Friday nights for us tend to be simple. Our favourite Fridays include making an easy but tasty dinner at home and a nice bottle of wine to kick-start the weekend. We met up with our friend Aaron Bick, co-founder of WineOnline.ca, a wonderful place to order wine online and have it delivered right to your home, to put together a great Friday night pairing for you.
This recipe from Chef Gason is an absolute must-try. It's a perfect Friday night meal - super easy, done in minutes, and beyond tasty. Pick up the wine, and you've got yourself a wonderful summer evening.
From Chef Gason:
I’ve lived in New Orleans for most of my life. What I love so much about this city is the people, music, culture, history and most of all the cuisine.
Our food is spicy, it’s filled with flavour, it carries a personality of its own. Shrimp is a very important dish in New Orleans. Being on the Gulf of Mexico, we have an abundant amount of fresh seafood, so it plays an important role in our local cuisine. One classic shrimp dish in New Orleans is Blackened Shrimp.
Blackened Shrimp Ingredients
2 tablespoons ground smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 pounds large shrimp; deveined and peeled, tails on
Blackened Shrimp Instructions:
Combine all seasoning ingredients from paprika to salt in a medium bowl. Place shrimp and seasoning mix in a large ziplock and seal. Shake to evenly coat. Let sit for at least 5–10 minutes for spices to soak in.
Heat butter in large non-stick pan or skillet on medium-high heat. Add seasoned shrimp and cook 5–6 minutes, stirring or rotating halfway between; until opaque white and cooked through. Remove from heat and serve immediately. Enjoy and welcome to New Orleans.
Serves 3-4
Wine Pairing:
Now that summer is in full swing, you can guarantee people will be drinking wine on the patios in the French Quarter and beyond. A nice wine that would pair well with the Blackened Shrimp is Chardonnay Carneros by Waterstone Winery 2013. This wine is light and crisp, but has enough body that it stands up to the spiciness of this dish. The fruity flavours linger on your palate, and the structure and acidity compliment the spices in the Blackened Shrimp so well. You can order it online or find it in your nearby wine shop.
About Chef Gason from The Chef & The Dish: Chef Gason is a two-time James Beard scholar and private chef in New Orleans. He’s competed on Food Network’s ‘Chopped’, has been featured in Sports Illustrated, and across New Orleans’ morning shows and magazines. Chef Gason has cooked for some of the biggest celebrities including Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Matthew McConaughey, Sinbad, the Kardashians, and NFL Players like Reggie Bush and Ben Watson.
Book any of Chef Gason's cooking classes and learn how to make classic New Orleans dishes like Jambalaya, Po Boys, Gumbo, New Orleans Style BBQ Shrimp, and more.
Do you have a special request? Just let us know and we can even create a special cooking class for you! Just contact us at www.TheChefandTheDish.com.
For the Love of Shrimp and Chardonnay,
Chef Gason and Jenn
