sit for a moment, then return the shrimp to the flour mixture a second time and toss around. Place back into the colander and shake well to remove excess flour.

Fry in small batches (to avoid overloading the fryer and cooling down the oil too much), for about 3 to 4 minutes per batch, or until golden brown. Shake fryer basket and turn out onto a platter covered with paper towels. Sprinkle with just a bit of additional salt and continue frying the remaining shrimp in batches until all are done.

Spicy Turkey & Egg Hash

I so love breakfast. Oh who am I kidding. I just love FOOD!

But seriously, since I have the time in the mornings I love making a hearty breakfast occasionally - especially oatmeal when the weather is cool - but eggs of any kind, any time. Okay. Sometimes muffins or some kind of sweet bread. But most often, eggs.

I really enjoy this hash because it's very satisfying and filling and super delicious and I almost always have all the ingredients on hand. I really love the spice of the Cajun fried turkey, but I've used regular deli turkey, and ham also works really well here. You can also switch up the cheese to your favorite of course.

A very tasty start to the day, I hope you give it a try sometime!

The cast of characters: A bit of olive oil, a couple or three eggs, a small red potato, a slice of Cajun fried turkey breast and just a tad bit of shredded cheese.

First, rinse and scrub the potato under some running water. Then dice it up - no need to peel. Did you know that a lot of the vitamin goodness and fiber is in the peel? I still can't quite convince Hubs of this fact. He won't eat the peel. Well, if it's diced up small like this, he will.

Next, chop up that Cajun fried turkey breast. If you don't have that, just substitute regular turkey or ham if ya like.

Cook the potatoes in a hot skillet over medium high heat with a bit of olive oil until the potatoes are tender and begin to brown.

Toss in the turkey.

Some salt and pepper.

And stir that around to warm the turkey.

Beat the eggs together well. I used 3 eggs here. Pour those into the hot skillet with the potatoes.

You'll want to turn the heat down a bit - to just under medium should do it.

Let the eggs just begin to set slightly.


You don't really want to scramble the eggs, but instead sort of fold them in a bit all around.
Then flip them and let them cook a bit on the other side.

Slide them out onto a plate and sprinkle just a bit of shredded cheddar cheese on top, add a slice of buttered toast, and maybe some bacon - eat!

If you're in the mood for fried eggs instead, cook your potatoes alone or with the turkey, and kind of mush then down into the pan until they stick together and get real brown on the bottom. Slide out onto a plate and top with a fried egg. Yum!

Spicy Turkey & Egg Hash
Posted at http://mynew30.blogspot.com

Olive oil
1 small red potato, unpeeled and chopped
Salt and pepper
1 slice of Cajun fried deli turkey breast
2-3 eggs
1/4 ounce of shredded cheddar

Heat about a half tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Chop up the potato and cook until the potatoes are tender and lightly brown. Chop up the turkey breast and toss in. Season with salt and pepper and stir until turkey is heated through. Scoot the potato and turkey toward the center of the skillet, beat the eggs and pour them over the potatoes in the skillet; turn the heat down to medium low. Allow eggs to set slightly, then using a spatula, fold the eggs in toward the center. Turn and continue cooking to set. Turn out onto a plate and sprinkle with a pinch of shredded cheddar cheese.

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Baked Salmon with Brown Sugar Citrus Glaze

Enough of all that! Yeah - let's get back to the food.

One night recently we were watching television when the Tivo switched channels over to the Food Network to record Alton Brown's show Good Eats. Apparently I had two shows scheduled to record at the same time ... have I mentioned that I'm nearly as much of a Tivo junkie as I am a book junkie?

I just love Alton Brown, and I so love that show. I thought one day that I might Tivo them all and then transfer them to DVD discs but the Tivo hard drive filled up so fast I had to delete many of them! And yesterday, I noticed that they are back up 48 episodes. He must've recorded quite a few of these shows. Oh well... guess I'll have to look into just buying the DVDs because his shows are a great source of information for the kitchen. And besides, he's funny - check him out sometime!

Anyway... this episode he was doing salmon where one of the recipes involved using a rub made with, of all things, brown sugar! Now you know that was right up my little ole southern alley, and I just so happened to have a whole fillet of Wild Alaskan Keta Salmon that kept falling out of the freezer every time I opened the darned thing.

Now his recipe involved fresh Wild Sockeye Salmon - just a tad too high dollar for this southern gal - and he was cooking strictly by broiling, and, well... my broiler and I don't tend to get along too well. Like Rachael Ray, I tend to burn everything under the broiler. And smoke up my house even if I don't. {I really need new appliances} So, of course I made a few adaptations.

I would have never thought to use brown sugar with salmon, but, I gotta say ... this was both different and unexpected, but just delicious! Do give it a try.

Baked Salmon with Brown Sugar Citrus Glaze
Adapted from a recipe by Alton Brown on Good Eats
Posted at http://mynew30.blogspot.com/

1 Wild Alaskan skin on Salmon fillet, about 1-1/2 to 2 pounds
1/3 cup of light brown sugar
Zest of one lemon
1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
10 turns of the pepper grinder
1/2 teaspoon of Slap Ya Mama or your favorite Cajun seasoning

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Put the brown sugar, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning in the mini bowl of a food processor and combine well. I think this is just to make sure to mix and pulverize everything well - he really didn't explain why. Line a baking sheet with foil and lay the salmon on top. Spread the brown sugar mixture evenly on top of the salmon and allow it to rest at room temperature for 45 minutes.

Bake at 400 degrees for roughly 20 to 30 minutes or until the thickest part of the fish reaches a minimum internal temperature of 131 degrees on an instant read thermometer. To keep the thinner tip piece from over-cooking, you can fold it over and secure it with a toothpick.

If desired, remove the salmon from the oven and turn the broiler on and pass the salmon under the broiler just until the sugars caramelize. Remove the salmon from the oven and allow to rest, uncovered, for about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

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