Today beheld Cooper, that dreamy little shrimp, oh, and fried shrimp too, mmm, mmm, good. Bowen, Stace, and Coop came over to celebrate Stacey's pre-birthday and Bowen's graduation. Bowen doesn't eat meat (but does eat fish), and it's a gorgeous day and I knew we could hang by the pool, so I thought, hmmmm, something beachy/summery would be fun. Therefore fried shrimp. And a big salad. And since I was frying, I threw in some onion rings to boot. Damn, fried food is fabulous, 
especially when you're burning your fingers trying to eat it smoking hot and crispy. Out on the deck, in the sun. Suz's cherry cake for dessert, with whipped cream. Moderate? Well, only in one's portions, my friends, and that's up to you. This is what I know - it could not have been better. Not with heavenly Cooper Doo (again, his scent - Love's Cooper Soft), and fried foo (that's short for food, to make it rhyme), and cherry cake too... Unless we'd been at the beach! (Recipe for fried shrimp and onion rings posted in comments, below. To make a baby, well, I'll leave that up to you...)
posted by Stephanie @ 6:29 PM
2 Comments:
Onion Rings
Serves 4
These onion rings are crisp and very thinly coated.
2 large sweet onions, peeled and sliced into ½-inch rings
1 c. flour
1 c. masa harina or finely ground corn meal
1 Tbsp. salt
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
peanut oil for frying
Place sliced onions into a large bowl of cold water and soak for 30 minutes. Just before frying, put the flour, masa harina, salt, and cayenne pepper in a Ziploc bag. Remove onion slices from the water a few at a time, shaking off excess water, and add them to the Ziploc. Seal the bag and shake around until the onions are coated with the flour/masa harina mixture. Set the bag aside for a few minutes while you heat the oil, 2-3 inches deep, in a wok or Dutch oven, over medium-high to high heat until oil is hot. Set out a platter lined with paper towels. Then remove the onion rings from the bag, a few at a time, with a tongs, shaking off excess flour, and drop them into the hot oil. They should sizzle immediately. Fry several rings at a time, for5-6 minutes, turning them over if needed, until browned and crispy on all sides. Remove with tongs to the paper-towel lined platter. Continue frying until all the rings are done. Serve immediately.
Fried Shrimp
Serves 4
1 1b. medium-sized, raw, peeled, deveined, tail-on shrimp (I buy frozen shrimp, since what they sell at the fish counter here was also frozen, and then thawed, and therefore less fresh)
1 c. flour
1 c. masa harina or finely ground corn meal
1 Tbsp. salt
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
peanut oil for frying
A couple of hours before frying, thaw frozen shrimp in a large bowl of cold, salted water, set in the refrigerator. Just before frying, put the flour, masa harina, salt, and cayenne pepper in a Ziploc bag. Remove shrimp from the water a few at a time, shaking off excess water, and add them to the Ziploc. Seal the bag and shake around until the shrimp are coated with the flour/masa harina mixture. Set the bag aside for a few minutes while you heat the oil, 2-3 inches deep, in a wok or Dutch oven, over medium-high to high heat until oil is hot. Set out a platter lined with paper towels. Then remove the shrimp from the bag one at a time, with a tongs, shaking off excess flour, and drop the shrimp into the hot oil. It should sizzle immediately. Add up to 5 shrimp at a time, not crowding the pan, and fry for 2-4 minutes, turning them over if needed, until browned and crispy on all sides. Remove with tongs to the paper-towel lined platter. Continue frying until all the shrimp are done. Serve immediately.
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