AFC/NFC Championship - Appeteasers#1 - Broiled Shrimp Toast

Today the NFC and AFC Championship games were on so naturally I thought it'd be nice to have some appetizers while watching the game (well, Z watching the game, me not so much). There were a couple appeteasers I didn't get to try my hand at last weekend so I thought let's check the books.

First I made a simple recipe from Martha Stewart Living, December 2011. It made less than I was anticipating which was about 18 toasts but I did use a larger loaf. Anything in italics was something I either changed or added.

Broiled Shrimp Toasts

4 oz. peeled medium shri

mp, deveined

1 Tablespoon minced shallot

2 teaspoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 Tablespoon mayo*

1/2 teaspoon Sriracha

1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest, plus 2 teaspoons

1/2 medium baguette, sliced into 15-20 slices (1/2 in. seemed to taste best)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (probably only need 2 T if you don't want to waste butter)

1. Pulse shrimp, shallot, and ginger in a food processor until a coarse paste forms. Transfer to a bowl. Stir in mayonnaise, Sriracha, and lime zest, and juice.

2. Heat broiler. Working in 2 batches, toast bread slices on a rimmed baking sheet 8 inches from heat source until golden brown, about 30 seconds. Remove from oven. Flip bread, generously brush tops with butter, and spread with a thin layer of shrimp paste (~1 teaspoon each). (Note: I literally scooped 1 teaspoon onto each toast and spread with a rubber spatula).

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Overall, super fast and easy to make; Z thought they were delicious. I liked how the ginger also gave it a little kick on top of the Sriracha. Because our oven's broiler is broken, I had to make these in our Cuisinart Toaster Oven which just meant I had to leave them toasted for a little bit longer each time I put something in the oven. Still, it worked great and was very happy with the results.

Some notes:

*I didn't have fresh shrimp on hand so I just defrosted some frozen shrimp in a bowl of cold water for 20 minutes

*You could probably substitute greek yogurt for mayonnaise

*I used a long italian baguette from Acme that was delightful but the slices will be a bit bigger than if you used a sweet/sour baguette

*I used lemon because I didn't have lime on hand. Seemed fine.

*I don't have a food processor so I used my Cuisinart Smart Stick Blender and because it's such a small amount, it was the perfect size. I didn't even transfer the contents after mixing, I just used the chopper attachment bowl. If you double the recipe though, you'd obviously want to use a bigger food processor or blender.

Originally seen in: Martha Stewart Living, December 2011