Soy-Ginger-Lime Shrimp with Tomato Scallion Couscous

Well, let me tell you...today was a craaaazy day. They are all crazy days but man, sometimes I over-extend myself and it's 5 pm and dinner is not even started yet. Which reminds me, I've been meaning to talk to you guys about cooking in a pinch.

Here's where keeping a well-stocked pantry and an equally properly stocked fridge is a great idea and a good investment. I mean really, do you want to run out at 5 to the grocery store? Or hold up dinner while Your Dude swings by the supermarket? Or do you throw in the towel and go for take-out? What's that you said? Throw in the towel?!? Wrong answer...SAY NO TO TAKE-OUT! Look what you can do with minimum ingredients. See this? You can do it too.



Actually, you don't have to say no to take-out every night. Some take-out nights are necessary for mama's mental health and the family's fun factor, but if you're eating out 3-4 nights per week, you know you can do better! In return for your promise to be a good little guy or girl, I promise to post on here a good list for fridge and pantry essentials. These are fresh and dried/packaged items things that you should never be without.

Also, when you're food shopping, plan a bit ahead... Get fish for tonight, chicken for tomorrow night, and steak for the night after. It's such a no-brainer and you'll rarely be caught with your pants down...well, unless you want them down...which reminds me of this time when the UPS man was due and The Dude thought it was funny to...never mind...

Anyway, on with tonight's dinner...The shrimp is a Bobby Flay recipe and let me just hop on my soap box for a moment to tell you how annoyed I often find myself at organizations (Food Network!) and chefs (and repeat offender Signor Flay!) who do not employ good editors and proofreaders to go through the recipes they slap on the web. If you are a novice, then you will find yourself a bit perplexed at this recipe. Fear not, my Iron Chef wanna-bes, I have fixed the myriad typos and it's ready to go...

Ingredients:

1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil (Make sure it's TOASTED sesame oil)
2 limes, juiced
2 teaspoons honey
1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, finely grated
1/4 cup canola oil, divided
1 1/4 pounds large (21-24) shrimp, peeled and deveined (Don't worry about shrimp weight/count; this recipe makes a TON of marinade so you won't run out even with 40 large shrimp.)
1 stick butter, softened

Method:

Peel and de-vein your shrimp. There are a lot of great video instructions and resources on the Web if you've never done this. Or you can be a Diva like me and get your beautiful, de-veined, large, fresh, Tiger shrimp at Costco and save yourself some time and money.



Get your mise-en-place together:



If you are like me, I worry about all the hands and things that are have come into contact with my seafood and poultry. This one-of-a-kind seafood and poultry wash, Eat Cleaner (TM) is amazing. Just spray, leave on for a couple of minutes, and rinse off the grime. And wait till you see what the rinse water looks like...BLECH.



While your shrimp is "cleaning itself" pulse all the ingredients, except for the butter in a food processor until combined. Add the softened butter and then pulse again until the mixture is uniform and thick. You will have a TON of marinade so don't use it all if you don't have to. Save some in a plastic container in the fridge. It will keep for a couple of months and will help this recipe go even faster next time!



Salt and pepper your shrimp, and brush with the soy/ginger/butter marinade (psst...I throw the shrimp in a ziploc, add salt and pepper, shake like mad, add the marinade, and gently shake/squeeze/smear the shrimps inside. Faster and cleaner, in my humble opinion.) At this point you can let the shrimp sit in the marinade while you make the couscous.



NOTE: When the couscous is done absorbing its liquid and you are about to finish it with the tomatoes and scallions and lemon, heat up your grill pan. And only AFTER you have properly heated your grill pan or your skillet and I mean REALLY REALLY HEATED the cooking vessel (for example I crank my cast iron grill pan on high for at least 5 minutes before I will allow the shrimp to touch it) do you cook the shrimp. 

Pre-heat your grill pan per note above until seriously scary freaking hot, and keep the heat on medium high. Working quickly, start timing and arrange the shrimp on the hot pan. Make note of the order you are placing them on the grill because it's best to start flipping them in the same order they went on.



When your timer reads 1:30 seconds, start flipping the shrimp that went on first. At this point, depending on how large the shrimps are, you will only need to cook for another 1:00 to 1:30 TOPS. If your shrimps are large do not cook longer than 3 minutes total; less if the little critters are smaller in size. Nothing is bloody worse than rubbery shrimp...nothing.



Remove from heat, and serve with couscous. Now normally I'd serve shrimp with a pasta dish, but since I do not eat pasta (no other reason other than pasta seems to have a migration route mapped right to my ass and belly) I serve it with couscous, which is slightly more forgiving. Recipe follows.

Do you ever wonder why I use SO many Cooks Illustrated recipes? Because unlike our friends above, this is one organization that is as anal-retentive about the details as I am. I have rarely had any Cooks recipe not work out. I cannot recommend them enough for the novice cook/baker. So here we go, another CI recipe. This one is officially called Couscous with Tomato, Scallions, and Lemon.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups plain couscous
1 medium onion, chopped fine
4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt
2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups of water
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 medium tomato, halved, cored, seeded, and diced small
2 scallions, sliced thin
Ground black pepper

Method:

In a large saucepan, toast the couscous for about 3 minutes on medium flame until the first few grains start to turn brown. Transfer to a bowl.



Mince one yellow or spanish onion. I will say it again, don't use sweet onions!



In a saucepan, saute the onion, one teaspoon of the oil and 1/2 teaspoon of salt, covered, for 8-10 minutes until onions have softened.



Add the lemon zest, garlic, and cayenne pepper and saute until aromatic, about 30 seconds.



Add the water...



...And the chicken stock.



Cook the mixture until the liquids boil and add to the bowl of toasted couscous. Stir well to combine.



Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let sit undisturbed for 12 minutes (yes, 12 exactly). See what it looks like after the liquid has absorbed?



While the couscous is resting, core, seed, and dice your tomatoes and slice the scallions into thin rounds. Squeeze the lemon juice.



Add the tomatoes, scallions, lemon juice, salt, pepper and the remaining 3 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil to the couscous.



Fluff with a fork, and serve. You can adjust the flavors if you like. For example I like mine a lot more lemon-y.