Panko Shrimp Is A Sure Bet!

Family and friends threw me a surprise birthday bash yesterday at a nearby gaming and casino establishment for a day of fun. Before the actual gambling commenced we enjoyed a leisurely early dinner at their vineyard buffet. As with all buffets the selection was overwhelming. While all of us enjoyed most everything that we tried one dish stuck out as the agreeable favorite, their panko crumb fried shrimp. It was delicious, my grandmother could not stop talking about them and actually had seconds. The Japanese panko crumbs make all the difference in this recipe. The crumbs create the perfect crispness which gives a great textural contrast to the tenderness of the shrimp.

Panko Fried Shrimp

Fresh large or jumbo shrimp

2 eggs, beaten

Panko Crumbs

Cooking oil

salt

Peel, de-head, de-vein and wash the shrimp in cold water. Lightly salt them. Put well stirred eggs into a bowl. Dip the shrimp in the eggs. Drain the excess egg off for a few seconds and place them in Panko crumbs. Make sure they are well covered with the meal.
For best results refrigerate the battered shrimp for about an hour.
Deep fry at 350 degrees until they rise to the top, 1-1/2 - 3 minutes or until golden brown.

Photo/palebear/flickr

Horde Of The Rings

We take for granted just how easy some foods are to prepare ourselves. It seems that we are so conditioned to automatically purchase certain foods pre-made at a supermarket or by taking a quick trip through a drive thru. I started to think about this when a friend of mine asked me to pick up some frozen onion rings at the supermarket to have with dinner, I said you are kidding those aren’t even real onion rings. They are just minced onion and mostly bread crumbs. I told her I would just make the onion rings, she looked shocked. You know how to make onion rings (like it was some mysterious government secret) I said yes and they are really easy to make and taste a lot better than anything you’d get from a store or drive thru not to mention how much more you would get for a lot less money. So I proceeded to make the onion rings as she watched looking at me like I was some great magician. As soon as she took her first bite she never wanted store bought or drive thru again.
It really is silly the money we waste on certain foods just to save a little time, we get so little and spend so much for what? I think taking the time affords us more in our lives and it sure as hell tastes a lot better when we do.

Beer Battered Onion Rings

1 1/2 cups of flour (pancake mix also works well)
1 1/2 cups of beer, active or flat, cold or at room temperature (Guinness makes for a really rich tasting batter and color but any beer will do).
3 lbs of Bermuda onions, Vidalia or any variety that you like
4 cups shortening or oil
Salt to taste (it's best to salt them right when they come out of the fryer)

Combine flour and beer in a large bowl and blend thoroughly, using a whisk. Cover the bowl and allow the batter to sit at room temperature for no less than 3 hours. Twenty minutes before the batter is ready, preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place brown paper from grocery bags or layers of paper toweling on a jelly roll pan. Carefully peel the papery skins from the onions into 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick slices.
Separate the slices into rings and set aside.
Heat electric frying pan to 375 degrees and heat the cooking oil. With metal tongs, dip a few onion rings into batter. Then carefully place them in the hot oil. Fry rings, turning them once or twice until they're an even, delicate golden color. Now transfer to the paper-lined pan. To keep warm, place them on the middle shelf of the oven until all the onion rings have been fried.

Stop Deleting SPAM!

It’s just some chopped pork shoulder, ham, salt, water, sugar and just a dash of sodium nitrite for it to keep its pretty pink color. That doesn’t sound so bad, so why is there such a stigma attached to the little square pink porker? Maybe it’s because they say that SPAM will last forever. Pale pink meat that lasts forever does cause one to cringe.
Do you realize that there are some people who will not even admit to eating SPAM or worse yet liking the stuff? They revere SPAM in Hawaii, they serve it at all their finest restaurants and they even make SPAM sushi. People are even willing to pay ten times the cost for a serving of SPAM prepared in some fancy manner by some notable chef when they could buy the whole SPAM, can, pull top and all for a few dollars.
I’ll admit it, I’ve eaten SPAM more than once in my life and I would be willing to do it again without feeling one ounce of shame. I just can’t eat it straight out of the can (I think it smells like lesser quality pet food). I must have my SPAM kissed by the heat of a nice hot skillet. I prefer my SPAM sliced and fried, served with a couple eggs over easy or sliced and fried and dressed up cheeseburger style and slapped on a bun.
So to all of you SPAM-aphobics out there who have been brainwashed into deleting SPAM from your everyday life. Think again, give it a chance and restore SPAM’s dignity and welcome it back into your homes.
Here are a couple recipes to get you started.

SPAM and Cheese Pie

Mix:
1 cup SPAM, cut in 1/2" cubes

1 cup jack cheese, cut in 1/2" cubes

3 eggs, beaten

Feel free to add other things such as spinach or mushrooms

Crust:

1 can of Pillsbury Crescent rolls

Line a 9" pie plate with crescent rolls pour in SPAM mixture. Use 1 roll to make a lattice top. Bake 1 hour at 325 degrees for 25 minutes.

Sweet and Sour SPAM

1/3 cup brown sugar

3 tbsp. cornstarch

3 tbsp. vinegar

2 tbsp. catsup

2 tbsp. soy sauce

1 small onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 cup of SPAM, diced

20 oz. can pineapple chunks (reserve juice)

Mix brown sugar and cornstarch in 10 inch skillet. Add enough water to pineapple juice to measure 2 1/4 cups. Stir juice mixture, vinegar, catsup and soy sauce into skillet.
Cook over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens. Stir in pineapple chunks, onion and green pepper and diced SPAM. Reduce heat and simmer until heated, serve over rice.

FYI- Classic SPAM is about 175 calories per 2oz. serving, sodium is a little high but they do have a low sodium version.

Not Seeing Red, Not To Worry

Now that summer’s end is near, many of us are faced with an abundance of tomatoes that may not turn red before the cooler weather hits. I usually plant cherry tomatoes and either beefsteak or a Heinz variety. If I end up with a good amount of cherry tomatoes that are still green I like to turn those little ones into pickles. But when it comes to the bigger green tomatoes, I’ve just got to fry them.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Green tomatoes

1 egg

Sprinkle of black pepper

1 cup buttermilk (may use regular milk)

1 cup corn meal (may use flour or a mixture of both)

Salt to taste

Oil for frying

Select mature green tomatoes that are just beginning to ripen. Remove the blossom end, stem and core. Slice crosswise about 1/4 inch thick. Dip slices in egg and buttermilk mixture. Batter in corn meal and fry in hot oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towel. Do not stack on platter or

they will become soggy.

Fried Avocados

When visiting my Aunt and Uncle in California many years ago, I couldn’t get over all the different things they did with avocados. I always liked avocados but for me they usually came in the form of guacamole or a one or two slice garnish on a sandwich. Boy did I ever underestimate their versatility. My family in California used them in hot soup, cold soup, salads they even put avocados in their breakfast omelets. But I have to say one of my all time favorites was and still is the;” Beer Batter Fried Avocado”. The taste is amazing especially when dipped in either a ranch dressing or salsa, I guarantee it will be one of your new favorite snacks or make enough of them and just call it dinner!

Beer Batter Fried Avocados

1-1/2 Cups beer (whatever kind you like)
1-1/2 Cups flour
2 Teaspoon paprika
1 Tablespoon garlic, minced
4 Hass Avocados
Vegetable oil as needed for frying
Salt to taste
Ranch dressing (for dipping)
Salsa (for dipping)

In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk the beer, flour, paprika and garlic together until well blended.
Let the batter stand for 2 hours before using it.
In a large frying pan, heat oil to a depth of two inches.
Peel the avocados and slice into wedges.
Dip the wedges in the batter. Fry in the hot oil until golden about 3 minutes, turning once. Fry in batches.
Remove the wedges from the pan and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt to taste.