It’s been a while since I’ve written about my cooking, but fear not, I’m still attempting all sorts of exotic dishes in my humble kitchen, and yes, most of them turn out bright orange. Case in point: this Brazilian Shrimp Stew recipe that I found on Epicurious. As most of my culinary adventures are inspired by television, this dish from south of the Equator came about in my attempt to whip something up in honor of Survivor’s new season set in the Brazilian highlands. I was hoping to cook this for the season premiere, but, well, I didn’t. Instead, I think I had some sort of spinach concoction (which was quite good, I should add. I’ll have to publish that experience at a later date). Anyway, just because I was too lazy to cook this on the season premiere night didn’t mean that I was going to give up on it altogether. I eventually got my act together and tackled the recipe â€â€Ã‚ with quite delightful results, I might add. The photos after the jump…
First things first: the recipe called for a simple marinade of garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper for the shrimp. As you can see, I made full use of not just my reamer, but my new and handy zester (I figured a little zest wouldn’t hurt anyone).
Oh my. Those aren’t shrimp. No, those are scallops. I actually already made this dish once with shrimp, but I didn’t take photos. For this second go at it, I opted for scallops just to see how it would taste…
While the scallops marinate, I load up the Magic Bullet with diced tomatoes.
A few pulses later, we have purée. I suppose I could always just get purée, but the recipe calls for this; so hey, why not? Maybe next time I’ll try with purée and save myself a few dishes.
Meanwhile, in the skillet I sauté some onions and green bell peppers.
I should note that Fresh & Easy sold me this horrid onion as part of a four-pack. Shameful.
Note to self: be more diligent whilst shopping for onions.
About eight minutes later, the veggies are nicely golden. Time for further Brazilian excitement: ground cayenne and fresh cilantro.
I then pour in the tomato purée and let the mixture simmer away.
Fifteen minutes later, the sauce has reduced and thickened.
And now for a somewhat surprising touch: coconut milk.
I bring the sauce to a boil and then let it simmer for five minutes. Radiant orange ensue.
The coconut milk gives the sauce a distinctive and delicious tang. In short, it’s awesome.
In go the scallops, which merely have to cook until done. However, since I’m not necessary a Top Scallop expert, this simple step is a bit more difficult and harrowing for me than for others.
Eventually, I deem the scallops cooked, and I plate up this veritable samba of flavors.
I should note there’s also quite a bit of cilantro that’s been stirred into the sauce along the way. The recipe also calls for “dende oil,” which is essentially palm oil, but I didn’t have any and refused to buy a whole bottle for a few tablespoons worth (especially since it can go bad).
The final verdict? Aw-sum. When I first tried this dish, my eyes nearly popped out of my head, and no, it’s not because it was shockingly spicy. It’s because the flavor was just so intensely… INTENSE. There were all sorts of things going on: spicy, tangy, sweet, savory. Who would have thought something so simple could yield so many complex flavors?
There is a caveat, however. Don’t use scallops. I absolutely love scallops, but they are just too delicate to stand up to the flavors of the sauce. As a result, they tasted just like filler (slightly chewy filler at that, thanks to some clunky overcooking on my part). With shrimp, however, you’ll be set. The flavor combination is a total winner.
What’s also great about this recipe is that it yields so much sauce. Three out of the four times I’ve made/reaheated the dish, I’ve served it over rice, but the sauce also works very well over linguine too. It’s a very versatile dish and totally awesome. My friends Julie and Greg were at my apartment the first time I made it, and they concurred that it was quite delicious. So there.