Monday, March 25, 2013

Next Best Thing to Fried Shrimp

As much as I love the recipes with a bunch of ingredients to chop and slice and saute, some days, okay most days, I don't have time for all that.  I asked fellow school mom, Laura, for a good, simple, fast recipe and she sent me this shrimp recipe. After another week of things that went off schedule, I finally got to make it before dashing off to PTA meeting.

These shrimp were really simple and fast - it took me about 10-15 minutes to prepare them and another 10 or so to cook them.  Of course, I added a bit more red pepper to my mixture.  They came out crispy and delicious, I liked the crunchiness without the frying.  I used the same egg coating and bread crumb mixture for about a dozen chicken wing pieces, as well; they also cooked rather quickly, about 20-25 minutes and the kids gobbled them right up.

The bread crumbs I think make the biggest difference. I make oven "fried" chicken using regular bread crumbs and it comes out nice and brown, but not as crunchy as Laura's.  Good switch on the bread crumbs.  Anyway - she's guest blogging and I'm using up all the space.  Here you go...
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Hi, I am Laura from Witchery in the Kitchen.  I am a stay at home mom, who loves to cook and garden.  I also love to take pictures of both and share them on my blog. Being a mom, I am constantly working to get my child to eat more veggies and other healthful foods.  As a cook, I enjoy exploring new flavors and combinations to keep things interesting. On my blog, I work to combine the two. Thank you Frances for inviting me to be a guest blogger on your site.

Do you ever have one of those days when you are trying to eat healthy, but some voice keeps whispering in your head about something on the other side of the spectrum? Um, yes of course you do. I know how it is. This particular day the voice was whispering, no actually it was speaking very loudly about fried shrimp. Fortunately, I don’t own a deep fryer, because that would have been all she wrote. I would have to do something different. So the question is how to satisfy the craving, while at the same time trying to keep within the boundaries of fairly healthy eating?

Really, this is a question I deal with all time as do most of us.  Sure, I love veggies and many healthy dishes, but I also love a lot of foods we all eat that are not so good for us.  I thought about how I deal with fried chicken. I oven bake it.  Not quite the same as real fried, but still quite tasty and much better for you.  The pluses outweigh the minuses. What’s great about this dish is that not only is it a feel good dish for the heart, it’s easy to make and clean up. 

Oven Baked Panko Breaded Shrimp
Serves 2-3

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 egg
Salt
Pepper
1 cup panko bread crumbs
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon mustard powder
¼ teaspoon celery salt
¼ teaspoon garlic salt
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon white pepper
Spray oil such as Pam
Cocktail sauce or other sauce for dipping
  1. Pre heat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Mix the panko bread crumbs with the seasonings in large zip lock bag or shallow bowl.
  3. Prepare a baking sheet lined with foil and drizzle a little olive oil on it.
  4. Beat the egg with a bit of salt and pepper and pour it over the shrimp. Mix it in well to coat the shrimp evenly.
  5. Working with a few pieces at a time, place the shrimp in the bread crumb mixture and press lightly to get the pieces well coated.
  6. Place the coated shrimp on the foil lined pan.  Do not crowd the shrimp; make sure to leave room around each piece.
  7. Spray the shrimp with a bit of Pam.
  8. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes.


My own piddlin' notes: I use Pam Cooking Spray pretty much anytime I use baking sheets or the grill pan, so instead of lining the baking tray with foil, I sprayed it with Pam and the shrimp slid right of the pan.
Thanks to ConAgra Foods for my free sample of Pam Cooking Spray

1 comment:

Laura said...

I agree on the more red pepper call, I love more spice. Unfortunately we are constantly dialing down the heat to accommodate my daughter. I add it back in once I have my portion on my plate.