Home Again and Craving Shrimp Cakes

Long time no posting and since I have gotten out of the rhythm of doing it regularly, I am now overwhelmed at how confusing the whole process can be.  This is not good.  I also think the relationship between the camera and the computer might not be going as smoothly as it should.   I will go on and keep cool about it all.

We are back home in Florida after a good summer out West and visiting with our children.  In three months, we drove 12,000 miles.  Yes, that number is right.  It turns out to be 3000 miles each way and 6000 miles while we were in Montana.  Nothing out there is "nearby".

We spent most of 3 months in our travel trailer parked in the prettiest place in Montana, with the greatest of friends right next door.  It was a test--if we could do it and if we would like it.  With the good help of another Montana friend, we had a new mattress made for the bed in the trailer and that solved a lot of problems.

We made it through a small hail storm, (think tin can), through a lot of heat, (think A/C), and toward the end if was getting a little cold at night, (think space heater and trailer furnace).  And, we are still talking to each other because with the slide-out, we really did have quite a bit of room.  I do enjoy a shower without hitting my elbows though.  The trailer is now being stored in Montana for our return.  We will be back.

So, after getting home  and restocking the refrigerator, one of the first places we went was to our local fish store.  We like to get the shrimp fresh (I know, they probably were frozen at some point) and enjoyed eating these shrimp cakes.

In Montana we had dinner with friends at a great restaurant in Twin Bridges.  The Trout had shrimp cakes and I started thinking about how we could fix this at home.  Then, within a week, Framed Cooks posted her recipe for shrimp cakes.  She used raw shrimp and another recipe I found used cooked shrimp.  Hmmm..which to choose.  We both voiced our opinions and decided that the cooked shrimp recipe might be too "tough" whereas the raw shrimp might be just right.  I think we chose the right recipe, because they were excellent.  Very easy also.  We will make this recipe again and will substitute crab meat for the shrimp someday.

Along side we had just a few scallops sauteed in butter and garlic and our favorite salad dressing, Pacific Rim, on Romaine lettuce.  We kept some of the dressing aside to drizzle on the shrimp cakes and it was perfect.

Crispy Shrimp Cakes
  from Framed Cooks

1 pound finely chopped peeled and deveined shrimp
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg
1 tablespoon chives (we also added some tarragon since it was growing out of control when we got back)
1 tablespoon horseradish
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

Combine all ingredients except the oil and form into patties.  Will makes 6-8 patties.  They will be soft and loose, but chill for 30 minutes on a plate in the refrigerator and they will be just fine.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add patties to skillet (transfer from plate to skillet with a spatula)  Easy.

Fry each side until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes per side.

I forgot to add that we simply put the raw shrimp into the small 3 cup food processor we have and it only took about 8 or 9 pulses and the consistency was perfect.