Sunday, August 7, 2011

Day 30: Shrimp with Mango Chutney

Well, 30 days down and I didn't even manage to post it on the right date... oh well I'll have plenty of opportunities for that in the coming months.  Day 30 came together pretty quickly and at the last minute (busy days lead to quick dinners).  I took the last of the frozen shrimp out of the freezer and set it aside to thaw under a slow trickle of water.  While it thawed I set about making a poaching liquid and a mango chutney.  For whatever reason poached shrimp with mango just appealed to me that night, so I decided to make it happen.

The poaching liquid was pretty straight forward, about a cup of white wine (chardonnay to be precise), some ground all-spice, some lime juice, bay leaves, some salt and italian herbs.  I filled out a small pot with water to get it to the level required to cover the shrimp.  I set that up to start heating fully while I made the chutney.

The chutney was really simple but delicious by the time I finished with it.  I took apart a mango (which is a whole lot harder than Alton Brown makes it look...) and set the cubes into a bowl awaiting other ingredients.  I chopped up some red onions, cubed a tomato, and chopped up a poblano pepper shortly afterward, and tossed everything in with the mango.  The juice of a one lime (freshly squeezed) went over the mixture along with some garlic powder, cumin and a little bit of salt.  The bowl of chutney got set aside looking a little like this while I got the shrimp ready to go.

The poached shrimp was pretty easy since the shrimp was already cleaned.  I waited for the poaching liquid to come up to a boil, then killed the heat and tossed in the shrimp.  Shrimp, as I have run into time and time again, is really easy to overcook.  Thankfully, this time I managed to avoid that particular pitfall.  The shrimp only sat in the poaching liquid about two minutes before I pulled them out, and the liquid had stopped boiling just as I put them in.  The texture was wonderful, nicely succulent and the perfect touch of flavors from the poaching liquid.  I was really pleased with my success and the flavor. 

You'll notice I haven't said much about the rice, mostly because it was leftover rice from Chinese takeout the night before.  Nothing special, but it worked great as a base for my meal.  We've moved on to Iron Chef America on the "tube" so we'll see if I can get fully caught up before the battle ends.

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