Golden Neutral Shrimp

Thanks for all your comments to my post yesterday, ladies! Wow, I'm not sure whether or not to be glad so many of you can relate to my difficulties with the homely responsibilities, but I guess the general consensus is that most men are babies. Alright, they just need a little guidance, but we still love you!

(Those excluded are Pamela's hubby, Sharon's hubby and Cindi's fiance - those men sound like they belong in the Hubby Helper Hall of Fame!)

Simple outfit today - and really kind of cheating the getting dressed thing by throwing on a comfy tee and wearing the skirt equivalent of a pair of cotton chinos.



Top: J. Crew metallic stripe tissue tee
Skirt: A/X cargo pencil (worn here, here and here before)
Shoes: Nine West Temani wedges (worn here and here before)
Necklace: Anthropologie Jahara (worn here and here before)

I've always been kind of afraid of frying, due to fear of burning splatters and not wanting to waste oil. But it's a deceptively simple way of cooking, and you actually need very little oil, as long as it's hot. Inspired by a recent dinner post from Sydney, I looked up a recipe to make simple fried shrimp using Japanese panko crumbs.

The panko was the key as it yielded a very crispy coating for the shrimp. And I poured only about half an inch of oil into my pan, which was more than enough for these delicious little lovelies. Just get all your shrimp coated and ready to go as the actual frying takes only about a minute per side, so super-quick!

The keys to frying: make sure the oil is hot and don't over-crowd the pan.

All my little "scrimps" ready to be eaten!

We had the traditional cocktail sauce as a dipper, but also made an apricot-horseradish dipper as well. The dipper is some apricot-pineapple preserves (regular apricot preserves or jam is fine as well) - a few tablespoons heated up for 10-15 seconds in the microwave mixed in with some creamy horseradish sauce to taste, and that's it. It is a sweet, savory and spicy dipping sauce, and "mm, so yummy good" you'll want to try it with everything.