My favorite type of food to cook is...?

Pages

Monday, March 29, 2010

5 courses, 5 recipes Part 1


Hey all. I realise that I have been slacking mightily lately and that you have been logging in every 5 minutes for the last 2 weeks checking for a new PFD post. I have let you down. I am sorry. It will never happen again. (Okay, let's face it, it probably will but this is free for you and work for me so deal with it!).

I have decided to reward all your patience with 5 recipes this week. Combine them together and they would spell one kickass 5 course dinner party you could throw and impress your pals with. There will be recipes for an appetizer, soup, salad, main course and dessert. Nice huh? Am I forgiven yet?

First up.....the appetizer!

This is a truly simple and extremely delicious avocado and shrimp salad served on endive spears. It looks fantastic and the colors really pop. Best part of it is how easy it is to tinker with and still keep it very tasty.

Shrimp and Avocado Salad Boats

Ingredients
2 ripe avocados, mashed
1/3 lb cooked shrimp, de-veined and shelled and roughly chopped
1 lemon
2-3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 bell pepper finely minced
1 clove garlic finely minced
3 green onions, finely diced, green part only
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (must be smoked...regular will not taste nearly as good)
Tabasco sauce to taste
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 endive



In a large bowl mash the avocado and add the chopped shrimp. Roll the lemon on a hard surface to loosen the juices and squeeze (catch those seeds!) over the avocado and shrimp. Add the mayo and stir to combine. Add the garlic and green onion and stir again. Add the paprika and a few dashes of Tabasco sauce. (more if you like it spicy). Stir together and taste. Add salt and pepper as needed and more mayo if you would like it creamier. It should be creamy tasting with a fairly strong smoky flavor from the paprika and a little bite at the end from the Tabasco. Now is the time to play with this recipe spice-wise if you want to.

Remove the couple outer leaves from the endive and discard. Keep peeling leaves off but save any that are nice and firm. These will be the "boats" that your salad will be stuffed in. Using a small spoon fill the endive leaves with the salad until mostly full. If you run out of endive this salad is great on a crusty roll or french bread. Top the boats with the minced red pepper. Chill for an hour, covered and serve. Serves 6 as an appetizer or 4 as a light lunch.


So there is part 1 of your amazing dinner party line-up. Try this out and let me know what you think.

Cheers!

PFD

1 comment:

  1. I am so going to try this recipe, it sounds fantastic. I am always looking for new things with avocado, I heart avocado big time. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete