Hello 2013! I hope everyone had a lovely New Year’s celebration filled with lots of good eats and debauchery. Me, I went all out and ate this. And then, ate some of this. And because I was feelin’ extra crazy, went ahead and did this for the remainder of the evening. I know, right? I’m so wild and crazy sometimes I feel like I don’t even know myself.
And now that we’re in a new year we get to do the proverbial cleaning off the slate business that we’ve all been trained to follow, which includes but is not limited to: eating lots of good-for-you salads and smoothies and detox cleansing systems, joining pretentious gym with ridiculously expensive membership fee, get a divorce for the third time, and buying that hot pair of red heels you’ve been coveting for a month. I do not condone any of those except for of course the heels because let’s be real here, sexy reds are impossible to pass up.
The one totally materialistic thing I got for Christmas though, and I have to show it off because I’m smitten with it, is this cute red coat from Modcloth. Tell me you’ve been there. They have the most gorgeous coat selection and I seriously get into omgah mode as soon as I look around. I am a major coat hoarder and I’m proud to admit it.
Oh, we were sorta talking diet food weren’t we? Here, have some shrimp cakes. While definitely not a plate of greens, they are most definitely scrumptious and can easily be adapted for a more health-conscious approach. This original recipe contains a bit of mayo for richness and flavor and is fried until golden but you can opt for a yogurt and baked combo instead. If you’re going to bake it, you still gotta make sure and spray it with oil though on both sides, and flip midway through cooking, to ensure proper crunch. I’d say 375 degrees at about 20 minutes should do the trick.
Music crush of the week: After an Afternoon by Jason Mraz, a blast from the past given this is from 2001 but in all honesty I adore his earlier work. This one has always been lovely for me.
Crunchy chipotle shrimp cakes with lime aioli + mango-green onion relish
Makes 8 shrimp cakes
For the shrimp cakes:
1 pound shrimp, peeled and de-tailed
1 canned chipotle pepper + 1 teaspoon adobo sauce from can
1 tablespoon mayo
1 egg
1/4 cup roughly chopped green onions, light and dark parts
Zest of 1 lime + a slight squeeze of juice
S + P
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs + another 1/2 cup for coating
Canola oil, for frying
// Put all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until just combined, about 8-10 quick pulses. Form into 8 fat cakes and stash in the fridge to chill and set, about 30 minutes.
Take the remaining 1/2 cup panko and coat each shrimp cake, patting gently to get rid of excess.
Grab a large fry pan and set it over medium flame. Pour in enough canola oil to go slightly up the sides of the pan and once it shimmers, add the shrimp cakes, 4 at a time and fry until golden brown on each side, about 7-9 minutes total. Set them onto a paper towel-line plate to drain.
For the lime aioli:
1/2 garlic clove
1/3 cup mayo
Juice of 1 lime
S + P
// Rub the cut side of the garlic clove along the inside of a small bowl. Discard clove. Add to this bowl the mayo, lime juice, and s + p. Whisk together and chill.
For the mango-green onion relish:
1 mango, cut into smallish cubes
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions, dark part only
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
Juice of 1/2 lime
Salt
Pinch sugar
// Take all ingredients and gently mix in a bowl. Set aside.
Serve shrimp cakes with lime aioli and mango-green onion relish + extra lime wedges for squeezing.
Provecho, amigos!
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