More Shrimp Please!!!

So its Monday afternoon, you are exhausted from a long weekend of working/playing or whatever you did. You don't want to just snack for dinner but don't feel like "making dinner". This is the perfect meal for you. Shrimp. Ok so shrimp doesn't sound easy but in this case it is soooo easy. I love shrimp and grew up eating it. Usually covered in butter. This is a great lower calorie alternative. I have to be honest that I have never broiled shrimp but it usually only takes a couple of minutes. I couldn't believe it. I started with defrosting 1 lb of frozen large pealed and deveined shrimp. I usually buy fresh but in this case I had some in the fridge. Yeah!!!!! I made my makeshift broiling pan and placed the shrimp onto to pan making sure they are not touching.

Then you simply drizzle oil (I used canola) over them and then top with salt, pepper and Old Bay seasoning. Have you ever used Old Bay seasoning. This was a first time for me. I knew it was common to use in fish. I was interested to know what the seasonings were so I could see if I could make my own. It says, "various seasonings". Great?! I thought. :) I then sprinkled 4 minced cloves of garlic on top. Here the shrimp are seasoned. In the mean time I cranked up my oven to 500 degrees (broil) and placed the rack 5 inches from the heat.

Into the oven for 2 and then remove. At this point they were slightly pink and starting to curl. While cooking, mix panko bread crumbs, parsley, and lemon juice. Of course I didn't have enough lemon juice so mine was lemon and lime juice. :) After the two minutes, remove shrimp and toss in the bread crumb mixture. I placed them back onto the broil pan and then back into the "broiler" for 5 minutes. That's right. Done in 7 minutes!!!! Aren't they pretty and "fancy" looking.

Since I was in this exact busy weekend situation, I served with left over couscous (with bell peppers and green onions) and frozen peas. I was done in 15 minutes. And that was with Reagan and Ryan hanging on me the entire time!!! Not bad!!! Here is the finished product.

The shrimp were really flavorful. They tasted full of flavor just like they had been cooked in butter and garlic but in fact it was only garlic and a little oil. A much healthier alternative. I ate 11 shrimp for only 75 calories!!! WOW. That equals more desert right? Actually I was full so I didn't even need desert. :) Symon and I loved the taste. I felt they may have been cooked a little long because they were slightly tough. Symon said they were awesome! Reagan ate most of them and Ryan ate his "4 bites" as always. :) Overall, I would make these again and maybe with a big plate of pasta. YUMMY!!!

So this is the last of the broiling applications. Next up Roasting. Yummy!!!! What do you broil that I didn't. Let me know. I love the broiling application and am planning on using it a lot more.

Chicken on a Stick Round Two!!!

Chicken on a stick round two. Ok, so if you remember my earlier chicken on a stick blog, you will remember how horrible and inedible the chicken was that time. I was bound to make this better!!! This was a two day process again so to start I created a peanut flavored paste to marinate my chicken. The first thing was to toast some coriander seeds. I LOVE CILANTRO!!! I could put it on everything. Coriander seed is what cilantro comes from. The goal was to toast the coriander seed and cumin seed in a dry pan on high heat until smoking. I could not find cumin seed whole anywhere so I opted for just ground cumin. I placed the coriander seed in the dry pan on high heat. I was really afraid of burning so I constantly moved the seeds around in the pan. The toasting only took 1-2 minutes. That seems so silly to heat a pan for 1-2 minutes so hopefully it really makes a difference.

I then added these toasted seeds to the other spices which included grounded cumin seed, cinnamon, salt, sugar and placed them into the mortar and pestle. Do you know what this is? This is a little bowl and a stick in which you grind up spices and other things. Here is Reagan helping me make the spice mix while Ryan was at school. I needed lots of encouragement because I was so worried it was going to be gross like last time. :)

I then placed a 1/2 cup of peanuts into the food processor and then added the spices and ground it into a bread crumbs consistency and then while pulsing I added canola oil and sesame seed oil. This created a paste. It smelled good and there was no gross factor yet. :)

2 lbs of chicken breast, cubed into 1 inch cubes and then I placed the paste onto the chicken. I was grateful that I didn't have to pound flat the chicken like last time which resulted in mushy chicken. I said a quick prayer, covered and then placed it into the fridge for 24 hours.

The next day I got the chicken out and skewed them onto bamboo skewers. Now there is a big debate if you should use metal or bamboo skewers. If you use bamboo skewers you are suppose to soak them in water first so prevent burning. I guess this only matters if you care what they look like. I never soak the skewers because I just don't care if they are burnt. It is important to remember that if you soak them, and they place them in the fridge it will still burn. FYI. I always use bamboo skewers so I don't have to do more dishes and my children most likely would use the metal ones as weapons and I probably could get in trouble for that. Here are my skewers ready for the upside down grilling. (remember that is what I call broiling) :) Alton Brown does state that you can grill them but I thought this was in the broiling section!! Seriously please don't confuse me.

I cranked up the broiler to 500 degrees (while its 110 outside) and placed the chicken about 4 inches from the heat. The recipe did not give me a certain amount of minutes so I just turned after about 6-7 minutes and then broiled on the other side. I then removed. They were smelling really good. I was getting hopeful that they were going to be awesome. Reagan really enjoyed "helping" me turn them in the oven by watching me. Here are the chicken pieces after broiling and then letting them sit. My hubby was running late. :)

I served with white rice and green balls (peas) which was Ryan's choice for veggies. I thought since Reagan helped me cook this one, I would take the finished product picture on her Elmo plate. I took it off the skewer for obvious danger issues.

Results: The rice and peas were good. :) Ok so that is not a good way to start. The chicken had good flavor but I felt that the chicken was slightly over cooked. It did have a great crust on it. I really liked the peanut flavor. Because this was a paste and not a marinate I think it had less moisture. I was very VERY happy that these were not mushy peanut chicken like last time. Funny enough Ryan ate his 4 bites, since he is four and that was it. He did not complain but said, "he was full". Reagan refused to eat the chicken unless it was on the stick and then ate the whole thing like corn on the cob. I would have taken a picture but we are currently potty training which has led to Reagan not wanting to wear any clothes at all. I did not want anyone seeing my naked baby. Ok, I don't care but Symon wants her to have some modesty. :) Next up is our last broiling application... Shrimp!!! Have you tried any of my techniques or recipes that I have shared on here? Let me know and how they turned out. Please respond!!! I want to know what you think.