One of the best main dishes I’ve ever prepared

This is the first time I’ve ever posted two days in a row, but dinner last night was so mind-glowingly wonderful, I had to share this recipe.  With a simple extra step, the coconut milk rice is as luscious and creamy and divine as imaginable. It’s the perfect counterpoint to the light, incredibly flavorful shrimp on top. 

Trust me. Make this soon.

 

SPICY SAUTEED SHRIMP AND COCONUT MILK RICE

This will feed 2 hungry people. It will double easily.

Ingredients

1 lb Gulf shrimp, peeled and cleaned

1 Serrano pepper, thinly sliced on the diagonal

1 Fresno Chili, thinly sliced on the diagonal

(or whatever red chili you can find… don’t miss the red)

1/2 sweet onion, halved then thinly sliced into half-rings

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 small knob ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

juice of 1 lime

1 cup jasmine or basmati rice, rinsed in cold water

1 1/2 cup coconut milk (or 1 cup coconut cream mixed with 1/2 cup milk) mixed with 1/2 cup water. Remember, rice ratio is easy… twice the liquid as the amount of rice.

4 T butter

2 t. salt

NOTE ON SPICE: with the chilis, spice is in the seeds, flavor is in the pepper. So if you don’t like a lot of spice, don’t be afraid of using Serranos and Fresnos. Wash the seeds out of the peppers, being careful with your hands… if you get the spice on your hands and wipe your eyes (or elsewhere!) it’s not pleasant. Do note the coconut really tempers the spice. So at least leave a few seeds in! 

Directions

–  In a ziplock bag or the equivalent, put the shrimp, the lime juice and the sliced peppers. Seal, toss and let marinate for 15 minutes or so at room temperature. (You might even do this after you start the rice… you don’t want this to sit longer than 30 minutes as the lime juice essentially ‘cooks’ the shrimp.)

–  Melt 2 T butter in the pot you will use for the rice. Medium temp is fine here. Let the butter start to brown. Add the rice, stir and let it sauté, stirring, for a couple of minutes. Add the coconut milk mixture, a teaspoon of salt, stir once and bring to a boil, then cover, lowering the heat all the way down. Let it simmer, without opening the cover, for 20 minutes.  Remove from heat and let sit ten more minutes, covered.

– When you pull the rice from the heat:

Remove the sliced Serrano and Fresno chilis from the marinade.  In a skillet, melt the remaining 2 T butter. Add the sliced onion and the sliced chilis.  Sauté until soft. Add the sliced garlic and sliced ginger. Sauté 2 minutes, stirring, to soften. 

Add the shrimp and juices from the bag, and 1 t. salt. Stir it all up, then let the shrimp cook on one side, about 2 minutes max, when it will turn pink. Turn the shrimp over and cook on the other side. Shrimp can get tough fast… don’t over cook! They will continue to cook even when you pull them from the heat.

–  Fluff up the rice, spoon into warmed bowls and top with the shrimp and chili saute, with all the wonderfulness in the pan. 

Heaven.

I served these with Brussels, roasted simply in the oven at 400. Halve each sprout, toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper, then roast in a cast iron skillet, face down, for 30 or so minutes. (The larger that are, the longer they take.)

About 5 minutes before the sprouts are done, toss them in the skillet with a little more olive oil and a few cloves of minced garlic.

Simple. Easy. Delicious.

(I’m about done with Balsamic but if you like it, add a little to the sprouts when you add the garlic.)