Special shrimp dinner...

The recipe I made for dinner tonight is one I had set aside a couple months ago since Jeff really likes shrimp and this one looked very good. Today is our 7th year anniversary and I wanted to make a special treat since we don't have shrimp very often.

Crunchy Shrimp with Toasted Couscous and Ginger-Orange Sauce has a long list of ingredients and instructions, but when broken down, much of it can be prepared ahead of time and assembled in a short amount of time. Couscous is quite easy to prepare - usually one would bring a liquid to a boil (water or broth) and the couscous is stirred in and allowed to sit for 5 minutes. With this recipe, whole wheat couscous is first toasted in a dry skillet to extract the nutty flavor. Then chicken broth and orange juice are poured in and brought to a boil. After sitting for 5 minutes, butter and toasted almonds are stirred in and kept warm until ready to serve. I found this to be a bit more "wet" that traditional couscous though, but not in a bad way.

The shrimp have a crunchy coating of panko breadcrumbs mixed with fresh grated ginger to give it a bite. They are then seared off in olive oil until each side takes on a golden brown color. The sauce is a reduction of orange juice with a combination of spices to create a smooth, cool and citrus scented topping that could almost be eaten from a spoon. I can't wait to try and use it over chicken or fish.

Recipes
Crunchy Shrimp with Toasted Couscous and Ginger-Orange Sauce