This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks: Secrets of Success, by Michael Bauer, who is a restaurant critic for “The San Francisco Chronicle”. In this wonderful book, we encounter 300 recipes of “signature dishes” from San Francisco restaurants. More than providing the recipe, he shares little secrets used by the chefs: small details that often mean the difference between a good and a great meal.

At some point in my life (ca. 1989)  I left my heart in the Bay Area, 😉  so buying this book and cooking from it was a nice way to fight my withdrawal symptoms.

This recipe comes from chef Fabrizio Laudati (owner of an Italian restaurant called Panta Rei). It was offered as an appetizer in his previous restaurant, Baraonda, that no longer exists. I find it perfect for a summer dinner: it’s light but substantial enough to fill you up, especially if you serve a good loaf of bread with it. In this case, the recipe will feed 2 or 3 happy people.

MIXED GREEN SALAD WITH GRAPEFRUIT AND WARM SHRIMP
(serves 6 as an appetizer course)

Para receita em portugues, veja o final desse texto, na proxima pagina

for the shrimp
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste
12 ounces uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 T butter

for the vinaigrette
1/4 cup olive oil
2 t balsamic vinegar
2 t grapefruit juice
1 garlic clove, minced (I omitted)
salt and ground white pepper

for the salad
3 ounces mixed baby greens of your choice
2 heads Belgian endive, separated into spears
2 pink grapefruit, peeled and cut into segments (see my comments)
1 t minced fresh Italian parsley

To prepare the shrimp, combine the oil, the grapefruit juice and the garlic in a bowl. Add the shrimp, season with salt and pepperand refrigerate everything for 6 to 24 hours.

To make the vinaigrette, combine all ingredients until blended.

Place the greens, endive and grapefruit segments in separate bowls, adding the vinaigrette to each bowl and tossing the ingredients. Make sure to save any grapefruit juice that runs out of the segments.

Heat a skillet that will hold all the shrimp over high heat. Add the shrimp and the marinade and stir them until the shrimp are cooked and the sauce slightly reduces, about 3 minutes. Add the butter and toss the shrimp until it melts, then remove it from the heat. Add the reserved juices from the grapefruit segments to the skillet and stir to blend.

For nice presentation, assemble the salad by placing the endive spears in a circle on individual plates. Add a grapefruit section on top of each spear,and pile a mound of greens in the center, topping the dish with two hot shrimp and another grapefruit piece. Drizzle with a little of the sauce; sprinkle with parsley.

Bon Appetit!

My comments – since I made this dish as our dinner, I omitted the presentation arrangement and assembled everthing in a single bowl, with the endive cut up together with mixed greens. Making segments out of citric fruits (orange and grapefruit are the most common) is a skill that is worth developing. You will destroy a few pieces of fruit in the process, but you will ensure that your vitamin C levels are at FDA standards by eating your failures. For a tutorial, click here.

Adding the dressing separately to different ingredients is a small detail that makes a big difference. When you make a salad with many components, give it a try and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. This salad works well not only because of the slightly unusual grapefruit flavor, but also because of the contrast in temperatures: cold greens and fruit versus hot shrimp. Give it a try!

CANTINHO BRASILEIRO

SALADA MISTA COM GRAPEFRUIT E CAMARAO
(para 6 pessoas)

para o camarao
1/4 xicara de azeite
1/4 xicara de suco de grapefruit
2 dentes de alho, picados
sal e pimenta a gosto
18 camaroes medios, limpos e sem casca
1 colher de sopa de manteiga

para o vinagrete
1/4 xicara de azeite
2 colheres de cha de vinagre balsamico
2 colheres de cha de suco de grapefruit
1 dente de alho, picado
sal e pimenta a gosto

para a salada
folhas verdes de sua escolha (alface, escarola)
2 endivias, separadas em folhas
2 grapefruits, descascados e cortados em segmentos (veja como faze-lo aqui)
salsinha picada

Para preparar o camarao, combine o azeite, o suco de grapefruit e o alho em uma tigela. Coloque os camaroes e misture bem. Tempere com sal e pimenta e deixe na geladeira por 6 a 24 horas.

Para fazer o vinagrete, combine todos os ingredientes e misture bem para fazer uma emulsao.

Coloque as verduras, as folhas de endivia e os segmentos de grapefruit em tigelinhas separadas, adicione o vinagrete em cada um dos ingredientes, misturando bem. Quando separar os segmentos de grapefruit, reserve o suco que espirrar da fruta.

Aqueca uma frigideira, adicione os camaroes e o liquido todo em que foram temperados, cozinhe ate’ que o camarao fique cor de rosa e o molho reduza levemente, cerca de 3 minutos. Adicione a manteiga e misture bem ate’ que derreta e cubra os camaroes. Retire do fogo e adicione o suco formado durante o preparo do grapefruit.

Para uma apresentacao bem interessante (nao foi o que eu fiz, servi tudo numa tigela so’), coloque as folhas de endivia em um circulo em 6 pratinhos individuais, colocando um gomo de grapefruit em cada folhinha. Coloque as verduras no centro do prato, adicione camaroes e o restante dos gomos de grapefruit sobre as verduras. Respingue um pouco de vinagrete e coloque a salsinha antes de servir.

Bom apetite!