Roasted Shrimp Cocktail & Roasted Brussels Sprouts

My husband and I stayed local for our Easter celebrations this past weekend. My parents were kind enough to purchase us a Honey Baked Ham, so all I had to do on Sunday was prepare a few side dishes and an app or two.

After an hour and forty-five minute Easter Sunday mass, paired with a mile walk home in 4 inch heels, I was ready to sit on the couch and watch sports all day.  The prep work for these dishes was so simple and I was able to enjoy the company I sooo love to keep!

 When I went shopping for my Easter dinner, I stopped at the local Produce Market and Fish Market and drew inspiration from what was in the stores. Every time I walk into the produce market, I try to find an ingredient that I have never worked with. This winter I began cooking with poblano peppers, butternut squash and kale. For Easter I decided to make a fresh shrimp cocktail and roasted brussels sprouts.


Roasted Shrimp with a Homemade Cocktail Sauce

So here is my take on homemade cocktail sauce... Although it may be easier to purchase cocktail sauce than make it on your own, a homemade sauce brings the dish to a whole new level, especially pairing roasted shrimp with this cocktail sauce!

I had all these ingredients in the house besides the horseradish. Instead of purchasing the cocktail sauce, using only half and then throwing the rest away, I now have stocked my refrigerator with horseradish sauce that I can eventually use in other recipes. And I believe the horseradish sauce was cheaper than the cocktail sauce.

Typically I try to make things homemade so that I can limit the amount of preservatives and "unknown" ingredients, but I don't think that applies here, because the ketchup and the horseradish sauce probably include lots of ingredients I cannot pronounce.

Roasted Shrimp
1/2 lb - 1 lb raw shrimp, shelled and deveined (leave tail on for dipping)
1 tbs Olive oil
Red pepper flakes
Garlic powder
Salt & pepper to taste

Place shrimp on baking sheet, add spices and olive oil and toss shrimp until oil coats the shrimp. Roast at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until pink.  Allow shrimp to fully cool in refrigerator before serving ~30 minutes.

Cocktail Sauce
1/4 cup Ketchup
2 tbs Horseradish sauce (more or less depending upon your taste)
1 tsp Worcestershire
1 tsp Chili powder
1 tsp Garlic powder
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper

Mix ingredients together and adjust ingredients based on your tastes.


Roasted Brussels Sprouts with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano

Brussels sprouts

Garlic powder

Oregano   

Red chili flakes

Parmigiano-Reggiano- freshly grated

  Olive oil

   Salt & pepper to taste

Toss brussel sprouts in olive oil and add spices, mix well and place on baking sheet. Roast at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, or until brussel sprouts are brown. Shake the sheet a few times during roasting to ensure even roasting. Add parmesan after taking the baking sheet out of the oven. Serve immediately.

Hope you are having a good week! What are some of the dishes you had for Easter? Please share!!

Thankss!

Mary

Beer-Battered Fish and Chips

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

This year, I decided to approach this favorited green-beer holiday in a new way -- by honoring my Irish forefathers with a homemade meal, straight from Dublin.

Originally, I had my eyes set on corned beef and cabbage. However, mere hours before dinner time I realized corned beef takes days to prepare due to the brining process. So, after some thought, I decided upon today's fried feature. Now, I'm sure you're thinking, "But Maegan, isn't fish and chips an English dish?" And to you I say, it sure is! But, such fried glory doesn't stop with just England. In fact, around the same time the dish became popular in Great Britain, an Italian immigrant sold the first "one and one" outside pubs in Dublin, making this meal the perfect accompaniment to your St. Patty's Day bar crawl.


Chips
2-3 medium potatoes, cut to preferred chip thickness
1 small bottle organic canola oil

Heat oil over medium heat in a heavy-weight, high-walled pan. I use a cast-iron dutch oven. Place a popcorn kernel in the oil; it will pop when the oil is ready for frying. Using a fry basket, begin to fry the potatoes in batches until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel. Reserve the frying oil for the fish.

Lightly season the chips with sea salt and fresh-cracked black pepper. I also added chopped dill and bourbon smoked paprika for zest.

Beer Batter

1 1/2 - 2 lbs pollack

3 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp Kosher salt
1 egg, beaten
10-12 oz smoked beer or porter
1/2 bunch fresh dill, chopped
pepper

In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and spices. Using a whisk, slowly add the beer until the mixture is like a really thick soup.

While the oil reheats, clean and skin the fish and cut into 6-8 pieces. When choosing the fish for this dish, you want to look for a white, flaky fish such as pollack or haddock. Many stores will also sell cod; however, Atlantic cod is overfished, making it an unsustainable choice.

Drop the fish into the batter, coating the entire surface. Then slowly lower the fish into the hot oil. Fry in batches until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel.

Serve the fish and chips on newspaper with a wedge of lemon and tartar sauce. You can make a quick homemade tartar sauce by mixing together mayo and dill pickle relish. For added flavor, we also sprinkled on a 10-year aged apple cider vinegar... Yum!

Enjoy!

Maegan