Fried Coconut Shrimp with Friends

If you want your friends to come over for dinner, whisper the words "coconut shrimp". I've been experimenting with shrimp lately. Shrimp cocktail, grilled shrimp, shrimp in cream sauce over pasta..and fried and battered shrimp.

There's a particular brand of battered shrimp that I love, which I sell to many of my wholesale accounts... Restaurants whom you would never suspect buying pre-made battered shrimp. That's how great this brand is.

I tested the pre-made battered shrimp on some good friends a week or so ago. Big thumbs up!

I'm going to attempt to copy the recipe. Here's what I plan on doing, and I'll tweek it after. And by the way, I have always used my frying pan for frying, but our good friend Jose' just gave us his deep fryer, so I'm going to break it in with my coconut battered shrimp.

*Note: The two pictures posted are the boxed battered shrimp on my frying pan and a beautiful coconut shrimp shot that I found on google images which I'll replace with my own picture once I finish cooking them.

*Defrost 16-20 sized, peeled/deveined raw shrimp, tail on. I use a minimum of 2 pounds = about 35 shrimp.

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups panko flakes
1 cup dark beer
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons sugar
2 1/2 cups flaked coconut
35 shrimp
3 cups oil for frying

In medium bowl, combine eggs, 3/4 cup flour, beer and baking powder for the wet batter.

Place 3/4 cup flour, panko, spices and coconut in another bowl for dry batter.

Hold shrimp by tail, and dredge in a bit of plain flour, shaking off excess.

After the shrimp is dipped in the dry batter, roll it in the dry coconut/panko dry batter.

Place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil to 350 degrees in a deep-fryer. You can certainly use your flying pan too.

Fry shrimp in batches: cook, turning once, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Using tongs, remove shrimp to paper towels to drain. Serve warm with sauces.

NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS. If I like this recipe and the date is beyond October 10th, then go for it, my loyal 13 followers!

Cocktail and Tartar Sauces, see earlier blogs.

Orange Marmalaide Dipping Sauce:

1 cup ketchup
Juice from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon horseradish
black pepper/aalt to taste
1 teaspoon fresh minced parsley
1/4 cup orange marmalaide
2 dashes, worcestershire sauce
2 dashes, tobasco or hot sauce

King Salmon from the Klamath River

There's a special time of year that is becoming more and more important in the Piacentini household. King salmon fishing season at the Klamath River! The Klamath River is located near the Oregon/California border and the fishing season opens up in late summer/early Fall. It is becoming almost as important as Christmas in our family.

My brothers Evan, Paul, Ian and Eric and some of their good friends gather their salmon fishing gear, pack up their trucks and drive the 12 hours to the Klamath River from Santa Barbara. They have a great time camping, BBQing, eating salmon, drinking beer and fishing!

It's so great to gather together after their trip at my folk's house, build the fire in the backyard, and eat the deep orange, luscious fresh King Salmon caught by my brothers. They fillet it themselves, create their own marinades and cook for all of us. It's truly as wonderful as any holiday in our family.

Pictured above is their Salmon bounty, 9/20/09, my parent's backyard.

Soup and Salad, The Ultimate California Comfort Food

Yesterday I checked the snail mail like I do every day, and inside our mail box was a large manilla envelope with my name handwritten on it. It was my dear friend Carol's writing! Carol is a REAL Southern Belle living on a grand farm with a wrap around porch in Kentucky. I couldn't wait to see what sort of wonderful treat she had picked out just for me!

Inside were some brochures describing her beloved State of Kentucky.. (I'm planning a visit soon) and a remarkable cookbook from the Inn at Pleasant Hill in Shaker Village. Carol had just returned from a work/roadtrip and stayed at the Inn at Pleasant Hill, one of her favorite places in the world. She had called me several times throughout her trip while sitting in the old dining room, called the Trustees' Office Dining Room, and described everything that she was eating to the point where I was on the Southwest Airlines website hunting for cheap air. No luck on such short notice, but Shaker Village I shall do. Soon.

Here is the Inn at Shaker Village Website, with a picture of the Trustees' Office Dining Room.

http://www.shakervillageky.org/dining/trustees_office_dining_room/

Carol's reading of the menu was like hearing Michael Jackson's Thriller for the first time. Homemade Tomato Celery Soup (which I cooked for tonight's blog entry) homemade fried chicken, old fashioned 'salads' that include jello and fruit. Potatoes, greenbeans, buttermilk, heavy cream, butter, kitchen garden vegetables and herbs, catfish in breadcrumbs, lemon pie, Indian griddle cakes with maple syrup, berry jams and jelly, country meat loaf and scratch breads... The Shakers demand that everything be cooked on heavy iron skillets while only using wood and metal spoons and whisks for mixing. (The Shakers also choose a life of celebacy which I learned while reading the cookbook cover to cover last night before bed)

So tonight's dinner was simple. Albacore Salad and Tomato Celery Soup from my new cookbook. I ordered a small gorgeous fresh loin of skinoff Albacore Tuna (caught in Fiji) and sliced it into 1 inch steaks, cutting out the blood line. I quick sauteed the fish for about 90 seconds on each side over a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper. I made a quick salad, sliced a Goleta grown tomato (it actually TASTES like a homegrown tomato!) and sliced a lemon wedge, and my salad was done. Use any dressing that you like!...

But the STAR of tonight's dinner was the Inn at Pleasant Village's recipe for Tomato Celery Soup.

Tomato Celery Soup

From the Cookbook that Carol gave me!

1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup)

2 stalks raw celery, diced (about 1 cup)

2 cans, campbells tomato soup

3 tablespns diced fresh parsley

1/4 tspn ground pepper

Squeeze of half a lemon's worth of juice

2 tspns sugar

1/2 tspn salt (I used celery salt)

heavy cream for topping the soup after it's in the bowl

2 cans water

1 tablespn of butter

Sautee the onions and celery in the melted butter for just a few minutes. Don't let them get brown. Add the two cans of tomato soup, the water, the spices and sugar, the water, and the lemon juice and let simmer about 5 minutes.

Ladle the soup into your favorite bowl, swirl about 1/8th of a cup of the heavy cream on top of the soup (while in your bowl) and sprinkle some parsley on top. It is so delicious. You simply must try it.

Feast with Friends!

There's nothing like feeding hungry kids. I've always loved it so I asked my son Brandon (19) and daughter Erin (17) to invite some of their friends over for dinner for a seafood extravaganza. We had so much fun. What amazing young people. I will yell from the mountain tops to never lose hope for our wonderful, vibrant, smart, funny wii playing iphone using geniuses! (Morgan, Talisa,Trevor and Riley.. we missed you!)

Invited guests:

Robby Barthelmess- 19, Santa Barbara City College Student, works hard as a freelance photographer for our local newspaper. Has been a great friend to my son Brandon since the first day of Kindergarten. (See Courtney Owen below for more details)

DeeDee Barthelmess-18. Had her first day of college today at SBCC! The sweetest young and beautiful woman you'll ever meet. Best friend to my daughter Erin and baby sister to Robby. Erin and DeeDee met on the swings when they were 4 years old.

Courtney Owen- 19. Westmont College. Beautiful, charming, funny and madly in love with Robby. They make an adorable couple, and I won't be surprised if they celebrate 50 years together 52 years from today!

Matt "Stoffe" Wier- 19. Brooks Institute of Photography. Moved to Santa Barbara from Philly when he was 17 to go to photography school. A great young man. Full of energy.. not shy.. Does the Walrus on the couch and LOVES seafood!

Jose' "Joe-see" Lobato-19. Santa Barbara City College. Came to the United States from Mexico (near Mexico City) when he was 9. Didn't speak a word of English but after a year of school, was fluent. Extremely smart. Will be working for Bill Gates in a year or two developing all kinds of cool stuff. A prangster-- and he laughs at my jokes.

Our feast included:

Grilled Coho Salmon from Alaska

(same receipe as earlier blogs marinated in Teriyaki sauce)

Steamed Manilla Clams in White Wine, Shallots and Garlic

5# Live Manilla Clams, rinsed

3 cloves garlic

1 cup fresh chopped parsley

8 Shallots

1 bottle, chardonnay

1 jar/small bottle, clam juice

Bread. The best most beautiful loaf of bread you can find, heated in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes.

Put everything in the pot at once. Put the lid on the pot and let steam until the clams are opened. About 10-15 minutes or so.

*Serve in pie pans with a big hunk of warm bread

Shrimp Cocktail

We used 5# of raw U15 peeled/deveined shrimp. We steamed the shrimp in a collandar over boiling water for about 10 minutes, then let them cool. I put them on a platter lined with pretty

lettuce and the cocktail sauce in a bowl in the middle of the platter.

Cocktail Sauce:

1 cup ketchup

2 heaping teaspoons of horseradish

1/4 cup lemon juice

Celery Salt, a little bit

3 splashes of tobasco sauce

pepper to taste

Almond Crusted Alaskan Halibut with Sundried Tomato Cream Sauce

Alaskan Halibut, sliced into portion sized pieces
2 egg yokes

2 cups raw almonds- put in food processer or blender to make small pieces

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

2 tbspn garlic powder

2 tbspn salt

2 tbspn pepper

Canola oil for the pan searing

Dip or spread the egg yolks on the lightly salted/peppered halibut portions.

Mix the minced almonds, panko, garlic powder, salt and pepper together, and press mixture into both sides of the halibut.

Heat oil on saute pan, and place the portions into the pan and let them cook 3 minutes on each side over medium heat. Then place the fish on a cookie sheet (use aluminum foil to cover the cookie sheet) and let it bake in the over for about 10 minutes at 400

Sundried Tomato Cream Sauce

6 minced shallots

1/2 cup finely chopped sundried tomatoes (I put mine in the blender)

1/4 cup red vineger

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 stick butter

1/4 cup fresh chopped chives

salt/pepper

1 tsp paprika

Saute shallots, vineger, wine and lemon juice over low heat until the liquids are almost evaporated. Add heavy cream and tomatoes while mixing. Add small amounts of butter at a time..continually mixing. Add paprika, chives, salt and pepper, and drizzle over your fish. This is an amazing sauce for chicken too!

We had all of the above seafood over a 4 hour period. We cooked each dish individually to allow for digestion. We had a big fresh green salad, a pot of jasmine rice, lots of fresh hot bread and a homemade chocolate cake for dessert. (I used the recipe on the back of the Hershy's cocoa powder box for the cake) The boys were popping their buttons off of their shorts, and Courtney and Stoffe had to do several "Walruses" on the couch. I had some nice pinot noir and the under 21ers all drank water. We sat around the table together and talked for hours and hours about everything. The kids were glad to see the fish in its raw state, and I was able to teach them a little bit about specie, origin, how to buy good fresh fish, what to look for and what the fish should smell like. We can't wait to do it again.

Catfish in California?

Yes! We can get good, clean, pond-raised catfish from Louisiana in California. We get it overnighted to us, and I love it. Unlike the reputation of farm raised fish (which I will address in detail on another day) you WANT farmed catfish. Trust me. Unless you are a backwoods Cayenne Bayou sort who lives on a wood planked pier deep in the Louisiana swamp (and I happen to know that none of my nine followers, nine voters and 4 commentees fit this description) ..you are going to want to buy the clean, mild, farmed catfish for your table.

I made ours very simply. I created a quick blackening dry rub, pulled the butter out along with my brand new nonstick frying pan, dusted the fish with some salt and pepper, melted the butter in the hot HOT frying pan, dusted the fish with the cayenne blackening rub, placed the fish in the sizzling butter (about a tablespoon) and 4 minutes on each side later pure, scrumptious, white, flaky and mild catfish on the table. Just watch your heat. I turned it down to medium after a couple of minutes on the first side. Here's the rub recipe:

A teaspoon of each, and mix it all together in the bowl:

Cayenne Powder
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Black or Lemon Pepper
Salt
Rosemary
Thyme
Sage

*You can always buy the pre-made blackening seasoning

In Santa Barbara we have really extraordinary markets that carry everything. You name it, I can get it. I love the plastic baggy dried herbs at Santa Cruz Market in Santa Barbara. The herbs are all $1.00 so we're not talking about an expensive or exotic habit. I collect them and love to create my own powdery rubs for just about everything. I'll take a photo of my collection so you can see what I'm talking about. If you are ever wondering what to get me for my birthday, the hint has been dropped.

King Salmon Marinated in Ginger Teriyaki

Teriyake, Terriyocky, Teriyaki

I love it, I just don't know how to spell it. The almighty Teriyaki marinade. It's my favorite. I experiment with it constantly. Coupled with a nifty zip lock bag, and I'm in heaven.

I'll give you my most evolved recipe to date. You must understand, my loyal 9 readers, 6 voters and 3 commentees, that this may change tomorrow.

Terry Teri Teri Marinade

1 cup SOY SAUCE

1/2 cup BROWN SUGAR

1/4 cup MOLASSIS

(flippin A I gotta go check out how to spell the teriocky AND the molassIs-be right back...
"Did you mean teriyaki molasses.." google asks? "Why Yes" she replies.)

Salt (Just kidding- there's LOTS of salt in the soy sauce. DO NOT ADD SALT)

PEPPER - About 1 tspn

FRESH GINGER- About 5 thin slices off of the root. If you've never used fresh ginger, it's time to start.

FRESH GARLIC- 2 cloves, chopped

RED ONION- about 1/2 of it. Now let's pretend we're chefs and chop chop chop into tiny pieces as fast as you can without slicing off your fingers. (Sorry.. I had a bad experience with someone who told me that I didn't know how to chop an onion because I was "slow". I've never had any reason to be a fast onion chopper.)

1/4 cup vinegar (any kind)

1/4 cup red or white wine (whatever you currently have poured in your glass)

That's it! Mix it up into a frenzy and pour it into a zip lock bag and ADD YOUR SOCKEYE SALMON, CHICKEN, HALIBUT, MAHI MAHI, ONO, RIBS, TRI TIP, FILLET, Anything and everything to it and let it soak for a long long time. Chicken/Ribs/Beef: 24 hours or more. FISH: Just 2 hours.