Sometimes running out of something turns out to be good, especially when you're not expecting it. I'll get to this later. G&G were coming over for dinner (a.k.a. Gramma and Grampa, or Mom and Dad), and SO had come up with a great idea - risotto with shrimp. Browsed around for a recipe I liked, but as usual they were all not what I was looking for. I didn't want mushroom risotto this time, the Martha Stewart one called for a pressure cooker, the Food & Wine version seemed overly fussy with butter and I didn't feel like saffron, Giada de Laurentiis' version sounded good but I didn't have fennel or arugula, and I wasn't going for lemony. And on and on. Actually another thing I didn't like about virtually all the shrimp risotto dishes, they all called for throwing in the shrimp at the last minute and stirring until just cooked through. As my friend would say, BORING.
But then I thought, making risotto isn't rocket science. Well as they say, it is easy to make a crappy risotto, very hard to make a perfect one. I'm not sure if "they" really say that, but that seems to be the general consensus. Judging by the number of risotto dishes that Mr. Angry Chef Ramsey throws in the trash, it could be true. That's tv though. I'll just wing it. There isn't a fixed amount of anything you need anyway, you just keep ladling broth a bit at a time until it is done. I'll fix the one thing I don't like though, I'll bake the shrimp. One recipe tossed the shrimp in paprika. But.....I ran out of paprika! Who runs out of paprika anyway.
We have a friend who has been pawning every manner of Epicure product on us lately. I generally like their products, but I like making things from scratch. However, the little jar of "Mango Curry Dip" spice powder just sang to me when I opened the cupboard door. So I rinsed the raw shrimp, patted dry, and then tossed in a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and some of this mango curry spice. Put it on a baking dish, and it was ready to pop into the oven.
As for the rest, it's just risotto. Start with onion and garlic in butter, toss the rice in it, then ladle a scoup of broth at a time for 15 to 20 minutes until done. Luckily I still had plenty of home made turkey broth in the freezer, that'll do perfectly. So worth the effort! I also added a bit of wine early on, and an extra bit of the mango curry. Near the end, popped the shrimp in the oven with convection on to crisp it up a bit, and voila. Near perfection anyway.
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| Mango Curry Shrimp Risotto |
Seems almost like an afterthought, but we needed something fresh to go with the slightly rich and slightly spicy shrimp risotto. I'm not a big broccoli fan, but chop it up finely in a slaw and suddenly it transforms. Not sure why, it just does. SO thinks I'm crazy on this topic (and likely many others) but I won't apologize, it is simply true. So it goes like this. Wash and finely chop some broccoli, finely dice some fresh tomato, and maybe some fine dice of English cuke as well. Add a little bit of your favourite salad dressing, and you're done. Very fresh, a bit crunchy, and a good counter point to the curry.
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| Broccoli slaw with tomato and cuke |
Finally, I had to say something about the appetizer I put out. On our trip to the east coast this past summer, we picked up some awesome smoked herring, both pickled and dried at this place called
Fumoir d'Anton in Les Isles de la Madeleine. Really tasty, and interesting part of the islands' history. Threw on some olives for SSO, in case you're wondering.
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Herring from Le Fumoir d'Anton,
Havre-aux-Maisons, Îles-de-la-Madeleine |
Next Time: Hmmm. Maybe would add in some fresh Cilantro or even Mint leaves
Me: 9/10
SO: 9/10
SSO: 5/10
