Friday Recipe- 1/25/08

Happy Birthday DJ!


For DJ's Birthday, I offer you two of his favorites:

Beer Margarita

Recipe courtesy of Semi Homemade & Sandra Lee

I know...Wha? It sounds kinda gross, but trust me! It's YUM-O, as Rachael Ray would say. So good on a summer's day. Or a rainy, wintery day. Really, anytime.


1 lime, cut into 8 wedges
1/4 cup coarse salt
2 (12-ounce) bottles your favorite beer, chilled (I use Corona, & not the light crap)
1/2 cup frozen concentrate limeade, thawed
1/2 cup chilled tequila
Ice cubes

Rub lime wedges around rims of 4 margarita glasses. Dip rims into salt to coat lightly. In a medium pitcher, combine beer, limeade, and tequila. Fill prepared glasses with ice, then with margarita mixture. Garnish with remaining lime wedges. Serve immediately.

Sugar Cane Skewered Shrimp, Marinated with Lime, Chili and Chives
Recipe Courtesy of Curtis Stone, Take Home Chef on TLC

Disclaimer: I HATE, with a passion, seafood of any kind. My husband does not feel the same way. So, as a gesture of peace & love I made these for our big 4th O'July Bash. They were a hit with the seafood loving crowd. I share them with you now in honor of his birthday. I'm that giving and generous.

Ingredients:
3 limes

2 red jalapeno chilies, finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)- I used green

½ bunch fresh chives, finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)

½ teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

16 uncooked jumbo shrimp (about 1 pound/500 g), peeled and deveined

1 8-inch/200 cm stick of sugar cane

**DUDE, even living in CA I could not easily find sugar cane sticks, so I just used wooden skewers, which I pre-soaked. I'm sure I missed out on the "wow" factor, but who really gives a whoop?

Avocado Lemon and Organic Yogurt Dip (see the recipe that follows)

Method:
Grate the peel from 2 limes into a large bowl. Stir in the, chilies, chives and salt. Add the shrimp and toss to coat. Drizzle the oil over and toss to coat again. Cover and refrigerate at least 20 minutes. Trim the bark from the sugar cane and discard. Cut the remaining sugar cane into 8 splinter-like skewers. Thread 2 shrimp on each skewer. Prepare the barbecue for high heat. Grill the shrimp until just opaque in the center, about 2 minutes per side. Halve the remaining lime and squeeze it over the shrimp on the grill. Transfer the skewers onto a platter and serve with the dip.

Avocado, Lemon and Organic Yogurt Dip

Ingredients:
2 large ripe avocados, peeled and pitted

3 tablespoons/45 ml fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

1/2 cup/120 g natural organic yogurt

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method:
Using a potato masher, mash the avocados with the lemon juice in a large bowl until smooth and creamy (alternatively a food processor can be used to make this dip extra creamy). Whisk in the yogurt. Season generously to taste with salt and pepper.Transfer to a serving bowl and serve with the shrimp.