Barbecue Shrimp and Smoked Duck Risotto Shuffle

Thursday 7 January

Our friend Shari was back from a long haul excavating the fabulous warrior grave at Pylos. But archaeological discoveries aren't often coupled with good food, so we invited her over for a hearty and non-Greek dinner. 

Luckily, we'd made plenty of extra smoked duck and mushroom risotto, so we prepared to execute our famous risotto cakes.  Problem was, the chunky mushrooms in the risotto seemed to make the cakes too crumbly to stick together, so as we panko-breaded and fried them, they just fell to pieces and became a sort of hashbrown.  But our motto is, if something doesn't work, rename it, and it will be just as delicious, as in this case. 

Holt had pictured the meal as a glorified version of shrimp and grits, so prepared the shrimp in the classic N'Awlins barbecue version.  It went more or less according to this recipe, but with plenty of fresh ground black pepper to add heat.

We followed it up with a salad of redleaf lettuce, red onion, and artichoke hearts, to tamp everything down, and a dessert of Holt's biscotti. 

A big change from lukewarm winter moussaka made of potatoes, for sure.