Friday, March 10, 2006

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.

17 comments:

  1. Happy Anniversary- We have been married 7 years as well, it is amazing how things have changed from year one, right?

    the shrimp recipe looks great- Ill have to try it out- I love panko!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy Anniversary Joe and Jeff! This looks fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Happy Anniversary!

    Your meal looks wonderful, as always. Hope you enjoyed your special dinner.

    Tammy

    ReplyDelete
  4. Joe (and Jeff) - Happy Anniversary, guys! 7 years? That's like 49 years in str8 years. That shrimp dish looks amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. happy anniversary !!! the shrimp recipe sounds wonderful !!! have a nice day together :) :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happy Anniversary! The shrimp looks fantastic - I love the crispiness Panko brings. By the way, I made your Creamy Key Lime Bars Thursday - they were great!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Happy Anniversary! That shrimp looks wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Happy Anniversary. Making it seven years these days is a miracle! congratulations

    ReplyDelete
  9. Happy Aniversary Joe and Jeff!!
    I have this recipe marked to try, it looked good in the magazine, and yours look even better!
    We like shrimp and also don't have if very often. Now I can't wait to try it too! Especially now that you mentioned the couscous being a little more on the wet side, that called my attention as I sometimes think couscous can be very dry.
    Thanks for the review!!
    Ana

    ReplyDelete
  10. Happy Anniversary Guys...Love your blog

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks Everyone! Ed - So true isn't it? Cate/Sweetnicks - Glad they came out well! We really liked them and found out they freeze well too.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Happy anniversary & congrats, Joe & Jeff. The shrimp look delicious, too!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Happy anniversary, and here's to seven more!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Happy Belated Anniversary!! We're almost 5yrs, its amazing how time flys.

    ReplyDelete
  15. panko! brilliant! ive been wanting crispies without deepfrying with batter... this could very well be it then. delicious looking too

    ReplyDelete