Corn Chowder with Shrimp

Fresh corn is one of summer's greatest gifts.  I make corn chowder all winter but never thought to make a lightened up version for summer until I came across a version on Pinterest a while back.  All I can say, I've been missing out.

I couldn't resist adding bacon as it pairs so well corn and shrimp.  And seriously, anything sauteed in bacon fat is going to be good.  This soup is a symphony of textures with the crisp corn, crunchy bacon, and tender shrimp.  A perfect soup for summer!

Corn Chowder with Shrimp
adapted from Bev Cooks

Serves 4

4 slices bacon, diced
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed, and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 medium onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
pinch of cayenne pepper
3 ears of corn, kernals removed from the cob
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup half-and-half or cream
salt and pepper
fresh basil for garnish, optional

Cook bacon over medium-high heat in Dutch oven or heavy pot until crisp.  Remove from pan with slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain.

Remove about half of the bacon fat.  Do not discard in case you need to add more.  Add shrimp and cook on each side for about a minute.  Remove from pot and set aside.

Add butter to pan.  Add onions and cook until they are softened and translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for another minute.  Lastly, add corn, adding more bacon fat if needed, and stir.  Cook for about 3-5 minutes.  Add flour, stir, and cook for about a minute.

Add chicken stock and scrape bottom of pot to pick up any bits of flavor.  Add half-and-half or cream.  Cook over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes.  Return shrimp to pot and cook for a couple of minutes.  Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.  Finally, add bacon.  Serve and garnish with basil, if using.  

Goat Cheese Hushpuppies

There are some ingredients that I'm immediately drawn to and one of those is goat cheese.  As soon as I see goat cheese in the title of a recipe or the list of ingredients I'm interested.  Goat cheese in hushpuppies?  Sold.  Hook, line, and sinker.

Hushpuppies are as down to earth a food as you will find but adding goat cheese takes them to a new, slightly sophisticated, level.  They are also a food that can range from leaden balls of dough, to greasy, flavorless nothingness, to a light and fluffy, perfectly seasoned accompaniment to your favorite fried fish.  These most definitely fall on the light and fluffy spectrum with their crispy exterior and light interior flecked with pools of cheese.  

What a great way to incorporate one of my favorite ingredients!  Have you tried one of your favorites in a new way recently?

Goat Cheese Hushpuppies
slightly adapted from Heather Cristo Cooks

1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
4 ounces soft goat cheese
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
Canola oil, for frying

In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, dried thyme, cayenne pepper, and paprika.  

In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the egg and buttermilk.  Stir this mixture into the dry ingredients

Combine the goat cheese and cream cheese in a bowl until well combined.  Add to the other ingredients and careful stir until the cheese is mostly incorporated.  

Add the canola oil to a large heavy pot.  The amount you will need will depend on the size and depth of your pan.  You will need at least three inches of oil in the pan.  Heat the oil over high heat until it reaches 350 degrees F.  To test the temperature, drop in a small amount of batter and if it bubbles and quickly floats to the top of the oil it is hot enough.

Using a scoop or a large spoon, scoop the mixture and carefully drop into the hot oil.  Do not crowd the pan as it will bring down the temperature of the oil.  Fry the hushpuppies, flipping when one side is completely browned until they are golden brown.  This will take about 4 minutes.

Place the completed hushpuppies on a baking sheet or plate lined with a few paper towels.  

Prosciutto Wrapped Tilapia with Basil Brown Butter

I recently saw Ina Garten wrap a slice of prosciutto around a piece of bass and I thought that trick would work with a fish that I'll actually eat.  So Prosciutto Wrapped Tilapia with Basil Brown Butter was born.  I only wish this looked as delicious as it was

I recently read The Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn and highly recommend it to anyone interested in cooking.  Ms. Flinn, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu turned a chance encounter in a grocery store one evening into an experiment to see if she could teach nine intrepid home cooks the basic skills necessary to gain confidence and the desire to become better cooks.  As much as I enjoyed reading the book for the sake of enjoyment, it forced me to reevaluate my own shopping and cooking habits.

One of the lasting takeaways for me has been to shop at home first.  I've made statements and set goals about wasting less food here before but the reality is I still throw away an obscene amount of food.  Putting more thought into what I have on hand and what I can do with it rather than running out to the grocery for an item or, as often happens, picking up takeout, has resulted in me being more creative and ultimately finding more enjoyment in the kitchen.

I had a few slices of prosciutto left from another recipe which often goes bad before I find a second use for it.  Even the less expensive prosciutto is an expensive ingredient and it shouldn't go to waste.  Ina's recipe was the perfect excuse to use it up.  She uses rosemary in her butter, but my rosemary didn't survive the recent heat wave/drought but my basil was flourishing so in it went.  I don't know about you but making on the fly substitutions like this make me feel more empowered in the kitchen.  

This was such a quick and easy dish.  Simply season the fish, wrap the prosciutto around it and bake for a few minutes.  Finish with a quick browned butter using the herb of your choice and a squirt of lemon.  And you're done!  The prosciutto keeps the fish moist while adding flavor.  Browned butter is a gift from the kitchen gods and especially so when some fresh basil is added.  Easy, elegant, and delicious!
Prosciutto Wrapped Tilapia with Basil Brown Butter
adapted from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, Ina Garten

Olive oil
4 tilapia fillets
4 thin slices prosciutto
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Line a baking sheet with foil.  Place a baking rack on top of the foil.  Drizzle each side of the tilapia fillets with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Wrap each piece of fish with a slice of prosciutto around the center of the fillet, overlapping and tucking the ends under the fish.   Place the fish, seam side down, on the baking rack and roast for 10 minutes or until just cooked.

Meanwhile, melt the butter over medium heat in a small saucepan.  Add the basil and cook over low heat until the butter begins to brown, about 5 minutes.  It will foam and then turn and nutty brown color.  Be careful not to burn the butter.  Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice and then pour over the fish. 

Sauteed Scallops with Sweet Chili Lime Butter

While in Ireland recently I discovered that the Irish are obsessed with sweet chili sauce.  Obsessed may be a bit strong, but it seemed like it was on every menu we read and served as a dipping sauce for chips, or french fries to us Americans, to a condiment on all sorts of sandwiches.  I have to admit that I have used sweet chili sauce in the past, and liked it, but it was never a go-to ingredient.  

After discovering how fabulous the sweet, every-so-slightly spicy, sauce pairs with all variety of foods, I picked up a fresh bottle as soon as I landed stateside.  Thinking that it would be a perfect complement to seared scallops, I trolled the internet for something more formal than plopping some sauce on a plate and found this three ingredient little wonder on epicurious.com. 

What a fabulous recipe!  In a matter of minutes you can have an elegant dinner that is easy enough for weeknights but special enough for the weekend.  I love working with compound butters.  They are such a simple way to amp up flavors.  Sweet chili sauce and a little lime zest are added to butter that is then used to sear the scallops and then serve as sauce. 

I love the buttery sweet softness that is a well cooked scallop and the sweetness of the sauce and the fresh hit of the lime are perfect with them.  This combination was pretty awesome, but I think the sweet chili lime butter would also be great with other seafood, chicken, or smeared over grilled corn on the cob. 

Sauteed Scallops with Sweet Chili Lime Butter
epicurious.com

1 lime
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 1/2 tablespoons Asian sweet chili sauce (I use Mae Ploy)
salt and pepper
12 sea scallops, side mussels removed, cleaned and patted dry

Finely grate peel from limes into small bowl.  Add butter and chili sauce to bowl.  Stir until well combined.

Season scallops with salt and pepper.  Heat a medium skillet over medium-hit heat.  Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and then add scallops.  Cook, without disturbing, and cook until opaque in center, about 2 to 3 minutes per side depending on the thickness of your scallops.  Do not overcook.

Dot remaining butter mixture over scallops and serve.

Crusty Grilled Shrimp with Soy-Sesame Sauce

I decided to pull out a few cookbooks from my modest library recently that I hadn't cracked open in far too long.  I quickly tabbed a bunch of recipes to make including several in At Blanchard's Table:  A Trip to the Beach Cookbook.  The Blanchards uprooted their successful life in Vermont, moved to the island of Anguilla, and opened a restaurant.  I love their story and their cookbooks.  Pick up their memoir and I promise you will be yearning to start your own adventure.

Their recipe for Crusty Grilled Shrimp with Soy-Sesame Sauce is easy, elegant, and delicious. We love shrimp around here but find it is often lacking in flavor.  I was surprised that these shrimp had such a fabulous flavor with so few ingredients.  Breadcrumbs soak up olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and parsley.  The breadcrumbs are then piled on the shrimp before they are quickly grilled or broiled.  A three-ingredient soy sesame sauce is drizzled over the completed skewers.  Prep your shrimp in advance and this recipe goes from prep to plate in less than fifteen minutes.

As evidenced in the picture above, I didn't soak the wood skewers and spent a little bit of time at the grill literally putting out fires.  Didn't negatively impact the flavor one bit though.  After taste-testing the soy sesame sauce I wasn't sure that the strong flavors wouldn't detract from the shrimp, but I drizzled some on in the spirit of completing the recipe as written.  And it worked, complementing the shrimp perfectly.

Not only will this cookbook be a regular on my kitchen counter, but I am planning on making this recipe again this week!

Crusty Grilled Shrimp with Soy-Sesame Sauce
At Blanchard's Table: A Trip to the Beach Cookbook, Melinda Blanchard and Robert Blanchard

1 pound large shrimp
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2/3 cup dry, unflavored bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup Soy - Sesame Sauce (recipe follows)
Toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

Prepare the grill or preheat the broiler.

Peel the shrimp, leaving the tails on.  Using a small knife, butterfly the shrimp by slicing down the length of the inside of each.  Be careful not cut cut all the way through.  Spread and flatten the butterflied shrimp.

Weave the shrimp onto the skewers, making sure the skewer is pierced through each in three places to keep the shrimp from curling around.  In a medium bowl, combine the oil, lemon juice, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper.  Put the breadcrumb mixture in a pile on a cutting board.  Coat both sides of the shrimp with the breadcrumbs.  Grill or broil on both sides until just done, about 4 minutes.  Drizzle with the Soy-Sesame Sauce and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.  Serve immediately.

Soy-Sesame Sauce
makes 1/2 cup

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil

In a small bowl, whisk all the ingredients together.

BBQ Shrimp

This is another recipe out of my pre-blogging recipe binder that is easy and delicious.

The BBQ in the name is a bit of a misnomer because it does not contain barbecue sauce nor is the shrimp barbecued. The shrimp is quickly broiled in a slightly spicy, slightly sweet sauce. I use frozen shrimp here because it is cheaper and easier but would like to try it with Kentucky raised shrimp in the future. A handful of readily available ingredients: Old Bay seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, butter, and lemon juice, create a sauce for cooking and dipping. The sauce is the star here as it hits the flavor trifecta of salty, sweet, and sour.

This is ready in a flash and is great for feeding a crowd. Whether you serve this as an appetizer or an entree over rice or noodles just make sure to include plenty of sauce and bread to mop up ever drop of fabulous flavor!

Cooking Notes: Make sure the shrimp is dried very well before cooking to prevent the sauce from becoming too watery and diluting the flavor.

BBQ Shrimp

Bon Appetit, July 2006

1 pound uncooked large shrimp, deveined but with tails and shells intact

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar

2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning or other seafood seasoning

Lemon Wedges

Crusty baguette slices

Preheat broiler. Cover rimmed baking sheet with foil and spread shrimp on sheet. Mix melted butter, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, and Old Bay seasoning in medium bowl for sauce. Pour half of the sauce over shrimp and stir to coat. Broil until shrimp are just opaque in center, about 2 1/2 minutes per side. Transfer to platter, serve with lemon wedges, baguette slices, and remaining sauce.

Shrimp with Basil Breadcrumbs

Back to Back Barefoot Contessa recipes! Actually, this is an adapation of an Ina recipe, Grilled Clams with Basil Breadcrumbs. Don't like clams, so I substituted shrimp dressed simply with some olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper.

The basil breadcrumbs were great and with a little tweaking would be delicious as a breading for pork, chicken, or as a topping for a fancy-schmancy mac n'cheese. I loved the sun dried tomato, basil, and pine nut combination. For this application, the only changes I would make would be to add a couple of tablespoons of melted butter over the breadcrumbs to help them adhere to the shrimp a little better. This was a great dinner on a hot summer night. Simple yet sophisticated!

Shrimp with Basil Breadcrumbs

adapted from recipe by Ina Garten

1 1/2 cups coarse bread crumbs, toasted
3 tablespoons good olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 sun-dried tomato halves in oil, drained and coarsely chopped (I used dried)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 pound 26-30 count shrimp (I used frozen, peeled & diveined)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper

2 tablespoons melted butter

Heat a gas grill or prepare a charcoal grill with hot coals.

Combine the bread crumbs, olive oil, lemon juice, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, pine nuts, salt and pepper in a large serving bowl and set aside.

Place shrimp in large bowl. Toss with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

Grill shrimp until done. Remove the shrimp from the grill and place them in the bowl with the bread crumb mixture and toss together. Drizzle with the melted butter, and serve hot.

Spaghetti with Shrimp & Bacon

Is there any better smell than bacon frying? For that matter, is there anything that doesn't taste better with bacon? I would have never thought to put shrimp, bacon, and pasta together, but once I saw this recipe in Everyday Food, I knew I had to try it.

I loved this recipe! It was quick, flavorful, and what I call a pantry recipe, meaning I usually have all of the ingredients on hand. I did substitute the green onions with a shallot (personal preference) and tripled the bacon. Fresh parsley would have made a nice addition and I used an extra squeeze of lemon juice for more balance with the saltiness of the bacon. I think you could substitute the shrimp with chicken or scallops and even add some frozen peas or broccoli. This is definitely a recipe I will add to my regular what-can-I-fix-that's-quick-and easy recipe box.

Spaghetti with Shrimp and Bacon
Everyday Food, April 2009

Ingredients

Coarse salt and ground pepper
12 ounces spaghetti
2 strips bacon, chopped
8 ounces large peeled and deveined frozen shrimp, thawed and halved horizontally
6 scallions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water; drain pasta, and return to pot.

While pasta is cooking, fry bacon in a large skillet over medium until browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate.

Add shrimp, scallions, and garlic to skillet. Cook, stirring frequently, until shrimp are almost opaque, about 1 minute. Add cup pasta water, and bring just to a boil.

Add shrimp mixture and lemon juice to pasta. Season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine. Thin sauce with pasta water as needed. Serve sprinkled with bacon.