The Bread is in the Baking

I just moved into the house I will be living in for the next year. Whew. I can start baking more often again and I can stop living out of my suitcases! All of my things are now unpacked and put away and the only thing I have left to do in my room is put my posters up!
So far only 2 out of the 3 of us have moved into the new house so we had a pre-house warming house dinner to celebrate! Mooney doesn't eat gluten so we actually made this recipe with gluten free flour and it worked out great!
This recipe was supposed to be for shrimp (thus calling this coconut seafood because any seafood will do) but when we went to Trader Joes they didn't have any uncooked shrimp! I was really disappointed. Mooney suggested we use cod instead so we grabbed some of that.
 We got frozen cod, which worked fine, we just thawed it out first by placing seafood in a water bath. If you are using fish, place the fish in a sealed plastic bag in the water bath. You should not use already cooked meat because when you deep fry it, the meat will be overcooked.

The recipe I found for the coconut shrimp was really fatty so I left a lot of ingredients out and it turned out just fine, nice and crunchy! This meal goes really well over rice, which you can start while you're waiting for the seafood to marinate.

Coconut Seafood
1/2 lbs of meat of your choice (cut into 1 inch pieces)
1/2 lbs of broccoli cut into bite size florets
About 2 cups of oil
1 lemon

Seafood marinade
2 tbs cooking wine
1 tbs salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Coating for seafood
About 2 cups of flour
2 cups of medium shredded coconut
2 eggs (well beaten)

Mix together the marinade and place the seafood in the marinade for about 15 minutes.  Prepare the coating for the seafood by whisking the eggs in a bowl and shaking out about 1/4 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of shredded coconut onto separate plates. As you coat the seafood add more flour and coconut to the plates, but not putting all the flour and coconut on the plates, less of it is gummed up by the egg when you toss the seafood in it.
After the seafood is done marinating, take 1 or 2 pieces at a time and dip them into the egg and then coat them in the flour and then the coconut. Place the now coated seafood on a plate or baking sheet and repeat until all the seafood has been coated.
Heat up the oil in a deep pan or a deep fryer. While the oil is heating up, place the broccoli in a double boiler to steam, while you are frying the seafood make sure to check the broccoli ever 4-5 minutes to make sure it hasn't been overcooked and cook to taste (I like my broccoli to be just a tiny bit crunchy, which takes about 10 minutes). After the broccoli is cooked place in a large bowl (you'll add the seafood soon)
After the oil has heated up, place about 5-10 pieces of now coated seafood in the pan/deep fryer. Leave the pieces in the oil for about a minute or until golden, flipping the seafood at least once. Use a slotted spoon to take the seafood out of the oil and place on a plate covered in paper towel to soak up the excess oil.

Toss the Broccoli and now fried seafood together and squeeze the lemon over the broccoli and seafood. If you want something more flavorful, you can also use any other sauce you like!

Total Time: About an hour

I saw this recipe on foodgawker and I got really really excited. I immediately sent it to a close friend and went out and bought all the ingredients (which isn't a lot). These are really great. I realized that the best fries are about the thickness of your finger, because then you get the lovely crunchiness of fries on the outside and the juicy mushroom taste on the inside. Last night Eddie, Sophie and I made them as a side with spinach, goat cheese lamb burgers. Who says college students can't eat in style?

This recipe is pretty much identical to the one found here, but instead of using vegetable oil, we used olive oil. It's better for you and the flavor is great.

Portobello Mushroom Fries

2 Large Portobello Mushrooms - brush washed, sliced into even strips
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
About a cup of Wondra flour

First lay the sliced mushrooms on a parchment covered pan and sprinkle with salt to release moisture. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes. Pour the Wondra into a flat bowl and roll each mushroom slice around in the flour. Then in a deep saucepan (or deep fryer), heat about 3-4 inches of oil. Test the oil by dropping in pieces of the mushroom stem (cause they're still tasty, but not as attractive as fries). If the oil starts to sizzle, you're in business. Carefully drop a few mushroom slices at a time into the hot oil. Fry for a minute or two, just til golden. Remove with tongs or slots spoon and drain on a paper towel, serve immediately.

Total Time: About 15 minutes