Practice Makes Perfect!

I am elated to say that I have been given the incredible opportunity to showcase my culinary talents in the form of a cook test! Awesome, right? So in preparation, I invited over four people to have them critique me (and eat a free meal). 

So what is this dish? Spicy shrimp and polenta cakes. While these don't sound particularly difficult, shrimp is one of the easiest things to both under and over cook. Oh and you might find their legs still being attached to their bodies a little unnerving...at least I always did. 

I began by making the polenta because it will take the longest: it has to 1) become polenta, 2) be chilled enough to firm up and be cut with a biscuit ring and 3) be sautéed on both sides. It's a long process but a labor of love and totally worth it! 

Polenta: 

6 C water 

2 tbsp salt

1 3/4 C yellow corn meal 

3 Tbsp unsalted butter 

1 tbsp pepper 

2 tbsp cayenne pepper 

Bring water to a boil in medium pot, add in salt and gradually whisk in corn meal. Lower heat to medium-low. This is where the "instant" polenta definitely has an advantage over from-scratch polenta; you must whisk constantly until the polenta is thick and creamy. It takes roughly 15 minutes. Yes readers, you must stand over a hot stove and whisk for 15 minutes. After thickened, remove from heat and whisk in butter 1 Tbsp at a time until completely combined. Season with pepper and cayenne. 

Now, if you're just eating polenta you're done! Yay! However, if you're creating polenta cakes, transfer to a large and deep casserole dish (9X13) sprayed with cooking spray, load the dish up with the polenta, smooth over the top and put into the fridge for an hour to an hour and a half. The polenta needs to be firm enough to enable it to be cut with a biscuit ring. 

It looks like this

To make the cakes: 

Cut the firmed up polenta with a biscuit ring of your choosing (I used the 3 inch one) and put a medium pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil to the pan and then add in the cake. Sauté both sides until golden brown and set over a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. 

After I got the polenta into the fridge to firm, I began making a vegetable stock (I didn't want the polenta cake to be too dry or bland). 

Vegetable Stock:

1 Tbsp olive oil 

1 yellow onion, quartered 

2 carrots, peeled and cut in half 

2 celery stocks, cut in half 

1/4 C white wine, I used a $5 Chardonnay 

2 Rosemary sprigs

1 bay leaf 

Salt and pepper to taste 

3 1/2 C water 

Add olive oils to a large stock pot over medium heat, cook the onions alone until you can smell them, add in the carrots and celery. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes. Deglaze the pot with the white wine. Add in rosemary and bay leaf and the water. Lower heat to low. Let cook for an hour or more. Before serving, remove the veggies, bay leaf and Rosemary. 

My house smells delicious. I want to eat the stock by itself! 

Spicy Shrimp 

2 pounds jumbo shrimp, shelled and deveined (I portioned 3 shrimp per person)

2 Tbsp butter 

Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon 

2 tbsp cayenne pepper 

Salt and pepper, to taste 

To shell and devein shrimp: use kitchen shears to cut along the back of the shell. Peel of the shell and the legs. When the "vein" is exposed, run water through it until it goes down the drain. Deveining shrimp is relatively easy, but time consuming. 

After your shrimp are deveined, put them in a bowl and season with salt and pepper, lemon juice and lemon zest. 

Heat 2 Tbsp butter over medium-high heat in a skillet. Once it is melted, add in the shrimp. Only cook 2 minutes per side. Look for the shrimp to form into a "c", c means cooked.

To plate: 

Place polenta in the center of a small plate, top with 3-4 pieces of shrimp on top of the polenta cake and drizzle a little bit of the stock on top. The stock shouldn't be used as a soup but rather a sauce. 

I am happy that I was able to get critiqued on this dish and get advice for improving it. I will be trying this recipe again next week with some changes so stay tuned, readers!