Spicy and Savoury Breaded Shrimps

It's a dangerous world out there. I've been stalked and harassed a few times lately....a few times too many. It's a sign that I need to stop taking other avenues and short cuts!

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The stalking and harassing has been no other than the pleasant "bugging" by my friends and co-workers to update my blog! Being harassed this way is a huge motivator to start taking care of my blog. I have to admit that since my move to our new house, my energy level for my passion of food and cooking has taken another direction. I've been cooking quite a lot lately but have been tempted to take a couple of short cuts by thinking of posting recipes without mouth-watering pictures. I obviously opted that idea out because I thought it would be a lack of respect for fans of "food porn" like myself. Although my love for cooking is still a prominent trait of my personality, I've been very lazy to take the time to set up my camera to take food shots. The truth is, since I moved, my computer has let me down and annoyed the hell out of me by freezing or by crashing my applications in the middle of my blogging sessions. Not impressive. So, I decided that it was time to let got of my big old and clunky desktop and get a new computer. This time, I've decided to go for a laptop that would be easy to move around the house or carry during my travels. My brother, a tech-ie, has been helping me shop for a good laptop that would respond to my needs. Nothing too fancy nor too high-tech, and most importantly, affordable. Despite these criterias, my eyes have been set on Macbook Pros for a while now. They're so expensive, but they would definitely meet my requirements : light weight, simple to use and powerful in graphics and picture editing.

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Until I have a good laptop handy, I can't promise that my blog posts will appear often, but when they do appear, they'll be good ones. For now, I'm using an old PC down in the basement, that does the job just fine, but it's missing convenience and practicality when it comes to regular blogging.

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To spare you from my blabbing about my search on a new laptop and excuses for my lack of blogging, I'd like to share with you a very simple recipe on breaded shrimps, which is often a hit at dinner parties. They're plump, juicy and crispy, breaded with Panko, a japanese bread crumb that makes fried or baked foods crunchier and airier.

Recipe "au pif":16-20 large or jumbo shrimps (outer shell removed, but keep the tail)
1 tbsp coarse sea salt (or to taste)
1 tbsp chili flakes
1 tsp black ground pepper
1 egg, whisked
1 1/2 cups panko flakes (could be found in local asian grocery stores) in a large bowl, to coat the shrimps
3/4 cup canola oil for frying
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Prepare shrimps by removing outer sell, but keep the tail. With a small sharp knife slit halfway through the back of the shrimp from the larger end to the tail and open the the shrimp like a butterfly.
*Clean the insides and pat the shrimps dry with a paper towel. Throw them in a salad bowl for seasoning.
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Sprinkle the chili flakes, the coarse sea salt and the pepper over the shrimps. Mix with your hands and make sure each shrimp is well seasoned.
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Gently soak each shrimp in the egg and coat generously in the panklo flakes.
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Repeat until all shrimps are breaded with the panko flakes.
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Heat oil in a small and deep frying pan (this will avoid splattering of the oil while shrimps are frying) on medium-high until oil is hot but not smoking hot.
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Fry the shrimps 4 at a time. The shrimps should be sizzling and turn golden brown in just about 5 minutes. Don't overcook them as we're trying to get nice juicy and plump shrimps and not dry.
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Remove shrimps from oil when done, and lay them on a dry paper towel to soak off excess oil.
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Once all the shrimps are done, lay them on a bed of shredded lettuce or alfallfa sprouts.
*Serves 8-10 people as an appetizer or 4 people as part of a main course.
*Share and enjoy!

Archives : Roasted Lemongrass and Garlic Spicy Chicken

My favourite time of year is just around this time, when the weather is fantastic, not too hot and not too chilly either - great time to barbecue my favourite finger-licking-good lemongrass and garlic chicken. I've been preparing this chicken the past couple of weeks now and the more frequently I make it, the better this chicken turns out. Practice does lead to perfection...at least to one's tastebuds.

I was on my way back to the office this week and talking to my colleague Fred about food and cooking. Remember Fred? The one who shared his great prosciutto-figs appetizer recipe? And I promised him that I would post this lemongrass chicken recipe again. If you remember, I had one of my first posts a couple years back, but marinade called for lime. This time, I cut out the lime and added much more garlic and much more lemongrass. The result, lip-smacking chicken that anyone will enjoy, your kids and even your dog! Although, dogs aren't supposed to eat anything spicy, but for our dog Frippon, we removed the lemongrass, but we know he really enjoyed the rest of it, including the bones.

Recipe "au pif":1 whole grain-fed chicken
1/2 cup of olive oil
4 tbsp finely minced lemon grass (about two stems of lemongrass)
6 garlic cloves finely minced
3 tsps hot chili flakes
1 tsp hot chili paste
1 tbsp coarse sea salt(or to taste)
2 tsps ground pepper

To prepare the marinade, mix well all above ingredients (except chicken) in a bowl with a spoon.

How to spatchcock a chicken (flatten the chicken for the grill or the oven roast):

Place the chicken breast-side down on a cutting board. Using poultry shears or a very sharp knife, cut from the neck to the tail end along either side of the backbone to remove.
You'll be cutting through flesh and small bones, so you'll have to use some force; take special care if using a knife.
Once the backbone is out, you'll have a clear view of the interior of the chicken.
With both hands placed on the rib cage, crack open the chicken by opening it, like a book, toward the cutting board.
Flip over, flatten the chicken with your fist and smooth the skin. You've spatchcocked your bird.
Marinate the chicken by rubbing with your hands all sides of the chicken, the skin and the interior, with the already prepared lemon grass-garlic-chili marinade. Let the chicken marinate for 24 hours or overnight in a well-sealed container or tupperware.

Having been marinated overnight, the chicken is ready to be grilled in the BBQ or roasted in the oven.

When grilling on the BBQ, set the thermostat to medium-high and keep the BBQ lid closed, but make sure to flip the chicken once in a while to maintain an even grill and avoid burning. The chicken should be cooked between an hour and an hour and a half.

When oven roasting, set the thermostat at 350F (preferably convectional roasting, if you have that luxury). Place the chicken in an oven bag and follow instructions. These oven bags do wonders to a nice big piece of poultry- they cut down the roasting time by almost half and make the most tender and juiciest chicken or turkey ever. Normally, without an oven bag, the roasting can take almost 2 and half hours. Let the chicken roast in the oven bag for about an hour and a half until the skin is golden brown. Once the skin is golden brown, it's a good indication that the meat is cooked. The juices at the bottom of the pan is a good sign that the chicken is moist and tender. Remove and discard the oven bag and the juices.

To add that final "grilled" touch, place the chicken in the oven and "broil" for about 2-3 minutes until parts of the skin are slightly burnt. And voilà, oven-roasted-broiled chicken without the BBQ.

Let me know if you've been finger-licking and lip-smacking after eating this gourmet chicken. I'm salivating just thinking about it. Thank goodness, I have some leftovers in the oven, which I'm going to get to right away.

Serves 4-6 people.

Share and enjoy!