Tempura Shrimp Baja Tacos & IPA

Tempura Shrimp Baja Tacos

Servings – 2

·         6-8 ounces shrimp, deveined, deshelled and tails removed

·         3 T flour

·         ½ c beer

·         ½ c flour

·         1 egg

·         Salt & Pepper

·         3 T vegetable oil

·         ½ c mayo

·         1 t (1 clove garlic)

·         ¼ t garlic powder

·         1 T milk

·         2 T fresh cilantro

·         2 T feta, crumbled

·         2 T Mexican or cheddar cheese, shredded

·         ¼ c lettuce

·         4 flour tortillas

·         Hot Sauce

1.       Mix together ½ c beer, ½ c flour, 1 egg and dash of salt and pepper.

2.       Cover cleaned shrimp with 3 T of flour

3.       Dip shrimp into beer, flour and egg batter

4.       Heat vegetable oil on stove

5.       Fry shrimp, about 1-2 minutes on each side, add more oil if necessary

6.       Heat tortilla on stove, grill or in microwave

7.       Mix together garlic, garlic powder, mayo, and milk

8.       Divide fried shrimp among 4 tortilla

9.       Drizzle garlic sauce over shrimp

10.   Top each taco with cilantro, feta, cheese, and lettuce (we don’t eat tomatoes, but add them if you like)

11.   Serve with hot sauce

This recipe was inspired by one my husband’s favorite foods ever, Fuzzy’s tempura shrimp tacos. This was fairly easy to make, but it is not healthy with the fried shrimp so this will be a treat.  I paired this with a favorite of mine, a Stone IPA.

  

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp & Brown Ale

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

Servings – 2

·         ½ pound large shrimp – about 10-12 (deveined & peeled)

·         4 pieces turkey bacon (if you use regular bacon you will want to precook longer)

·         Garlic Powder

·         Spray olive oil

·         Skewers

1.       Precook turkey bacon in microwave for about 2 minutes.  This is a very key step, otherwise the bacon will be undercooked or you will overcook the shrimp

2.       Cook each bacon strip into thirds

3.       Spracy shrimp with olive oil

4.       Sprinkle with garlic powder

5.       Wrap shrimp with bacon and skewer

6.       Grill about 2 minutes, flip and grill 2 more minutes until shrimp is opaque

This is a very basic recipe and is a go to for me when I don’t know what to make.  I always have shrimp in the freezer and usually have some sort of bacon on hand.  I prefer turkey bacon over regular bacon for this recipe, one because its healthier, two because it’s a little less overwhelming to the shrimp and third it seems to crisp up better than regular bacon. I served with potatoes with garlic and corn with a little butter and cayenne.

I paired this with a brown ale.  Newcastle is probably one of the most well known brown ale’s, so this is likely a good reference for knowing a brown ale.  They are described as mild ale’s and are malty with light hops.  One of my favorite brown ale’s is a seasonal from Sierra Nevada called Tumbler Autumn brown ale.  I love Sierra Nevada and have used their beers in other pairings.  Their fall seasonal was amazing this year and you can likely still find it.  It’s a pretty popular beer and I have seen it on tap a lot this year.  It’s very mild, very drinkable and light sweetness balances well with the sweetness of the shrimp and the saltiness of the bacon.

Basic Spicy Shrimp – IPA

Basic Spicy Grilled Shrimp

Weight watchers – 2 points to 1/4 LB

Servings – 4

1 lb raw peeled, deveined shrimp

2 t garlic

2 t lemon juice

1 t cayenne pepper

Spray olive oil

Salt/pepper

1.       Spray skillet with olive oil

2.       Add garlic, sautee for 30 seconds

3.       Add shrimp

4.       Sprinkle with cayenne, salt, pepper

5.       Cook until no longer pink

6.       Add lemon juice

I made this for dinner one night with rice from a packet and frozen mixed vegetables.  It was a 5 minutes, healthy dinner.  These are delicious as an appetizer as well.  They do have some kick to them, so they would be great with a cooling sauce.

Spicy food always goes greater with IPAs.  The spice and hops balancing well.  One of my all time favorite IPAs, is Dogfish Head’s 90 minute IPA.  Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales is located in Maryland.  This is usually ranked as one of the top American IPAs.  The strongest flavor is definitely the hops, as is with most IPAs.  It’s a very complex flavor with notes of fruit and citrus.  I love this with seafood and of course for the summer.

Ginger Shrimp - Witbier

Ginger Shrimp

Weightwatchers – 1 point/2-3 shrimp

Serving – 20 -25 shrimp

1 lb of medium peeled, deveined and tail removed shrimp

4 T chopped ginger

2 T soy sauce

1 T honey

1 T white wine

1 t peanut oil

1.       Heat ginger on stove in peanut oil for 2-3 minutes

2.       Add shrimp to skillet and cook 2 minutes on each side until cooked through

3.       Add remaining ingredient to pot

4.       Place each shrimp on a toothpick and add to serving bowl

This also goes great with Witbier .  Witbier's go great with seafood.  A witbier I love is Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat.  Leinenkugel is from Chippewa Falls, WI.  You can find their beers all other the midwest but are sometimes more difficult in other parts of the US.  This has a fruity flavor of lemon and blueberry.  You will also taste more of a slight wheat flavor.