Vietnamese Caramel Shrimp

What to make when you need a quick dinner? That's what I was wondering when I remembered about Vietnamese Caramelized Shrimp, a stir-fry with a few tablespoons of a caramel sauce in the mix. Don't be alarmed, this isn't a sweet entree; the caramel adds depth to the flavor and the sweet is offset by chilies, lime juice, and cilantro. All the flavors come together in the most wonderful way.

I still wanted something a little easier, as my caramel skills aren't quite all there. I found this version where you add the water and sugar to the shrimp and let it bubble away for a while. While probably not the exact same, it cut down on prep time and still resulted in what tasted like take out, but better.

A few tips about this recipe: You should really consider making at least half more than what you think you need, possibly just double it (or have all ingredients assembled and make the second batch right after the first). This is so good that you'll want more.

I stir-fried the onions with the garlic.

Heat a platter up in the oven so the shrimp won't cool down too quickly. Alternatively, turn the oven on to low and place the plates in the oven to warm.

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Diana's Vietnamese Caramel Shrimp
Recipe from Washingtonpost.com

ingredients ~

1 to 1 1/2 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (I did not do that)
2 tablespoons oyster-flavored sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste (I used 1/8 tsp)
1/2 teaspoon flour
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup water, or more as necessary
1 tablespoon sugar
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 to 1 red chili pepper, thinly sliced (I used one seeded an deveined jalapeno)
Freshly ground black pepper (I used white pepper)
2 teaspoons lime juice
4 to 5 sprigs cilantro, for garnish, optional

directions ~

1. In a large bowl, combine the shrimp with the oyster-flavored sauce, salt, cayenne pepper and flour. Set aside to marinate for 5 to 10 minutes.


2. In a large skillet or wok over medium heat, heat the oil. Add the garlic and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes.


3. Transfer the shrimp to the skillet or wok, discarding any marinade.


4. Cook the shrimp, stirring occasionally, until they begin to turn pink. Add the water and sugar and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the onion and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the chili pepper and black pepper to taste. Squeeze the lime juice over the top of the shrimp and transfer the mixture to a platter.


5. Garnish with cilantro, if desired. Serve immediately.

gingerbread biscotti

Sometimes I forget I have a blog, a place where I saved what I did and can reference later on in the future if I have questions. Like when I couldn't remember if I split the dough in half, or in thirds because I like small biscotti.

I wanted to try some gingerbread biscotti. Though it's more of a winter flavor than fall, it has ginger and that is fallish. I needed some for a package I sent out and some simply to nosh on.

I Googled quite a few recipes as my starting point. From there, I set out to adapt my biscotti to emulate Once Upon A Tart's biscotti. I don't always follow their methods, but thanks to how they prepare their biscotti you have the option of eating it plain (without dipping it in a beverage) and not worrying you'll break a tooth. Though the texture is thoroughly crunchy, it's still perfectly bite-through-able.

So about the recipe. I read through the reviews for various recipes I looked up. Some thought it was perfect as is, while some had a few complaints about it. Many felt the spices needed to be increased to achieve a stronger gingerbread flavor, but some thought it was fine as is. In my recipe, I added about a tablespoon of freshly grated ginger, but I forgot to add 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper to enhance the spiciness. I increased the flour in my modified version, but forgot to increase the spices to compensate. Everything thought it had a good balance as it was. The white chocolate drizzles contrasted nicely, too.

Overall, the flavor and texture was close to how I envisioned a gingerbread biscotto to taste like. It was spicy and had depth of flavor. The flavors also pair perfectly with a cup of coffee or tea and would make a perfect gift for the holidays.

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gingerbread biscotti with white chocolate drizzles
Recipe by Christina Provo

ingredients ~

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs, separated
1 cup sugar, divided
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 teaspoon orange extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons ground ginger
3/4 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon fresh nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
4 oz. white chocolate melted in a double boiler with 1 tablespoon shortening

directions ~

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. line baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt with the spices in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.


2. In a large bowl, beat egg yolks with 1/2 cup granulated sugar until yolks become pale yellow and thick, about 2-3 minutes. Blend in fresh ginger, then molasses.


3. In another bowl and with clean beaters, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. With the mixer still on high, beat in the remaining sugar. Fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. gently stir in the butter and orange extract. Gradually stir in dry ingredients into wet, until the dough forms a ball.


4. Divide dough in thirds and pat out to 2 inches in diameter and about 10 inches long. Bake until the top of the log is golden brown and firm when pressed with your fingers, about 25-35 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and transfer parchment with the logs onto wire racks to cool completely.


5. With a serrated knife, slice each log, on the diagonal, into 1/4 or 1/2 inch slices, depending on your preference. Place, cut side down, back on an unlined baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes on either side. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.


6. Drizzle white chocolate over cooled biscotti; alternatively, dip the biscotti in the white chocolate (you may need to melt more if you do this) and place on sheets of wax paper to harden.

is raw ground beef bad when brown?

Someone once told me that he threw out raw ground beef because it was bad. Said person doesn't cook, so I wondered why exactly he threw it out. "Did it expire?" I don't remember what he said, but I think he didn't look. "Why did you throw it out?" It was grey.

To get to the bottom of this question, in case anyone wondered the same thing, I did a quick Google search, as well as conducting a personal test, to find out the answer.

The Google search said that when raw beef becomes exposed to air, the air reacts with the meat pigments, particularly oxymyoglobin and causes the outer surface of meat to turn red while the inner meat, not exposed to oxygen, becomes grey-brown. Hm.

It turns out that the innards of this meat was red. What I actually was searching for was a page telling me that red dye was inserted into meat, but I found some stuff about meat being packaged with CO or some such thing to keep the meat looking red, which does absolutely nothing for the freshness, and the meat is packaged in a way to either keep air out and the air it was packed with in, or to let a small amount of air in.

Back to the meat used in this post, both were purchased at the same time, and both were placed in the same section of the refrigerator, though one slightly froze while the other was completely "fresh". One of the pages I read said that if the meat was thoroughly grey, chances are it was bad, though you should also go by smell as well because I've used ground beef in the past when a) it was past the expiration date, and b) it was grey through-and-through, neither of which I'm suggesting anyone do and blaming me for your bout of e coli, I'm just letting you know I'm still alive and running.

To sum this post up, be one with your food. Part of cooking includes getting "in there" and closely observing what's up with your ingredients. If you go by sight, you'll end up throwing out grey raw ground beef that may be perfectly fine to cook with, and no one wants to be wasteful. Right?

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P.S.
The ground beef was turned into taco meat, though that's beside the point of the post. =P