Here is a recipe for shrimp patties with Mexican flavors that sounds good. They’d be good dipped in some kind of tartar sauce or placed on top of a good salad.
A lot of steps but they are all easy.
Shrimp Cakes
For the spice mix:
1/4 cup cumin seeds
3 tbsp whole black peppercorns
1 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
For the shrimp cakes:
1 pound sweet potatoes
4 large garlic cloves, unpeeled
4 tbsp (or more) olive oil
8 oz peeled, cooked shrimp, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2/3 cup finely ground breadcrumbs
2 tbsp finely chopped pickled or fresh jalapeños, seeds discarded
2 tbsp finely chopped red onion
Flour for dusting (1/2 to 1 cup)
Preheat the oven to 375.
Add cumin seeds, peppercorns and coriander to a heavy medium skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until fragrant and lightly toasted, about 8 minutes. Let cool a few minutes.
Grind spices in a blender or spice grinder (can use a coffee grinder that has been cleaned by grinding raw rice) until finely ground. Transfer to a small bowl, stir in sugar and salt.
This makes about half a cup. You'll only need 1 1/2 teaspoons of the spice mix for one shrimp cakes recipe, so store the remainder for future use.
Pierce sweet potatoes all over with a fork. Bake in microwave for about 15 minutes until done. Rub one tablespoon of oil over the unpeeled garlic cloves. Cook in microwave a few minutes, until soft.
Let the garlic and sweet potatoes cool enough to handle. Peel the garlic. Cut the sweet potato in half and use a spoon to scoop out the flesh. Combine the cooked sweet potato and garlic in a bowl and mash until smooth.
Add the shrimp, cilantro, breadcrumbs, jalapeño, onion and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the spice mix to the bowl with the sweet potatoes. Mix until well blended. Season with salt.
Form the mixture into six patties, 3-inches in diameter.
Lightly dust the shrimp cakes in flour. Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Working in batches, cook the shrimp cakes until nicely browned, adding more oil as needed, about 2 minutes per side.
Place the shrimp cakes on a baking sheet. Bake at 375°F until heated through, about 5 minutes.
-kwc-
Since we’ve already got a “cake” theme going this week let’s do crab cakes as well. One of my favorite things to eat. I’d add Tony’s.
Crab Cakes
1 pound lump crabmeat, picked through and any bits of shell removed (try not to break up the lumps of crabmeat as you pick through it)
1/2 stick unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1 tsp kosher salt
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire
1 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp prepared tartar sauce
1 tsp lemon zest
1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce
2 tbsp chopped parsley
About 4 slices white bread, crusts removed, torn into small pieces, yielding 2 cups
2/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs
Heat one tablespoon of butter in a small skillet over medium high heat. Add the shallots and a half teaspoon of salt. Cook until the shallots are translucent, a couple minutes. Do not brown. Let the shallots cool.
Whisk together the eggs, Worcestershire sauce, remaining half teaspoon of salt, paprika, freshly ground black pepper, tartar sauce, lemon zest, Tabasco, parsley, and the cooked shallots.
Gently fold in the crabmeat and torn bread, taking care again to not break up the lumps of crab meat. The mixture will be very wet.
Take a scoop of the crab mixture and gently form it into a patty form about 2 1/4 inches across and 3/4 inches thick. Continue until you’ve made 12 crab cakes.
Line a rimmed tray with a piece of wax paper just large enough to hold the cakes, and sprinkle the bottom of the tray with half of the breadcrumbs. Set the crab cakes in one layer on the top of the layer of breadcrumbs and sprinkle them with the remaining breadcrumbs.
Cover the crab cakes loosely with another sheet of wax paper and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter in a large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat until the butter melts and foams up.
When the foam subsides, working in batches, place the crab cakes in the pan (do not crowd the pan), and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes on each side.
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