Salmon with Shrimp in a sweet spicy pecan sauce - naturally gluten free.
One of my August 2012 recipes for National Foundation for Celiac Awareness - now Beyond Celiac.
I was introduced to Southern Living magazine years ago by a friend. Many of the recipes are very different to the recipes we are used to in New England. But as a chef I always like discovering new ideas. This recipe was for a sweet spicy pecan sauce served as a dipping sauce with fried fish. I tried the recipe and just cut back on the hot sauce used. We are not so used to 10 or even 5-alarm heat in New England. Plus it is easier to add more heat than to take it away.
Made with butter it is wonderful but I am always conscious of the cholesterol in butter, plus it’s not fair on people who are lactose or dairy intolerant. So I have also made it with olive oil. Coconut oil, peanut oil or almond oil might also be good substitutions if you can tolerate them. I had run out of pecans one time and tried it with regular salted cashews, surprisingly cashews are not as good a marriage as pecans. Macadamia nuts might be phenomenal. I’ve served this sauce with various grilled meats as well as with corn chex crusted tilapia fillets served in soft gf corn tortillas with lettuce, tomato and avocado. You can grill the salmon. All say yum with me.
Sweet Spicy Pecan Sauce, makes about one cup, 8 fl oz, 240 ml :
¼ c (2oz, 50g) butter or oil
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
½ c (2oz, 50g) chopped pecans
½ c (3oz, 75g) firmly packed light (soft) brown sugar
2 Tbsp (30ml) fresh lemon juice (lime might be great or even orange)
2 tbsp (30ml) gf Worcestershire sauce (check labels) - Note I do not find this amount to be too salty and I am naturally a low salt user.
1+1/2 tsps (8ml) chili sauce - I tested this with Trader Joe’s Chili pepper sauce, listed as gf on their web site but states made on shared equipment with wheat, eggs, soy and fish. Choose whichever hot sauce you safely use and like. Original recipe quoted one tablespoon hot sauce.
Think about adding zest of any citrus to match with different juice
I didn’t add salt or pepper to sauce.
Think about adding different fresh herbs, parsley, cilantro, basil, lemon thyme, even lavender at the end for a very sophisticated taste sensation.
1. Melt butter/oil in 1 quart (1 litre) saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add onion and cook gently for 3-5 minutes or until totally cooked and tender. You could also use white parts of green onion (scallion, spring onion).
3. Add garlic and cook for one minute over gentle heat.
4. Stir in rest of ingredients and cook, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved.
5. Store in airtight container in fridge until required.
Shrimp with sweet spicy pecan sauce
I had some sauce left in the fridge, raw shrimp were on sale and I fancied salmon for dinner. I cooked one 7 oz salmon fillet between two of us, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. I bought a little over half a pound (250 g) of raw, butterflied, tail on, medium shrimp. I put the shrimp into pan in single layer in the same skillet as the salmon when the salmon was nearly cooked. When first side of shrimp was pink I flipped the shrimp and then added the pecan sauce to pan and left the shrimp to cook in the sauce. The photo shows the salmon topped with shrimp in sauce and more shrimp beside the salmon. Plus my home grown tiny Yukon gold potatoes.
As an appetizer. Depending on your pocket, size of raw shrimp available and how much you love your guests. For smaller, medium shrimp, I would cook shrimp in sauce as I said above. Then put shrimp and sauce in a shallow bowl and serve with tooth picks.
The large shrimp I would grill either on skewer or individually and serve with pecan sauce as dipping sauce. I also like dusting shrimp with a slightly spicy rub to add to flavors. I like to leave tails on large shrimp as a handle, but virtually always pull tails off shrimp for most other recipes. Who wants to stop eating this salmon dish, to pull a tail off shrimp and get messy fingers, even if those fingers taste good. I would love this sauce with lobster tail or even monkfish. How about scallops as well?
