New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp

I'm usually not a fan of spicy things, but boy was this tasty!   I really recommend making it spicy.  Add lots of salt and cayenne in the end.  I don't know why, but this dish is so, so, so yummy and especially flavorful when spicy.  It's adapted from America's Test Kitchen, who have never failed to impress me with their recipes. Here's the description on the recipe:

We started by determining the best cooking method for our version of New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp; in this case, searing the shrimp first, then sautéing the aromatics before returning the shrimp to the skillet to gently finish cooking in the rich sauce proved best. Sautéing the aromatics with some tomato paste enriched the sauce—the paste also reinforced the “barbecue" color.

To thicken the sauce, we turned to a classic New Orleans technique for thickening: starting the sauce with a roux. A bit of flour added to the sautéing aromatics created a sauce that was thick enough to coat the shrimp. Instead of a time-consuming seafood stock, we used bottled clam juice as the base for our sauce. To round out the liquid, tasters preferred mellow beer to acidic wine.

Seems like they know what they're talking about...am I right?  They also said: although authentic barbecue shrimp is always made with shell-on shrimp, peeled and deveined shrimp may be used. Light- or medium-bodied beers work best here. Serve with Tabasco sauce and French bread, if desired.

Definitely serve this wish French bread!!  It does a wonderful job of soaking up all of the yummy sauce.  I wish I had made more of this to have as leftovers...but there were none left!

Ingredients:

• 2pounds extra-large shrimp, peeled (21-25 per pound)
• 1/2teaspoon salt
• 1/2teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2tablespoons vegetable oil
• 6tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
• 2teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1teaspoon tomato paste
• 1teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
• 1teaspoon minced fresh thyme
• 1/2teaspoon dried oregano
• 3garlic cloves, minced
• 3/4cup bottled clam juice
• 1/2cup beer
• 1tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
•                       Additional salt, cayenne pepper
•                       Hot sauce (optional)

Instructions: 

• 1. Sear shrimp: Pat shrimp dry with paper towels and sprinkle with salt and cayenne. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook half of shrimp, without moving, until spotty brown on one side, about 1 minute; transfer to large plate. Repeat with remaining oil and shrimp.
• 2. Make Sauce: Melt 1 tablespoon butter in empty skillet over medium heat. Add flour, tomato paste, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in clam juice, beer, and Worcestershire, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to boil. Return shrimp and any accumulated juices to skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until shrimp are cooked through, about 2 minutes. Off heat, stir in remaining butter until incorporated. Add more salt and cayenne to taste.  Serve and garnish with hot sauce if desired.

Saint Patrick's Day Cake

This is officially the best cake I've ever had.  I was planning on making it for Saint Patrick's Day since it has that theme with the beer and Irish cream and all...but I never had time.  Sooo I decided to make it as my birthday cake instead!  I did only make one layer of this cake since there's only three people in my family and I wouldn't have wanted the cake to dry out if we didn't eat it in time.  If you choose to make one layer, then just half the recipe below.  But I recommend making the full amount because the cake lasts for a long time (I had the last slice today and it was the 3rd day, and it still tasted incredible) and you will definitely have no problem eating it all in a short period of time once you have your first slice.  I don't know about you guys, but I'm a huge sucker for alcoholic beverages in desserts.  I know...my parents aren't very happy about that...but I can't control my taste buds!  This cake is the absolute best chocolate cake/birthday cake/Saint Patricks Day cake I've ever tasted!  I think it's even better than my Best Chocolate Cake recipe (found here), which kind of defeats the title..but that recipe is still the best classic chocolate cake I've ever had.  However, this recipe is a little more jazzed up with the beer in the cake, the Bailey's buttercream frosting, and the chocolate ganache.  The chocolate cake layer itself is moist, rich, and perfectly dark chocolatey.  But the frosting and ganache is what really sets this cake from a 10 on a 1 to 10 scale to 100.  The Irish cream liquor gives this frosting an incredibly unique, sweet, and rich taste that I had never tasted before but instantly fell in love with.  If you are a big frosting fan, then I would recommend doubling it...it's very delicious to eat it by the spoonful as well(:  And then you have this incredibly chocolatey and rich deep chocolate ganache drizzled on top that makes the cake so beautiful and perfect.  I'm going to be making this for many holidays and birthdays to come in the future.

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 1 cup Irish stout beer (such as Guinness®)
• 1 cup butter, cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
•  
• Frosting:
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar, or as needed
• 1/2 cup butter at room temperature
• 4 tablespoons Irish cream liqueur (such as Baileys®), or as needed
•  
• Ganache:
• 1 heaping cup of bittersweet chocolate chips (or dark chocolate chips)
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons butter at room temperature
• 
  

• Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper, and spray with cooking spray.
  2. Pour the beer into a saucepan, add the butter, and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in the cocoa powder until the mixture is smooth. Allow the mixture to cool. In a bowl, beat the eggs and sour cream together until smooth with an electric mixer, and stir in the stout mixture to make a smooth, thick liquid.
  3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pour the stout mixture into the flour mixture, and gently combine with a spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans.
  4. Bake in the preheated oven until the cakes are set and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Remove and let cool in pans for 5 minutes before inverting the cakes onto wire racks to finish cooling.
  5. Mix together the confectioners' sugar, butter, and Irish cream liqueur until the mixture forms a smooth and spreadable frosting (add more sugar or liqueur as needed to create the desired consistency). Spread half the frosting on top of each cake.
  6. Place the chocolate chips into a heatproof bowl. Bring cream to almost boiling in a small saucepan, and pour over the chocolate. Stir in the butter, and stir the mixture until the chocolate melts and the mixture is very smooth. Allow to cool until the mixture is pourable but not thin or overly runny, 10 to 15 minutes. Stack a cake gently on top of the other, frosting sides uppermost, and carefully drizzle the chocolate mixture over the cake, allowing decorative drips to run down the sides.

Guinness® Bread

    

 

In honors of Saint Patrick's Day last weekend, I wanted to make some beer recipes. I don't know why, but I absolutely love the flavor of alcohol in foods.  Like chocolate bourbon balls?  Oh my gosh...those are my favorite.  And for those of you that don't know...alcohol burns off when you cook it, just giving the food an incredible flavor. But I came across this recipe from allrecipes.com, and it looked super easy, so I decided to make it for breakfast on Saint Patty's Day.  I was extremely impressed.  This bread is so perfect...not to mention healthy!  It's made with whole wheat flour and rolled oats, and is very low fat.   It reminds me of the brown bread you get at the Cheesecake Factory, only this has a slightly different flavor from the beer and it's way more moist and a lot better!  And that's saying so much because I absolutely adore that brown bread at the Cheesecake Factory.  This is amazing served warm with >butter<.  I had it for breakfast with butter, honey, and a sprinkle of cinnamon...sooo good.  However, it would be perfect any time of the day, like as a side for lunch, dinner, soups, etc.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup regular rolled oats, plus additional
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle Guinness® beer

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease an 8x8 inch baking pan.
2. Mix together the oats, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In a separate large bowl, stir together the butter, vanilla, buttermilk, and Guinness® beer. Pour the flour mixture into the beer mixture, and gently stir until well blended. Pour batter into the prepared baking pan, and sprinkle with additional oats if desired.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C), and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Turn the oven off, open the door, and allow to cool for 30 minutes in the oven before turning out onto a wire rack.