Pan-Fried Cheese Grits Cakes with Lemon and Olive Oil Marinated Shrimp

I have been having fun pan-frying lately what with the Schnitzel, goat cheese rounds and catfish. With the right sized item, it really is a pretty quick and easy method of cooking. Plus, there is a real satisfying crunch and texture to something that has been breaded with Panko crumbs and then fried in really hot oil.

The catfish strips from the other day inspired me to make another southern-inspired dish. I had entered an idea for a different take on shrimp and grits in that contest using California Olive Ranch and Bob's Red Mill products. I had come across this delicious-looking recipe from Food & Wine for shrimp marinated in lemon and olive oil that I thought would be nice with cheese grits cakes.

Pan-Fried Cheese Grits Cakes with Lemon and Olive Oil Marinated Shrimp

Serves 2 as an appetizer

Ingredients:

• 4 large cooked shrimp
• lemon from half a lemon
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup stone ground corn grits
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon Old Bay
• 1/2 - 1 cup extra sharp cheddar, shredded
• flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• Panko breadcrumbs
• soft breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Directions:

1. Make the cheese grits by bringing 1 cup of lightly salted water to boil and add the corn grits, lowering the heat to low. Stir frequently to be sure that it doesn't stick. Careful, like oatmeal, bubbles might burst out and splatter you with wicked-hot starchy grain. 
2. After about 10 minutes, add 1/2 teaspoon of Old Bay. Stir well and let cook another 15 - 20 minutes.
3. Once it has cooked through and is the thickness you like, add the shredded extra-sharp cheddar, starting with 1/2 cup and adding up to 1 cup to suit your taste - I used about 3/4 cup. Stir well to let the cheese melt, then remove from heat. 
4. Place a long piece of waxed paper in a plastic container so that the ends hang out of the sides - this will let you remove the grits easily when they've set up - pour the grits into the container and out in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
5. Mix together the cooked shrimp in the olive oil, lemon juice, thyme, basil and salt and pepper. Let marinate in the fridge for at least an hour.
6. When you are ready to make the grits cakes, set up 4 bowls, one with flour, one with a beaten egg, one with panko mixed with thyme and basil, and one with soft breadcrumbs.
7. Take the grits out of the fridge and lift them out of the container and set them on a cutting board. Cut out rounds using a a biscuit cutter and dredge them in flour, dip in beaten egg, and then passing through the breadcrumbs, first the panko and then the soft crumbs, to fill in the gaps that the panko crumbs missed.
8. Fry in hot peanut oil until golden brown on both sides, drain on a paper towel and then serve with the marinated shrimp.

A closer look...

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Fried Goat Cheese on Roasted Golden Beet and Savory Cracker

We do love our appetizers around here, often making a meal out of a choice of finger foods, dips and spreads with fresh bread. In addition to the usual array of cheeses, I like to have a more elaborate or interesting choice or two to allow me to test out new ideas. Plus, it's always a good way to get the kids to try out new things.

I especially love the combination of beets and goat cheese. The goat cheese & roasted beet amuse bouche is the most-viewed blog entry here, and for good reason: the roasted beets offer a wonderful sweetness, which is the perfect foil for the smooth and tangy goat cheese. Breading and pan-frying the goat cheese rounds seems to bring out the creaminess of the cheese as well as adding a wonderful new texture. I put it on a savory cracker to make it a little easier to eat as a finger food.

The end results provides a rich combination of smooth and crunchy, creamy and tangy, sweet and savory. Not bad for an appetizer.

Fried Goat Cheese on Roasted Golden Beet and Savory Cracker

Ingredients:

• 1 golden beet
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• log of herbed goat cheese
• flour
• egg
• panko bread crumbs
• fresh thyme, chopped
• soft bread crumbs
• peanut oil
• savory cracker, wasa bread or some other thin and crisp flatbread or cracker

Directions:

1. Roast the beet: Preheat the oven to 400 F. Pour a thin layer of olive oil in a bowl. 
2. Wash and scrub the beet carefully, then roll it in the oil until it is all coated. Sprinkle some freshly cracked black pepper and sea salt over it and then place it on a sheet of aluminum foil and seal it up into a packet. 
3. Place into a roasting pan and roast for 45 minutes. 
4. Take out and let cool. Slip off the skin and then slice into 1/2 inch slices.

1. Make the pan-fried goat cheese rounds: Grab four shallow bowls, pie tins or plates. Pour out about 3/4 cup of flour on one, the beaten egg on the middle plate, the panko bread crumbs mixed with fresh thyme leaves on the third, and unseasoned soft bread crumb on the fourth.  
2. Slice the goat cheese into 3/4 inch rounds and then squish them down slightly until the diameter of the round almost matches the diameter of the beet slices. 
3. Working one at a time, dredge the goat cheese rounds through the flour until it is all coated, then dip into the beaten egg, making sure to let the excess egg drip back into the plate. Then press into the panko and thyme on both sides, then dipping it into the soft breadcrumbs to cover what the panko missed.
4. Heat some peanut oil over medium-high heat in a skillet. Once the oil starts to shimmer, carefully lower the goat cheese rounds into the oil and fry until both sides are golden brown, once per side is best. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels to drain.
5. Place a slice of the roasted beet on a cracker and top with a goat cheese round and serve.

A closer look at the melty cheese....

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Crab Tartlets

We love finger foods here. I am always on the hunt for new appetizers to serve at the various family functions. Puff pastry is always a good place to start. You can create strudels out of it, layer it with ingredients and fold it over, cut it into rounds and place them in muffin tins, it provides a near infinite variety of snacks and dishes.

The family also goes nutso over seafood, particularly crab, so any opportunity to fold together something crabby with something creamy is always welcome in this house.

Crab Tartlets

Makes 12 tartlets

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed and cut into rounds with a 3 inch biscuit cutter
• ½ cup lump crab meat, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons of mayo
• 2 tablespoons garlic and herb Boursin cheese
• ½ teaspoon sriracha more or less to taste 
• 1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
• 1½ teaspoons minced shallot
• 1½ teaspoons minced celery
• ¼ cup shredded cheese - I used a mixture of extra-sharp cheddar, parm and romano
• Old Bay to taste
• ¼ cup soft, unseasoned bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F.
2. Place the rounds of puff pastry into the bottom of a 12-well muffin pan.*
3. Mix together the crab, mayo, sriracha, mustard and Boursin in a bowl, then add the minced shallot and celery and the shredded cheese. Stir well to combine.
4. Taste and then season with salt, pepper and Old Bay to suit your taste.
5. Add the bread crumbs and toss to combine well.
6. Put a heaping teaspoon on top of each pastry round in the muffin pans and then bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until the pastry starts to get golden brown. 
7. Carefully pry the tartlets from the muffin pan and let cool on a wire rack and then serve.

Notes:

• I put the pastry rounds into an ungreased muffin pan and then stuck like hell, but for some reason, with this particular muffin pan, that is always the case. Next time I might try greasing it liberally with Crisco or even resorting to muffin liner papers or using my new silicone muffin cups.
• Any leftover crab mixture makes a wonderful crab cake mixture with the addition of a bit more soft bread crumbs. The resulting texture is soft and somewhat bready, like what you get with baked stuffed clams. It was an unexpected delight.

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Pepperoni Bites

I love appetizers. Most of our family gatherings, aside from the big holiday dinner occasions, are feasts of appetizers and finger foods, from cheese plates and a big platter of shrimp with cocktail sauce to an assortment of mini quiches and potstickers. I am always on the hunt for new appetizers to add to the mix to feed the ravenous hordes.

Well, this recipe delivers. It's savory and satisfying like pizza, and not as much work as gougeres. Plus, the bite-sized morsels can alleviate the guilt of wanting to devour an entire pizza by yourself, unless you plow through a dozen of these like I just did in the name of "taste testing."

Pepperoni-Cheese Bites



makes 1 dozen

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 t Italian seasoning
• 2 T unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup chopped pepperoni
• 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 3/8 cup milk
• shredded parm
  

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425° F. Spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray.
   


2. Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and Italian seasoning in a bowl.
   


3. Cut the 2 T of butter into small squares. Add them to the flour mixture and rub in with your fingers until the mixture is crumbly. If this does not appeal to you, you can pulse them together in a food processor until the butter is worked in.
   


4. Add the chopped pepperoni and the shredded cheese and mix together.
   


5. Pour in the milk and mix until everything is well-combined.
   


6. Drop by teaspoon into the mini muffin pan. This recipe is enough for 12.
   


7. Top with a bit of shredded parm and bake for 12-15 minutes or until tops are golden brown.
   


8. Serve immediately.
   

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Puff Pastry Swirls, Two Ways

Chocolate Hazelnut Swirls

Here is another one of my Sandra Lee-esque recipes using items which are ready-made. It's easy to assemble and the end result is tastier than an almost-ready-made tidbit ought to be. I got inspired to make this after recent Nutella adventures. My kids have discovered its wonderfully nutty, chocolatey goodness and have declared it to be the Best Thing EVER!

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet puff pastry
• Nutella
• chopped hazelnuts
• melted butter
  

Directions:

1. Thaw 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry on the counter for an hour. Preheat the oven to 375.
   


2. Unfold it onto a sheet of parchment paper. If the pastry has cracked and separated where it had been folded, press the pieces together gently with your fingers. Flip the pastry over and press the seams on the other side.
   


3. Spread Nutella all over the pastry, leaving about 1/2 border around the edges.
   


4. Sprinkle the chopped hazelnuts on the Nutella. Press them in firmly.
   


5. Roll the pastry into a jelly roll, and slice into 10 pieces.
   


6. Place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops of the pastry with melted butter.
   


7. Bake for 17 minutes or until the tops are nicely browned.
   

To balance out the rich sweetness of the chocolate swirls - and they are rich, sweet and delightfully chocolatey - I decided to make something savory with the remaining sheet of puff pastry. I saw many recipes for puff pastry appetizers that used spinach, but I wanted something different. I thought maybe I could use a bruschetta spread from artichoke hearts and cheese as the filling to make a nice savory treat.

I was right. These were amazing.

Savory Artichoke Cheese Swirls

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet puff pastry
• 1 small jar marinated artichoke hearts (6 oz), drained
  
• 1 T minced shallot
  
• 1/2 cup shredded pecorino romano
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 T sun-dried tomato, minced
• 1 T mayonnaise
• 2 T shredded mozzarella
  
• olive oil
  

Directions:

1. Thaw 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry on the counter for an hour. Preheat the oven to 375.
   


2. Unfold it onto a sheet of parchment paper. If the pastry has cracked and separated where it had been folded, press the pieces together gently with your fingers. Flip the pastry over and press the seams on the other side.
3. Chop the artichoke hearts and add the minced shallot, garlic and sun-dried tomato to the mixture.
   


4. Add the mayo and the cheese. Mix well.
   


5. Spread the mixture all over the puff pastry, leaving 1/2 inch border around the edges.
   


6. Roll the pastry into a jelly roll, and slice into 10 pieces.
   


7. Place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops of the pastry with olive oil.
   


8. Bake for 17 minutes or until the tops are nicely browned.
   

Notes:

• I could have baked these longer and let the pastry get more brown, but I had forgotten to set the timer (doofus) and honestly, they smelled too incredible and I pulled the out early. They were delicious even if they weren't very brown on top.
  

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Bruschetta

I rented Julie and Julia recently, which is lovely little movie and about as far as I go on the chick-flick meter. Honestly, I like this movie mostly for the food, although I can relate to Julie Powell to an extent. She said at one point that she felt lost and likened it to the sensation of drowning.

Now, unlike Julie, I didn't feel that way around my 30th birthday - 30 was a good year for me: I was happily married, pregnant with my first child, had a cute little house near the water, yes life was shiny and wonderful for me at age 30. Once I neared 40, however, it was a different story: marriage in tatters, one child in a grave, no prospect for employment after 10 years spent at home as a stay at home mom. Indeed. I am floundering and beyond lost. My life has been circling the drain since my husband left me in 2006. Cooking tasty food is almost the only outlet I have that gives me any pleasure anymore.

I rented the movie recently because I wanted to be inspired again. Those two women, Julie Powell and Julia Child also faced down some angsty life moments, but they seemed to conquer them. I guess I wanted reassurance that it could happen.

Ok, tangent over, now to the real point: When I was watching the movie, I was struck again by how absolutely luscious the food looked. That one scene near the beginning where Julie and her husband are eating a plate full of bruschetta had me salivating from the start. So yesterday, I whipped up my own version.

In case you've never seen the movie, you can see the marvelously mouth-watering bruschetta at the 1-minute mark in the trailer below.

Bruschetta

Ingredients:

• rustic artisan bread - ciabatta, rustic Italian, French- something with a crusty exterior, but still soft inside.
  
• 1 garlic clove, cut in half
  
• 1 heirloom tomato or a beefsteak/vine-ripened, hothouse tomato if it isn't quite tomato season yet
  
• fresh basil - 8 large leaves
  
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• salt & pepper
• shredded parmigianno
  

Directions:

1. Chop the tomato and put in a bowl.
   


2. Drizzle with about 1 T olive oil and 2 t balsamic vinegar.
   


3. Tear up 8 large leaves of fresh basil and toss in with the tomatoes
   


4. Season with salt and pepper, and toss with a fork.
   


5. Set aside to marinate for about an hour.
   


6. After the tomato mixture has sat for about an hour, heat a skillet or heavy griddle over medium-high heat.
   


7. Cut the bread into thick slices.
   


8. Rub each side with half of a cut garlic clove.
   


9. Pour some olive oil into a small bowl and with a pastry brush, smear the olive oil onto both sides of the bread.
   


10. Place the oil-saturated bread in the hot skillet and toast until golden brown on each side, turning once.
    


11. Remove from heat, plate, and top with the tomato-basil mixture, and sprinkle with freshly grated parm.
    


12. Eat immediately while the bread is still toasty.
    

Notes:

• In the movie, they used a variety of heirloom tomatoes- yellow, orange and red. Once my local Farmer's Market is in full swing with more fresh tomatoes, I'll be making this again with a wider variety of tomatoes.
  


• Susan Spungen, food stylist for the movie, gives the recipe for the movie version in an article in The Atlantic.
  
  My version differs only in the addition of the balsamic vinegar to the marinating tomatoes and the grated cheese on top.
  


• If you want to cut a few calories, you can toast the slices of bread in the oven until browned instead of basically frying them in a skillet or on a griddle, but why would you want to do that? ;-)
  


• I used to be skeptical about the whole rub a cut garlic clove on the bread thing until yesterday when I realized that I could actually taste the garlic. I had no garlic in the tomato mixture at all and was using regular olive oil, not the kind infused with garlic. There was a definite hint of garlic in the final product -subtle and perfect, so I am totally sold on that.
  

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Crab-stuffed Mushrooms

These make a nice appetizer if you use the smaller cremini/baby bella mushrooms, but I like to make these with large portobello caps and have them for dinner with a green salad.

Crab-stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 1 8-oz container crabmeat
• 1 package of shallot and chive flavor Boursin® cheese
• 2 T mayo (or more to achieve the desired consistency)
  
• ½ onion, finely diced
• Old Bay® seasoning
• ½ cup of soft bread crumbs or cracker crumbs (Ritz or saltines work well)
• 6 large portobello mushroom caps or 20 smaller cremini/baby bellas
  
• Panko crumbs
• freshly grated parmesan or romano
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


2. In a large bowl, mix together the crab meat, Boursin® cheese and mayo. Mix well.


3. Fold in the diced onion and cracker or bread crumbs, stirring until everything is incorporated well.


4. Clean the mushroom caps by removing the stems and gills and brushing off any accumulated dirt.


5. Place the caps on a baking sheet.


6. Put a healthy dollop of the crab mixture in the cavity of each mushroom cap and sprinkle generously with Old Bay®. Top with grated cheese and panko crumbs.
   


7. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the tops are nicely browned and the filling is slightly bubbly on the sides. The larger portobello caps take longer.
   


8. Serve hot.

Note:

• If watching carbs is a concern for you, omit the bread crumbs or cracker crumbs to the crab meat mixture in the bowl and top the mushrooms with just the freshly grated parmesan and no panko bread crumbs.
  

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