Dinner: Baked Popcorn Shrimps

Its been a month since my last recipe. I really need to get myself in check with this.  That is just not acceptable. My husband has been a champ during my busy work season and taking care of dinner so it minimizes the amount of time I spend in the kitchen.  However, things are hopefully calming down and I can get a few recipes I’ve been wanting to try done.  Baking should be my priority with the lovely Pinocchio Baking Through Disney thing coming up soon. However, I decided to defrost some shrimp a few days ago and make something cool with it.  My initial thought was fried rice but then I was cleaning the cupboards and found a box of Corn Flakes Crumbs.  Its my replacement for Panko bread crumbs and remembered that I had gotten those to make some popcorn or breaded whatnots and didn’t end up doing it. So here we are with the next cooking adventure: Popcorn Shrimp!

Let’s check it out, shall we?

Popcorn Shrimp

You can find the lovely recipe over here:
http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/skinny-baked-popcorn-shrimp-recipe/
I found it via Pinterest (as usual).

What is absolutely fantastic about shrimps in general are that they are really quick to cook.  That also means that this recipe takes more time for preparation than the actual baking time in the oven. I’m all for that!

However, this was more of an inspiration recipe because I ended replacing a few of the ingredients or omitting them in general due to allergy restrictions.

• Panko breadcrumbs replaced with Corn Flakes Crumbs
• Parmesan cheese omitted (due to lactose-intolerance)
• Italian seasoning instead of Cajun

As for the baking time, it said to do 3 mins and flip over and 3 mins. I did 3 mins and then another 5 mins and kept it in the oven a tad longer, maybe a few minutes, just to make sure the shrimps would be cooked through.  Its more of a safety precaution.  I had tried one at the 6 minutes recommended bake time and it was just perfectly cooked through.

Baked Popcorn Shrimp is definitely different.  I forgot to garnish it with lemon juice which might have balanced the taste a little. I like the Italian seasoning but it did have a mild bitter herb taste, which is where I think a cajun flare might have helped it.  Maybe the smoked paprika might have been a good one to use also.  However, this recipe had all the crunches and the bread coating was amazing.  I’ve never cooked with Panko breadcrumbs but this one I used is pretty great.

For a quick and crunchy side for your dish, this recipe does the trick. Even if you want it as an appetizer, it would do also with a lovely little dip.

Do you like shrimps (or other seafood)? How do you like to cook it? 

Lunch: Fried Rice with Shrimps and Yin-Yang style Vegetables

I’m sure we all have that issue at some point or another. Preparing lunch in advance is always a huge difficulty for me.  I usually stick with leftovers and whatnot.  Most of my meals are interchangeable between lunch and dinner.  In this case, one week night, I thought about how I haven’t had shrimps in a long time and I conveniently had just bought some frozen Yin-Yang style stir fry vegetables from the grocery store.  Typically, using overnight rice is the best results but I didn’t have that so we made a tub of rice in the morning and cooled it down so I could cook it at night. I haven’t made fried rice in forever so forgive me if its not exactly presentable.

Fried Rice with Shrimps and Yin-Yang Style Vegetables

Ingredients:

2 bowls Steamed Rice (overnight is the best)
Shrimps, defrosted and peeled
Fresh or Frozen Vegetables (I used Arctic Gardens Yin-Yang Style Stir Fry Vegetables)
1 Egg, beaten
1 tsp Garlic, minced
salt or soy sauce, for taste

How to make it:

1. Heat some oil in a pan. Add some minced garlic. Cook shrimps.  Remove from pan once cooked thoroughly. Set aside.
2. Cook frozen vegetables (or fresh ones) until they are thawed and heated.  Once ready, remove from pan and set aside.
3. Heat up rice and add beaten egg. Mix together until egg is cooked.
4. Add back the vegetables and shrimp. For taste, add in a dash of salt or a bit of soy sauce. Mix it together until its blended.
5. Remove from pan.  Put in a bowl and its ready to eat!

I’m bad at teaching people how to cook.  My mom taught me cooking from improvisation so measurements are more instinctive than exact.  I tried my best to give you approximations. For mine, I forgot to add in the salt or soy sauce so I added that later.  But, please do.  Or else, its going to be really bland. Unless you like the natural non-seasoned tasting.  That works also.

In a fully unlazy me way, I’d use fresh vegetables.  However, improvising me only uses what’s on hand and defrosting shrimps felt like this was the best recipe.  As you may notice, I don’t cook shrimp very often but fried rice is also one of the quickest and easiest ways to make a meal. I’ll try experimenting a little further.  Maybe I’ll be back with chicken and beef fried rice.  Who knows, right? The one I want to learn to make has to be with pineapples and whatnot.

Do you like fried rice? What recipes do you make with shrimps?