The Global Kitchen

I first made this recipe after it won the Pillsbury Bake-Off in 1998. It was one of my regular dinners for a long time, then it disappeared off my radar as recipes tend to do.

Last week I was reminded in an email that the dish has a cult following on Chow.com for good reason. It's easy and delicious. Even though it has salsa the flavors are more Moroccan than Mexican. And did I mention it's delicious?

I served it with long grain rice instead of couscous and my salsa was not Old El Paso but other than that I followed the recipe to the letter.

Salsa Couscous Chicken recipe HERE.

This is an official recipe version of a dish I've made for years. It's so easy and I almost always have the ingredients on hand. Rice, egg, veggies and some basic Asian seasonings. Many years ago I had a room mate from Singapore who would eat this in various incarnations for breakfast.

Leftover rice is a necessity for this to fry correctly. Since I moved in with a carb addict there's never leftover rice so I had to plan accordingly. And make it very clear to stay out of the rice!

Tonight's version comes from one of my favorite blogs, The Steamy Kitchen. I really liked the flavor the sesame oil gave the dish. I always eat my fried rice with Sriracha and after a few bites I added some to this dish.

I have three bags of panko in my pantry and I don't know why. Well actually I do know why. Sometimes I find myself at the store and I realize I forgot to check if I have a certain ingredient so I buy it just in case. Since I moved I've been slacking of my inventory spreadsheets.

Since the older pictures on my blog have disappeared I'm more motivated to go back and repeat my recipes so I can replace them (and back them up). I only hope I can use up my pantry odds and ends in the process. The above picture is quite blurry so I'll be making it again to replace it.

This recipe was so easy, so quick and so good! Do not be alarmed at the amounts of mustard as the flavor is muted by the cooking. I could taste mustard but it was not overwhelming. By the way I had three jars of Dijon and was able to dispose of one tonight thanks to this recipe.

The recipe is courtesy of Bon Appetit's test kitchen and was published in the Oct 2009 issue. It can be located HERE.

This is a great appetizer for a party. My brother sent me the recipe and while mine may not be as pretty as his they were gobbled down so quickly it didn't matter.

I didn't tie the green onions in bows and I used large instead of jumbo shrimp, but other than that I followed the recipe for the shrimp as written. For the dipping sauce I used half hot chili sauce and half sweet chili sauce. it was still plenty spicy.

Wonton-wrapped Shrimp

12 Shrimp, U-15's (jumbo), peeled and deveined
1 super fine minced garlic clove
2 TBS. Hoisin Sauce
1 tsp. Asian dried chilli powder
1 TBS Soy sauce
12 square wonton skins
1 egg, beaten
12 stalks of Green onion, blanched in hot water until pliable
12 bamboo skewers

Mix garlic, chili powder, soy sauce, hoisin sauce. Add shrimp and marinate at least 4 hours. Brush the wontons with a thin coat of egg and wrap around the shrimp, "flattening" the shrimp so it is as straight as can be. Make sure you cover the shrimp with the wonton, tucking in the bottom like a spring roll. Tie the green onion around the wonton into a bow. Push the skewer down the center of the shrimp. When you cook it, the skewer will prevent the shrimp from curling. It's also easier to fry, as you can swirl the piece in the fryer with the skewer, making the cooking process faster and more even. Cook the shrimp at 350 degrees in the fryer for 1-2 minutes, until golden.

Dipping Sauce:

4 TBS rice vinegar
4 TBS Lime juice
4 TBS Thai chili sauce
2 TBS Fish Sauce
2 TBS chopped cilantro