shrimp “puttanesca” w/ creamy polenta

Polenta makes a great side dish for just about everything: fish, steak, chicken, pork, shellfish, and it’s definitely my go-to comfort food when I’m in a hurry. Here I serve the polenta with a saucy, brothy take on a shrimp “puttanesca”

Shrimp “Puttanesca” w/ Creamy Polenta

2 cups polenta
~5 cup chicken or vegetable broth
~1 cup half and half or heavy cream

• Rather than adding butter or cheese to my polenta, I like adding cream or half n’ half, which adds a great richness

shrimp

• I normally always have frozen shrimp in my freezer, and I just thaw what I think I’ll need. Also, because the shrimp are part of the sauce and not the star, feel free to use small shrimp

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp capers
1/2 cup Castelvetrano olives, roughly chopped (or other pitted olives)
1 cup artichoke hearts

• they normally come halved or quartered, you just want their size to kind of match the size of the other ingredients in the sauce

1 can sardines, rough chopped

• Rather than the traditional anchovies normally in puttanesca, I used sardines, which still add a slight “fishyness” but are a little subtler and not as salty. I used sardines I bought at an Asian store so they had a little soy sauce mixed in, too, but regular canned sardines work fine

1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth

– Bring stock and cream to a boil. Add polenta and bring back to a boil while whisking
– Once polenta comes to a boil, turn heat down to medium-low, season with salt and pepper, and continue to stir regularly so it doesn’t burn on the bottom.

– Season shrimp with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large skillet and once the oil starts to smoke add the shrimp
– Cook shrimp till begins to turn pink and then add the garlic. Cook shrimp a little under and remove from the pan and set aside; try to keep the garlic in the pan
– Deglaze pan with white wine, and add remaining ingredients-diced tomatoes with juice, broth, olives, capers, artichoke hearts, and sardines
– Heat ingredients through and adjust seasonings. Allow sauce to simmer for 10 minutes so flavors can meld. Return shrimp and any juice back to the pan just before serving

creamy polenta w/ garlic shrimp

    Creamy Polenta, garlic shrimp, easy tomato sauce (makes ~4 servings)

Creamy Polenta

2 cups water or chicken stock
2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream

• It’s not a lot of cream, but trust me, you won‘t even miss the butter or cheese. If you do, just add a handful of your favorite parmesan, goat, or cheddar cheese
• Feel free to change the ratio of milk to cream if you want a richer polenta. I feel this ratio of 4:1 gives you a creamy polenta, without creating a dish with a 1000 calories

approx 2 cups polenta
salt and pepper to taste

• I was taught to make polenta by sight; when you’re whisking the polenta into the liquid keep adding polenta until you can continuously see polenta. This method allows you to make polenta with whatever amount of liquid you want. Polenta is a very forgiving food; you can always add more liquid to thicken it up, and you can still eat it even if it’s very loose; it does thicken up a bit once it’s done cooking, too.

– Bring stock, milk, and cream to a boil. Whisk in polenta and turn heat down to medium. Continue whisking until polenta thickens up and begins bubbling. – Turn heat down to low. Season with salt and pepper and continue cooking until polenta is tender, about 8-10 minutes. If polenta becomes too thick before it’s done add in more liquid.

Garlic Shrimp w/ Easy Tomato Sauce

24-30 U 21/25 shrimp, peeled and deveined

• feel free to use smaller or larger shrimp, adjusting the number of shrimp you need accordingly. I just use U21/25 because that’s what Costco has

1 shallot, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
2 tbsp butter
olive oil
salt and pepper

2 cans diced tomatoes
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp basil, thinly sliced
red pepper flakes (optional

– Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over high heat. Add shrimp in a single layer (if you can’t fit them all flat then cook them in 2 batches) and saute until they turn bring orange, about 2-3 minutes per side.
– Flip shrimp over and add in butter, garlic, shallot, and thyme. Season with salt and pepper and continue cooking until shrimp are done

– Remove shrimp from the pan and set aside. Reserve garlic butter in the pan for tomato sauce
– Add the diced tomatoes, with juices, soy sauce, and basil to the pan. Keep pan over high heat and reduce the liquid down till becomes more sauce like. Adjust seasoning if necessary

– Remove pan from heat. Either add the shrimp back to the sauce and serve over polenta, or keep the shrimp and sauce separate

honey walnut shrimp

honey walnut shrimp w/ braised bok choy

Forgot to put the walnuts into the banana cupcakes so I got the idea to use them in walnut shrimp. Have to make some tweeks before I post a recipe so here’s just some pics and recipe notes…

Shrimp batter

~2 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed

• you can use whatever size shrimp you want, but I used U21-25 and I butterflied them so they’d seems larger when fried
• seasoned the shrimp with salt before battering them

5 egg whites, whip till frothy
1 cup mochiko flour

• the batter was more of a thick paste, so I added water to loosen it- not sure if that affected how it turned out
• want to try using corn starch next time, maybe 50:50

– Whisk egg whites till frothy. Slowly add mochiko flour to form batter.
– Heat ~4-6 cups canola oil. Fry only a few shrimp at a time to keep oil temperature hot; about 3 minutes per batch, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels

• didn’t turn out as crispy as I’d like…need to reheat all shrimp in oven before mixing with sauce

Walnuts

2 cups walnuts
4 cups water

• can probably use less water to boil the walnuts

1 1/2 cups sugar

• need more sugar to sweeten the walnuts

2 cups canola oil

– Bring water and sugar to a boil; add walnuts and boil for 5 minutes. Drain.
– Heat canola oil. Add walnuts and fry till brown. Drain on paper towels.

• rather than frying wanna try baking them in the oven to toast them

Honey sauce

3 tbsp     honey
1 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup mayonnaise

– Mix together and toss with shrimp and walnuts