Tuesday, March 2, 2010

SHRIMP FRITTERS with Coconut Rum with Za Za Zing Cayaenne Pepper

With rum cheaper than orange juice, I am seeing more and more recipes that use rum as a flavor. The alcohol cooks out, leaving an earthy taste, combined with whatever flavoring you may chose to use. Cruzan Rum, US Virgin Island's own, makes several varieties of flavored rums, including coconut, vanilla, pineapple, banana, raspberry, rum cream, Black Cherry, citrus, guava and mango. This recipes adapt easily to whatever flavored rum you have on hand.

These little beauties are incredibly fast, incredibly easy and incredibly tasty. On the island, I always seem to have a few extra shrimp on hand, and this is a great place to use up everything... Got a little onion, toss it in, a little red pepper, in it goes. Mushrooms, scallions, jalapeno ... Just about whatever you can think of. I have made these three times so far. They are a great alternative to a starch. And a really great alternative to a bread.

And since you can eat them with one hand, they are great to take to the beach for a nice little snack while walking hand in hand in the moonlight...

Or you can eat these one handed while trying to scrape the ice and snow from your windshield with a credit card (sure, that's a funny line right now, but I will get what I deserve this time next year, don't worry).

1/4 cup Coconut Rum
3 tablespoons Coconut Water
2 Eggs beaten
1 cup Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 tsp CAYENNE PEPPER (Za Za Zing version... Or try some paprika if you want a milder version)
1 cup cooked, minced, deveined, tails removed Shrimp (or crab or scallops or clams or conch or a leftover piece of fish... this is a versatile recipe)
Canola Oil for frying

  • Combine all the ingredients except the shrimp and oil.
  • Fold in the shrimp
  • Heat oil for frying in a shallow frying pan. You only need about an inch.
  • Fry to a golden brown, about 3 minutes per side
  • Drain on paper towels!

I served these with a thin little Blackened Steak, and some grilled onions (not shown)...

And a Pineapple rum and Pineapple Juice drink!

Later, we enjoyed a Banana Rum and Orange Juice drink. We had extra time to enjoy a second drink since we didn't have to clean off our car windshield.

And Rum Cake for breakfast!

ladies, I am trying to talk my wife into a short page boy style haircut. If she doesn't like it, it will grow out. But in the mean time, I will not have to listen to her bitc... Um, I mean discuss the humidity and her hair...

Any thoughts???

17 comments:

  1. Humidity and hair is pesky problem. I hear ya Jackie!!!

    oh, and those fritters look fabulous. Love all of those flavored rums.

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  2. Shrimp and rum, sounds like a good combo to me.

    I've given up on giving my wife hair advise, she usually does the opposite

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  3. Fun to see you're really getting into the island cooking! Looking forward to more and more along this line!

    I wouldn't get in the middle of the hair discussion for anything. :)

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  4. Actually, if Jackie looks this good in curlers, any hair style should be fine! :)

    The fritters look wonderful!

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  5. I need to do this just to bring summer to my home - since it will be awhile. All those fresh flavors - and rum! I found you via Katy - what a grand blog!

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  6. Can't go wrong with shrimp fritters!

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  7. Sounds pretty tasty to me! I've had conch fritters, but never shrimp...

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  8. Coconut rum is my absolute drink of choice. That, some diet coke and a spritz of lime...can't go wrong. I need to check out these other flavors though.

    The shrimp fritters look awesome!

    I have news for you Dave. Women bitch about their hair no matter how long it is. So this is really a losing battle on your part :p

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  9. Those fritters sound out of this world good!

    And Jackie looks lovely regardless of how she wants to do up her hair. It's a woman's prerogative to crab about hair.

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  10. Well first of all, what a wonderful meal of shrimp with rum. My mouth is watering. And, I recently made a change to my hair and thought, yeah…it can grow out if I hate it…but I love it! It’s sort of a bob cut so minimal fuss.

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  11. Surf and turf and a very creative way. Nice.

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  12. Rum is cheaper than orange juice?! Those shrimp fritters look fab!

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  13. I always have humidity hair in Florida too - I've learned to just go with it, wear my hair long and with no style. It matches my "hippie-ness" anyway :-)

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  14. Your wife is gorgeous enough to go for one of those ultra short pixie haircuts that you just add a little gel to and mess up with your fingers a little.

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  15. Love the fritters - yum! I'm laughing at all the rum in your food. I hope you're right about all the alcohol cooking away or you're going to come back to Kansas as a raging alcoholic. :)

    I have no comment about the humidity and hair . . . mine gets a life of it's own in humidity (see my Queen of Hearts post.)

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  16. LOL, I love that you can take them with you - they look fabulous! And yes, definitely a short cut, it will be very cute on her and much less work :)

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  17. Zing... Shot to the heart! Man do I love any kind of fritter—maybe due to the frying that is involved—but especially one that contains shrimp!

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