Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Shrimp Po' Boy (Little J Style)



 "I'm feeling shrimpy," I say to the Cynthia, the vendor at Dry Dock Fish at my local farmer's market, as she packs up the fresh shrimp I had just selected.  I guess some of you loyal readers may have notice that I have a little thing for southern cuisine. Once in a long while I'll take a trip down to the famed Los Angeles Farmer's Market and one the little food stalls I like to frequent is a place called The Gumbo Pot. Louisiana-style southern cooking. I usually get myself a shrimp po'boy (a sub-style sandwich) with a cup of rice and gumbo. Mmmm... I've been meaning to make a version of the po' boy for quite a while, but I've just never gotten a chance to.

So when I had purchased the shrimp that little voice in the head began to whisper, "po' boy, po' boy, po' boy." Sweet! You can read a little of the history of this delectable sandwich on its wikipedia page (here), which also known as a poor boy. As much as I love the traditional way of making the po'boy, I wanted to put a little twist to it. A California twist. Traditionally, it consists of deep-fried breaded meat or seafood with lettuce, tomato, and a remoulade sauce. My version consists of baked-breaded seafood, spinach leaves, tomato, and my own rémoulade.

I peeled and deveined the shrimp. If you can get them already shelled and deveined, go for it. It'll save you time. Covered them in flour, an egg wash and panko crumbs, you know my usually way breading, and baked in the oven for 10-13 minutes. While that baked, I made the simple rémoulade sauce and prepared the spinach, tomato and bread. For the sauce, I finally was able to use the Emeril's horseradish mustard I had gotten a few months back courtesy of Foodbuzz and Emeril. You can simply use dijon mustard and horseradish, if you can't find that brand. I also didn't have the traditional french bread rolls, so I used some good ol' sliced bread (i.e. Nature's Pride 12-grain bread).

For this, I brought out trusty ol' Georgie. But you can toast them like you would a grilled cheese sandwich. Here's a neat trick to get that pressed sandwich look from a skillet. Take a plate and place it flat on top of the sandwich. Put a 12 ounce canned good, of any kind, on the plate to apply pressure. This will give you that "pressed" sandwich look just minus the grill marks. Then flip the sandwich and do the same thing.

I assembled the sandwich. Rémoulade on both slices of bread, placed the spinach and tomato on one and 6 perfectly baked shrimp on the other. Place the tomato side to form the sandwich and grilled away. I had a couple shrimp left to I just ate those like a appetizer with some of the rémoulade sauce I had left, which can be used as a dip as well.  You can see a dollop of the sauce on that tomato slice inthe photos.

Come to think of it...in many ways, it looks like a panini, too. A panini-po' boy hydrid? Either way, this was so freakin' good! You can serve this with a side of chips, fries, salad or soup. Or even a cup of rice and gumbo. Anyway, I think I've babbled long enough. I'll let the recipe and photos speak for themselves. Bon appetite!!

Makes 4 sandwiches.





Shrimp Po' Boy (Little J Style)

1 lb shrimp - peeled and deveined (or your choice of seafood or meat)
1 c flour
1 egg
1/4 c milk
salt
pepper
paprika
1 1/2 c panko bread brumbs
extra virgin olive oil
2 medium tomatoes - sliced
8 slices of bread or 4 sandwich rolls (your choice)
Spinach leaves - rinsed and dried
re´moulade sauce (recipe below)


Preheat your oven to 350˚F

Toss the shrimp ina little drizzle of olive oil. Coating all of them.

In three separate dishes for the breading station.
1. flour, seasoned with salt, pepper, and paprika.
2. egg and milk beaten together, season with a pinch of salt.
3. panko crumbs, seasoned with a little salt.

Bread each shrimp. 1, 2, then 3 in that order and place them on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Baked for 10-13 minutes until tender and slightly white and pink. Flip when half way to give the other side an even cooking.

While the shrimp bakes, prepare the spinach leaves, tomato and rémoulade sauce (recipe below)

Prepare you grill, press or skillet.

Assemble the sandwich. Spread the rémoulade on both slices of bread. Place the spinach, then the tomato on one. When the shrimp is cooked, on the other 4-8 shrimp on the other half of the sandwich. Top with the tomato half and place on the grill or press. Cook until bread is toasted for roughly 5 minutes.

Cut the sanwiches in half on a diagonal and serve warm with a side of soup, salad, chips or fries.


For cooking on a skillet:
On medium heat, toast the sandwich like you would a grilled cheese sandwich for roughly 5 minute each side. To get the "pressed" look, place a plate flat over with a 12 oz canned good, of any kind on top to apply pressure.




Rémoulade Sauce:
2 green onion - chopped
1/2 c lite mayo
1 tsp sweet relish
1 tsp lemon juice
1 -2 Tbsp Emeril's Horseradish Mustard (you can substitute for 1 Tbsp dijon mustard and 1/2 Tbsp horseradish)


Combine the ingredients for the rémoulade together and set aside. Keep chilled, if not using immediately.


33 comments:

  1. Holy cow!! That sounds like the most awesome sandwich ever. Seriously delicious, love the remoulade with this. Id be all over that in a heartbeat!

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  2. Your hybrid looks killer!!! Oh man...how long do you think it'd take me to get from Indiana to Cali?

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  3. That's an awesome sandwich! The remoulade sounds delicious here!

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  4. I've never had a po'boy, this look so tasty.

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  5. I've never had a po'boy either -but this looks great! I'll have to give it a try sometime.

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  6. Please don't judge me, but when you wrote "Little J Style", I totally thought you were going to make a Gossip Girl reference. I hope we can still be friends.

    LOVING that sandwich, though. I've never had a po' boy, but now I can make it at home!

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  7. I'm not really a shrimp fan but that rémoulade looks awesome.

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  8. Your sandwich is reminding my tummy that it's time for lunch! Looks really tasty! I want to get some of that horseradish mustard.

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  9. Thanks for the plate tip! I'll have to try that out on my handy dandy grill pan the next time I'm craving a panini!

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  10. Don't get me going on Po'Boys I spent enough time in New Orleans to attach many a wild memory to that tasty little sammy! GREGsippitysup

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  11. Donna: Hehe...Thanks.

    girlichef: Maybe a couple of hours. ;-D

    5 Star: Thanks.

    HH: It's a pretty simple sandwich to make. Give it a try.

    ValleyWriter: You should.

    Teanna: lol. No worries. We're still friends.

    Bob: The sauce is killer!!

    Ungourmet: The mustard it pretty tasty. I like the taste of it.

    Diana: Your welcome. I learned it many years ago and It give the sandwich that cool look without really trying.

    Mardi: Thanks.

    Greg:I bet you have. ;-D

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  12. Yum! I go crazy for po' boys but hardly ever let myself eat them because they're so fattening :(

    Good way around it!!

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  13. This sounds like THE PERFECT sandwich! I love everything about it!

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  14. Jenn, this is the perfect kind of sammie for lunch. that remoulade sauce is one of my all-time favs.

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  15. Boy oh boy give me a Po'Boy! My mother is from Louisiana and I just love the food. Great sandwich.

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  16. I'll take a po'boy any style but Little J looks best

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  17. Now that is one sandwich I couldn't pass up. It looks amazing Jenn.

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  18. i want i want i want! delicious!

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  19. This is an incredible sandwich! I think it should be called rich'boy instead of po'boy. I like the recipe for rémoulade sauce.

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  20. Jim, Dawn, Cucinista, Pam: Thanks.

    TavoLini: Mines a slightly healthier version.

    doggy: hehe...

    Andrea: It's good.

    Oyster, Pam: :-D

    Fresh Local: Rich boy. I like.

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  21. This sandwich looks fantastic! Shrimp is my most favorite:)

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  22. Beautiful Sandwich!! My husband would love these!!! I might have to make another sandwich!

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  23. Sounds delicious. For some reason, as I was reading about this and thinking about Southern food, I pictured you in the kitchen with Paula Deen making Po' Boys. Anyway, looks great!

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  24. Nutmeg: Mine, too.

    Miranda: I guess this would be aother sandwich to add to the list of sandwiches.

    Jen: Hehe...I'd love to cook with Paula Deen.

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  25. This looks so delicious! This reminds me of the shrimp club I had once. Such yumminess.

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  26. What an incredible sandwich! I can't wait to try it.

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  27. Reeni: hehe...I'd love to join that club.

    Mary: Enjoy!

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  28. I've been thinking New Orleans food all week anyway, and now I'm tempted with this! I need a po-boy now.

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  29. These shrimp sandwiches sound great!

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  30. I found so much useful data in this post!

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Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to leave a message. I'd love to hear from you. I do read them all. ;-D

--J