Small Bites - Shrimp (Eden's Wanderings and Wonderings)

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Small Bites - Coconut Shrimp with Pinepaple Salsa (Eden's concoction)

Each Sunday some slowtravel chefs are venturing into a new cooking / blogging activity. This one started this week. I may very well be stepping out of my comfort zone, as I am not as good as these chefs. But, here I go anyway ... late (YIKES) but here. This time, the group will do appetizers or small bites.

The group baked, made ice cream, stirred soups, tossed salads in the past. This time, there are no set recipes to follow, but each one prepares their own appetizer. The connecting factor is that each week there will be a single main ingredient. So on the first week, Cindy from Alaska started us with her choice of ingredient - Shrimp.

I gathered some Coconut Shrimp recipes online and kind of put this one together. I also opted for baking the Coconut Shrimp instead of frying... not that I have anything against frying. I just hate the clean up after. I also used (or made do) with the ingredients I had in my kitchen cupboard.

My ingredients were:

Coconut Shrimp:

1 & 1/2 pounds of large shrimp - (16-20 count per pound) I had 22 pieces
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice seasoning
2 large eggs
1 & 1/2 cups of flaked sweetened coconut
Cooking spray

Pinepaple Salsa:

Chopped fresh pineapple
Chopped red onions
Harry and David Hot & Smoky Pepper & Onion Relish

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Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Prepare the shrimp, peeling and deveining, leaving the tails on.
Combine constarch, pepper flakes, and Five Spice in a shallow bowl.
Beat eggs in another shallow bowl.
Place coconut in a shallow dish.
Dredge one shrimp at a time in the cornstarch mixture.
Dip in the egg bowl.
Dredge in coconut, pressing gently with fingers.
Place prepared and coated shrimp in a baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
Repeat with remaining shrimp.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until shrimp is done, turning after 10 minutes.

To prepare the salsa, combine pineapple, onions, and relish in a bowl. Serve with Coconut Shrimp.

My youngest son, Mike, thought it was good but suggested that I use Panko next time to make the shrimp crunchy. I think, it would have tasted better and crunchier, if I fried it.

Although, I must say, the more chardonnay I had the better it tasted. :)

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