Shrimp

Shrimp are the cockroaches of the sea.

Or so I was told my a tour guide at the Texas State Aqaruim. And if you give a shrimp a good looking over in it's natural state, it is not a pretty creature and does in fact make it living rooting about the ocean floor eating whatever crosses it's tiny little path. It is in turn eaten by larger sea creature, such as the also very tasty Red Drum. But really, the way a shrimp makes it's living is not all that important to the way they taste-which is pretty good.

Now I eat in restuarants pretty much all the time, but when I was young-it was another story. Mom would boil beans, fry potatoes, and open cans which contained, by and large, corn and green beans. The rare takeout meal was McDonalds or Jack in the Box and there was Mama's Pizza which we were very fond of. If did have something exotic, it was often Mexican food and did not, as a general rule, contain shrimp.

So as I was watching Hell's Kitchen the other day-the one with the Sweet Sixteen Party-I was not totally shocked when the sixteen year old birthday girl had never eaten a shrimp. Though clearly it was not through lack of finiancial means. Shrimp is good and when well breaded is a little slice of heaven here on earth. But it is also a mainstay of such fine dinning establishiments as Long John Silvers-Voted Best Seafood in Bartlesville, OK by the way. So the shrimp doesn't get as much credit as it derves on the foodie front.

Popcorn Shrimp ingredients list:

1 lb of small shrimp, shelled.2 eggs, beaten.Breadcrumbs.Dash of cayenne pepper.

Instructions for Popcorn Shrimp:

1. Combine the breadcrumbs and the cayenne pepper in a bowl.

2. With a slotted spoon, dip a spoonful of shrimp in the eggs, then drop them into the cayenne/breadcrumb mix.

3. Toss with a fork to coat thoroughly.

4. Deep fry until golden brown.

5. Drain and eat like popcorn.