Featured Chef Catherine Brandel - Culinary Institute of America

Shrimp SaladDuring the past few years, the National Honey Board has intensified its chef education and outreach efforts. To maximize its program capabilities, the Honey Board has partnered with the Culinary Institute of America to create an educational curriculum and manual on the subject of honey.

In the process of developing the curriculum, the Honey Board has had the opportunity to work with several of the CIA’s highly experienced chef-instructors. As cooking with honey comprises a key portion of the program, the CIA developed two recipes to demonstrate honey’s versatility and value-added culinary properties. The recipe development responsibilities fell into the capable hands of Catherine Brandel.

Chef Brandel’s resumé reads like a history of California cuisine. She came to the CIA from the legendary Chez Panisse, where she had served as co-chef, as well as chef of the Café at Chez Panisse. Her profound understanding of the seasonal cycle of ingredients and produce, and therefore a lively interest in honey, resulted from years spent as “forager” (researching specialty growers and purveyors) for both the restaurant and the Great Chefs of France Cooking School at the Robert Mondavi Winery.

Chef Brandel’s Spicy Stir-Fried Shrimp Salad with Asian Slaw and Honey-Ginger Vinaigrette showcases honey’s affinity for Asian flavors, as well as its versatility as an ingredient in marinades and dressings. In addition to lending a subtle sweetness and velvety body to the vinaigrette, honey is used to lightly caramelize the stir-fried shrimp. The resulting combination of tastes and textures is a pleasing balance of the familiar and the exotic, and an ideal selection for a light main course.

The National Honey Board is pleased to announce that its CIA-designed honey education course is now available for distribution to culinary schools and continuing education programs. The module includes an instructor’s guide (with color slides for visual aids), student manuals and a varietal honey sampling kit.

To order the honey education curriculum for your culinary program, contact Jami Yanoski, National Honey Board Marketing Manager, at jami@nhb.org.

Spicy Stir-Fried Shrimp Salad with Asian Slaw
and Honey-Ginger Vinaigrettte

Yield: 4 Portions

Shrimp

1

lb. shrimp, deveined & butterflied

Marinade

1/4

cup canola oil

1/3

cup lime juice

1

Tablespoon garlic, minced

1/4

cup Jalapeño pepper, minced

2

Tablespoons cumin seeds, toasted & ground

 

Salt and black pepper, to taste

Vinaigrette

2

Tablespoons ginger juice

4

Tablespoons lime juice

1

teaspoon garlic, mashed

4

Tablespoons honey

2

Tablespoons peanut or canola oil

 

Salt or fish sauce, to taste

Stir Fry

 

Vegetable oil, as needed

 

Marinated shrimp, salted (from above)

2

Tablespoons honey

2

Tablespoons vinaigrette

Slaw

1

ea. green papaya, peeled, seeded, julienned

1/2

small green cabbage, chiffonaded, soaked in ice water for 10 minutes

1

cup bean sprouts (optional)

1

medium carrot, peeled and julienned

1

pkg. radish sprouts

8

ea. mint sprigs

12

sprigs cilantro

8

sprigs Thai basil

Garnish

1/2

cup peanuts, roasted, chopped

8

ea. lime wedges

10

oz. rice noodles (optional)
  1. Assemble the marinade in a food processor.
  2. Peel, devein and butterfly the shrimp. Rub with the marinade. Set aside on ice or in the refrigerator.
  3. Assemble the vinaigrette
  4. Prepare all the vegetables for the slaw. Dry the soaked cabbage. Wash and dry the herbs and chop all but a few sprigs of each herb for garnish
  5. Assemble the ingredients for the stir fry. Season the marinated shrimp with a little salt. Using a 12 inch non stick sauté pan heat a small amount of oil and sauté half the shrimp until just opaque, at the end of the sauté add 1 Tbsp. honey to the pan and let it caramelize, tossing the shrimp vigorously. Add the Tablespoon of vinaigrette just as you are ready to remove the shrimp from the pan. Set the shrimp aside on a plate and repeat the procedure. Do NOT crowd the pan. It’s better to do more batches.
  6. Except for the radish sprouts and herb sprigs, toss the ingredients for the slaw in about three quarters of the dressing and any drippings you might have collected on the plate holding the shrimp. Check the seasoning and adjust.
  7. Arrange the salad on four serving plates with the shrimp (and optional noodles). Drizzle on a little more dressing. Garnish the plates with the radish sprouts, herbs, chopped peanuts and a lime wedge. Note: If serving with the rice noodles you might prefer to use a shallow bowl for presentation.
  8. This is a dish that could easily become a light main course with the addition of some room temperature rice noodles.

The honey in this stir fry gives a particularly nice soft flavor to the shrimp in the last minute caramelization and helps to balance the spice.