Shrimp Po’boys

adapted from Everyday Food Magazine

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As I start typing this, I realize my last awesome recipe post (and perhaps last recipe post at all) was also a shrimp dish. So, if you you don’t like shrimp, I apologize. My plan was to resort to my archives of food photos and recipes to create a post, but the sheer awesomeness of these Po’boys we ate on Sunday night was resonating on the tip of my tongue. They were the epitome of summer deliciousness. Lightly fried shrimp, fresh vegetables and a tangy sauce. I want to eat these on the deck with a refreshing adult beverage. My reality is that we shoveled them down at our kitchen table while ducking the evening baby food chucking event, but a girl can dream. However and where ever you enjoy these, I promise you’ll do one thing; enjoy.

I did learn a valuable lesson while making these. The recipe makes a big deal about getting the temperature of your frying oil exactly right before frying. Now, I don’t do much frying, so I don’t have too much practice in this technique. When I do fry something, I follow what I thought were the rules, drop in a little breading, and if it sizzles, you’re ready to go. Too often, I drop in some breading, it sizzles, and then I put in my first batch, only to find the sizzle doesn’t last long, and my food is quickly taking on oil while the temperature continues to rise. For this recipe, I followed the instructions, and my oil was steaming, it lookes WAAAY too hot, and I thought for sure I was going to burn the shrimp. But, I dropped those suckers in, tossed them around for a few minutes, and they came out perfectly golden brown on the outside and juicy on the inside. I always knew that dropping food in oil would cause the temperature to drop, but now I realize compensating properly for that in the process of heating the oil is really key in obtaining the perfect golden brown!

Oh, and my husband always asks “so exactly what am I eating here?” (usually with half a mouth full, and his intonation describes whether he’s enjoying that mouthful or not). This time, I said “Shrimp Po’Boys”, to which he said over his second mouthful “What’s a Po’boy?” And I said, “I don’t know, just eat it!”. But, for you equally inquisitive (and for you dear husband, on the off chance you actually read my blog), here you go.

Total Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
6 tablespoons chopped dill pickles
3/4 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, divided
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 pound medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 hoagie rolls, split (get the softest, freshest rolls you can find (from the bakery, NOT the bread aisle). It really makes a difference)
1 medium tomato, diced
8 leaves lettuce, chopped

Directions

1. Stir together mayonnaise, cornichons, and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne (or even less if you don’t like spicy). On a plate, combine 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, seasoned salt, cornmeal, and salt (the original recipe was too heavy on cayenne for me, so I added seasoned salt and reduced the regular salt. Play with the seasoning depending on your tastes.)

Now that’s the right sizzle!

2. In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium-high until it registers 350 degrees on a deep-fat thermometer. Coat shrimp in cornmeal mixture, shake off excess, and carefully add to hot oil in batches. Cook until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove shrimp with a slotted spoon and transfer to paper towels to drain.

 

Delicious enough to eat on their own

3. Spread sauce in rolls and fill with tomato, lettuce, and shrimp. Enjoy!