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Tag Archives: New York Times Magazine

Dinner in a Flash – Quicker Than You Can Say Cornmeal Batter Shrimp

For many people, the only real association they have with seafood is shrimp. We eat a lot of different seafood in our home, but shrimp seems to be a constant favor among my family, as it is with many other families. The great thing about shrimp is that it is really easy to make and very versatile. You can do all kinds of things with it and cook it in many different ways. If you can get fresh shrimp for a good price in your local area, then go for it. For the majority of people around the country, most of the shrimp available in supermarkets or other stores is farm-raised and frozen. You can even get it often in resealable bags so you can take out just as many as you need to cook for your meal, thaw them in the refrigerator overnight or run them under cold water for an hour or less and you can start cooking. Just a few weeks ago, the New York Times Magazine ran an article about different ways to cook shrimp and gave some different recipes, which is where I picked up this recipe for cornmeal batter shrimp.

Cornmeal Batter Shrimp

Vegetable oil

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 cup milk

1 egg

1 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Heat about 2 inches of vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet or Dutch oven until the temperature of the oil registers 350 degrees. Slice the shrimp lengthwise while the oil is heating. Combine the milk and the egg in a separate shallow dish and beat the egg until blended with the milk. In another shallow dish, combine the cornmeal and flour and mix gently until just combined. Dip the shrimp in the liquid mixture, shaking off any excess. Dredge the shrimp in the cornmeal mixture, again shaking off any excess. Fry the shrimp in small batches in the hot oil for less than 5 minutes until golden brown. Drain the shrimp on a paper towel lined dish and cover the dish while you repeat the process with the remaining shrimp. Serve.

The whole meal can be done in about 10 or 15 minutes, including preparation. Make sure not to overcook the shrimp as it will very quickly get very rubbery and chewy. The shrimp will turn out nice and crisp and the cornmeal not only helps to give it a great crust, but really good flavor as well. You can serve this alongside some tartar sauce or cocktail sauce if you like. We had this as an entrée one night with some baked ginger sweet potatoes and some mixed vegetables, but you could also make this as a nice appetizer for any party, holiday or weekend and it would make a great snack while watching some football.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for some more recipes. There’s always lots more to come. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Let’s (Bacon) Wrap It Up

14 Oct

I wanted to make something easy today and just use what we already had in the house since I have a bit of a cold and didn’t feel like going out. I checked in the freezer and we had some tilapia, so that’s what I am going with today. I found a great recipe idea from Mark Bittman in this weeks New York Times Sunday Magazine that makes some great use of fish and everybody’s favorite, bacon. It’s quick, easy and destined to taste great. I mean, it has bacon in it, it has to be great, right?

Bacon Wrapped Tilapia

6 slices bacon

1 pound firm whitefish, like tilapia or cod, cut into 4 filets

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

Salt and pepper, to taste

Parsley, to garnish

In a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and warm until shimmering. Add in the red onion and saute until they are just starting to soften, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, wrap the bacon slices tightly around the fish fillets and lightly season with salt and pepper. Add this fish to the pan and saute until the fish and bacon are done and the bacon is starting to crisp, turning halfway through cooking, about 8 minutes. Garnish with parsley ans serve.

That’s all there is to this one. You get the smoky flavor of the bacon added to the fish along with the bite of the red onion and you have a nice meal. I served this with plain white rice, but I also had some acorn squash on hand, so I decided to bake that and have it as our vegetable. I love the way acorn squash tastes when it has been baked or roasted, and it tastes even better when you add in a little brown sugar and maple syrup.

Baked Acorn Squash

1 acorn squash, cut in 1/2
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Scoop the seeds and stringy pulp out of the squash cavities and discard. In a small mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, butter, syrup and salt and pepper, to taste. Rub the squash cavities and cut sides of the squash with the butter mixture and place them on a baking sheet, cut side up. Bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour until the squash is tender when pierced with a fork. Serve 1 half per person.

There you have it, a quick meal for a Sunday, or any day, for that matter. There’s not a lot of clean up involved for this one either, and I plan to use the leftover rice with some turkey chili that I also made today to have for dinner tomorrow and lunches this week.

That’s all I have for tonight. I do have a few recipes that I plan to try this week, including a shrimp dish that I picked up this week that looks pretty tasty. We’re also heading into the soups and stews time of year, so I plan to be making more things like that in the coming weeks, so we’ll have to check for some recipes for them as well. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!