Shrimp Damian #FishFridayFoodies

Lots of garlic, lemon and, most of all butter make shrimp Damian my favorite dish to order at Carrabba’s Original. This is my own copycat recipe.

When my older sister graduated from law school many moons ago, my husband and I helped her buy essentials for her new office and even a few smart business suits to wear to court. For several years hence she thanked us for the support by taking us out for what she called “the firm” dinner.

Our favorite place to go was Carrabba’s and I always, always got the shrimp Damian - served with fettuccine alfredo - until one traumatic year when, much to my horror, the shrimp Damian was NOT ON THE MENU. Fortunately the lovely waiter put me out of my misery by saying that if I ordered it, the kitchen would still oblige.

I guess too many people continued ordering shrimp Damian because by the next firm dinner, it was back on the menu! Power to the people.

Carrabba’s Italian Grill is a chain restaurant now with locations in 31 of these United States. Sadly, you won’t find shrimp Damian on those menus but they do have a shrimp scampi appetizer that is similar. If you ever find yourself in Houston though, the two original restaurants are still owned by the Mandola/Carrabba family and shrimp Damian is still on the menu!

Shrimp Damian

If you aren’t coming to Houston, give my recipe a try. It brought back some really happy memories for me. It’s really rich so I served it with toasted baguette slices rather than the traditional fettuccine alfredo and we enjoyed it as an appetizer.

Ingredients
4 tablespoons clarified butter (ghee)
4 tablespoons minced yellow onions
3 tablespoons minced garlic, divided
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons dry white wine
1 lb or 450g cleaned and peeled fresh shrimp
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons cold butter
salt
pepper
chopped parsley or green onion tops

Options for serving:
Traditional: alongside fettuccine alfredo (serves 2 as a main course)
Less caloric: with crusty bread for dipping (serves 4 as an appetizer)

Method
First, we’ll make the lemon butter sauce. In a small pot, heat the clarified butter, add onion and garlic, and sauté until transparent.

Add lemon juice and white wine, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Simmer for a few minutes to reduce the liquid by about one-third. Remove from heat but keep warm.

Heat a frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil.

Season the cleaned shrimp with a little sea salt and pepper, massage it in gently. Put the shrimp in the hot pan in a single layer and leave it to color on one side before turning.

Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side.

Add in the garlic and reduce the heat. Cook for a few minutes, being careful not to brown the garlic.

Now add cold butter to the warm lemon butter mixture and stir till it has melted. Add a little parsley or green onion tops for color.

Add the lemon butter to the shrimp pot and cook for another couple of minutes.

Your shrimp Damian is now ready to serve.

Enjoy!

This month my Fish Friday Foodie friends are recreating their favorite restaurant dishes along with our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. Check out the lovely recipes by clicking on the links below.

• Rubio's Fish Tacos from Making Miracles
• Wahoo's Grilled Fish Tacos with Citrus Slaw {copycat} from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Chinese Take-Out Combination Seafood Chow Mein from Palatable Pastime
• Shrimp Damian from Food Lust People Love
• Crispy Cheese Prawn Pancakes from Sneha's Recipe
• Mahi Mahi Matecumbe from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

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Overnight Rye Buns #BreadBakers

By volume, these overnight rye buns are about half unbleached bread flour, that is to say, wheat, and half dark rye flour, which means they have plenty of flavor and a lovely texture. Lighter than all rye and chewier than white bread, these buns are the perfect combination. Eat them split open and spread with creamy butter!

Years ago I found a blog that I loved so much that I actually signed up to get new posts in my inbox. It’s not that the recipes were extra fabulous. I read it because the author was so funny and honest about the challenges in her life that just reading her posts cheered me up. Sadly, she stopped adding posts years ago, but I am pleased to say that she’s left the blog up. Occasionally I visit just for a laugh.

I saved this recipe way back in October of 2014 because it sounded so easy, and indeed it was. Who knows why it took so long for me to make it!

Overnight Rye Buns

I followed the recipe trail back to the person who taught Esther of the Recipe Rifle to make these buns. Her name is Maria Mayerhofer and she has made a video so you can see how easy these are!  I am wondering if the same method will work with other combinations of flour and I cannot wait to experiment.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups or 150g dark rye flour
1 1/2 cups or 190g unbleached bread flour
1 rounded teaspoon dried yeast
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
2 heaped tablespoons natural yoghurt (I actually subbed probiotic cashew yogurt because that was all I had. You could also use sour cream.)
1 1/4 cups or 295ml cold water

Method
Use a wooden spoon to mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. It's a soft and sticky dough.

Cover the bowl with cling film and pop it into your refrigerator for at least eight hours or overnight.

When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C and prepare a large baking pan by lining it with baking parchment. Put another large empty baking pan on the lower rack of the oven. When you put the buns in, you’ll add a cup of water to the hot pan to create steam.

Fill a small bowl with water and put two serving spoons in it.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and use the wet spoons to scoop out bun-sized dollops onto your prepared baking pan.

The goal is to keep as many of the bubbles as possible so just scoop and plop. Make sure to dip the spoons back in the water between each dollop.

Slide the baking pan into your preheated oven and add 1 cup or 240ml of water to the bottom pan to create a steamy environment for the buns.

Bake the buns for about 20-25 minutes or until they are puffy and lightly browned.

Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack before serving.

These are great with a smear of butter.

Enjoy!

This month my Bread Bakers group are sharing mostly recipes made with rye flour. Because of the pandemic, our host, Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories, has loosened the restrictions and all of our members can participate, even if they aren’t able to buy rye flour. Thanks, Karen! Check out the link list of recipes:

• Black Pepper Rye from A Messy Kitchen
• Coffee Scones with Maple, Raisins, and Rye from Palatable Pastime
• Everyday Multigrain Rye Sourdough from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Light Rye Sourdough Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Multigrain Spiced Raisin Bread from Passion Kneaded
• Overnight Rye Buns from Food Lust People Love
• Sourdough Rye Boule from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Spelt and Rye Breakfast Sourdough Bread from Cook with Renu
• Sweet Rye Bread from Making Miracles
• Tangzhong Method Rye Bread from Sneha's Recipe

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the Bread Bakers home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Spicy Pickled Tomato Dirty Martini

A martini with a delicious difference, this spicy pickled tomato dirty martini is garnished with easy-to-make quick pickled grape tomatoes. The pickling liquid with rice vinegar and fish sauce also has a welcome hot kick from minced fresh chili pepper.

As promised on my post yesterday, here’s how you can enjoy a dirty martini made with the spicy pickled grape tomatoes I shared. I left mine to marinate in the refrigerator for two days before unsealing the jar and making my martini.

If, like me, you are a fan of more savory than sweet cocktails, you are going to love this one. It's the same recipe my husband uses to make my dirty martinis with anchovy or tuna stuffed olives and olive juice so until the pickled tomatoes are ready, use olives!

Spicy Pickled Tomato Dirty Martini

The ingredients list below makes one lovely chilled martini. The measure of 1 jigger = 1 fluid ounce or 30ml. You can, of course, increase the amounts to make two or more. The capacity of your cocktail shaker is the limiting factor.

Ingredients
2 jiggers vodka
1 jigger extra dry vermouth
1 1/2 jiggers juice from spicy pickled grape tomatoes
4-5 small ice cubes

To garnish: 3 spicy pickled grape tomatoes

Method
Spear at least three spicy pickled grape tomatoes with a long cocktail pick and rest them in a martini glass.

Put all the martini ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake for a minute or two, until the ice has a chance to melt a little and chill the liquid. Strain into your martini glass.

So good. Enjoy!

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