The Red, White and Shrimp!

With a bit of a hectic holiday weekend and no real inspiration to cook, I had to fit in a CL recipe somewhere!! I decided to make a bean and shrimp salad for our 4th of July BBQ, and utilized Tom's method for cooking shrimp in the process!

96. Grilled Shrimp - *Grills*

The fish/seafood section of the Grills chapter is a bit tricky! Tom divides it up into different types of fish, and lumps the seafood all in one category. Since I am not a big fish eater, and since making every type of fish would throw me off the project altogether, I decided for the Grills chapter I will make one type of fish and one type of seafood. I have not yet decided on the fish yet for my project, though am psyching myself up for salmon, but I know my favorite seafood has to make an appearance - shrimp!

The recipe for the bean and shrimp salad comes from Nigella's Feast and At My Table column. Now, for all intents and purposes, the shrimp are not actually supposed to be fried/grilled - they are actually boiled, but I don't think Nigella would object, especially since it is a summer type of dish!

The grilling is fairy simple, as per Tom's instructions. He says seafood such as shrimp and scallops only need to be seared on both sides in a tablespoon of oil. That was easy enough! I had to work in batches, since there was no way a pound of shrimp was fitting in my frying pan.
All in all, it didn't take long, and the result was some beautiful pink and plump shrimp!

They were ready for the salad. The rest consists of some borlotti (cranberry, roman) beans mixed in with some chopped garlic and sea salt. They are then tossed with the shrimp with a bit of oil and some lemon juice. And that's it! The beans and shrimp are mounded on top some radicchio leaves and ready to serve! I assembled the salad at my sister's place for the BBQ.


The BBQ was eaten indoors because we weren't sure what the weather would do. It was an incredibly hot, hazy, sticky day. Ah, typical New York summer, and which also would mean it would start pouring any second. We had loads of meat and veggie dishes -- sausages, chicken wings, grilled sweet potato, Israeli pickles, grilled and boiled corn on the cob. But no BBQ is complete without a lovely dessert!

This time I turned again to Tom's Strawberry and Polenta Shortcake. You may remember that when I made this last September, I didn't have scales and must have measured the flour wrong because what I got was a shortarsecake. This time I used my scales in glee and got two perfect sponge layers. I filled the middle with whipped heavy cream and fresh and gorgeous strawberries. Then, I sprinkled the top with icing sugar and some strawberry decorations. Beautiful!

The cake was a big hit!!! It isn't a big cake, but that not that small either. It was completely demolished. Not one crumb left! That is a triumph for me, as even when I make the most delicious cakes, usually there is at least one slice left at the end - baker's treat. Nope, no such luck. I got a small piece, seen below, but no seconds!

Everyone kept saying how they loved the texture of the sponge - and how it had a hint of lemonyness in it! I have to agree, this is probably my favorite cake to eat at the moment! Both of these recipes are really fantastic. I'm so glad I got to remake this cake and also try out Nigella's lovely salad. She is a marvel!