Feast of Seven Fishes( Kind Of): Coconut Shrimp

First off, "Merry Christmas Readers"! I hope you all had amazing holidays with your families and got everything you wanted this year! Today I want to talk about my Christmas Eve Celebration with my family and the yummy coconut shrimp I made. Traditionally my family eats lots of fish on Christmas Eve. This year we got "creative" with the seven fishes. We had coconut shrimp,crab cakes, and sushi. That's right. Can you picture a bunch of Italian people eating sushi on Christmas Eve? Classic. I think it makes things a little different. Plus who eats salted cod or eel anyway? Here is the recipe for coconut shrimp that I used from Paula Deen. I usually use panko, but I realized I had no breadcrumbs at home! There is no way I was going to the supermarket with it being so close to Christmas and all so I drove to my sisters and stole whatever breadcrumbs she had on hand. Regular breadcrumbs it is. I served these little morsels of goodness with an orange marmalade sauce Yum.

Coconut Shrimp with Orange Marmalade

Ingredients

·2 cups shredded sweetened coconut

·2 cups bread crumbs

·Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

·2 cups all-purpose flour

·4 large eggs, beaten

·24 large shrimp, peeled and deveined

·Vegetable oil, for frying

Dipping Sauce:

·1/2 cup of orange marmalade

·1-2 tsp of dark rumDirections

In a large bowl, combine coconut and bread crumbs and season with salt and pepper. Place flour, eggs, and bread crumb mixture into 3 separate bowls. Dredge the shrimp in flour and shake off excess. Next, dip the shrimp thoroughly in the egg and rub against the side of the bowl to lightly remove excess. Finally, coat the shrimp thoroughly with the bread crumb mixture. Lay out the shrimp so they do not touch on a parchment-lined baking sheet or platter until ready to fry. In a large Dutch oven, heat several inches of oil to 350 degrees F. Fry the shrimp in batches until golden brown and cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes per batch. Be careful not to overcrowd shrimp in the oil while frying. Drain on paper towels.

For the Dipping Sauce: heat the marmalade in a small saucepan over low heat. Thin with rum as desired.