Creole Caesar Shrimp Salad

By corlear

Chef’s Note: This salad earned “Most Creative” at Houston’s annual Caesar Salad competition in 1998. We served it with a mini Hurricane Carl drink (see recipe) to capture the Creole spirit.

Chef’s Tips:Tasso is a highly seasoned cured pork that is smoked and fully cooked.

To save time, use store-bought sweet potato chips.

Make this salad even better by using Jose’s Shrimp & Tasso En Brochette (see recipe) in this recipe. Dip the shrimp in Hot Sauce Beurre Blanc (see recipe). It’s like having “hot wing shrimp.”

Ingredients

• 1 cup Spicy Caesar Dressing (see recipe)
• Oil for deep frying
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled
• 1 pound (16/20 count) shrimp, peeled and cleaned
• 1 tablespoon Creole Seafood Seasoning (see recipe)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons Creole Seafood Seasoning
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 6 cups torn romaine hearts
• 1 cup torn radicchio
• 1/2 cup shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced tasso ham or Cajun-spiced deli ham

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

Prepare Spicy Caesar Dressing; reserve until needed.

Heat oil in deep fryer to 325 degrees.

Slice potato as thinly as possible, preferably less than 1/8 inch. Fry slices in hot oil until potato chips are crisp. Place slices on a paper towel to drain; reserve.

Season shrimp with 1 tablespoon Creole Seafood Seasoning. Combine flour, cornmeal and 2 teaspoons Creole Seafood Seasoning in small bowl. Lightly dust shrimp with flour mixture.

Combine egg and milk in a small bowl and dip shrimp into egg wash. Dip shrimp back into flour mixture. Pry shrimp in hot oil about 2 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towel.

Toss romaine, radicchio, Parmigiano and tasso in a large bowl with reserved Spicy Caesar Dressing. Divide salad evenly among four plates and garnish with fried shrimp and sweet potato chips.