that’s right!

I always semi-whine that Chris doesn’t like mushrooms or seafood, and I’m always willing to omit ingredients or cook them separately for him because usually he’s a good sport with all my blog testing & recipe nonsense….but oh no, not this dish. The fact that he literally enjoys NONE of these ingredients has turned me into a stone-cold-hearted-bitch. I’m usually more than happy to change around a few things for my beloved husband. BUT TODAY AIN’T IT. I make this curry dish & can literally eat it for lunch and dinner for 3 days straight, because that’s how good it is and that’s how big of a batch it makes. & I care fucking not.

The thing I’m most proud of was my thought to add pineapple. YES. Sweet, canned chunks of pineapple – AND ALL THE JUICE! The sweet acid from the pineapple juices gives this whole dish one hell of a kick in the pants!

doin’ my own thing

I’m sure I can appeal to masses of women who have a couple of recipes up their sleeves that they loooove to cook when their man goes out of town. I don’t feel the slightest bit bad about it either. Come on, it HAS to be a thing! For example, Chris goes on a boys’ golf weekend for 4 glorious days each year & I literally have a spreadsheet of all the damn Disney movies I’m gonna watch & make all the food he hates while he’s gone -- & I enjoy myself every minute, too!

This dish is one of them. & it really takes the cake because it hits all the flavor spots I crave – sweet, spicy, savory. And the fact that it doubles as a soup with a base of Jasmine rice?! Hell yes, sign me up – over & over!

Now that you know this ridiculous backstory as to how I have taken this beautifully simple dish & added about 810375 extra ingredients to it, let’s get this party started!

INGREDIENTS

Chop the onion & bell pepper and set aside before starting to cook your shrimp.

In a large saucepan on medium heat, melt the 1 TBS of butter & cook the shrimp until they are slightly pink & opaque – season the shrimp with S+P, garlic powder, onion powder & cumin. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT overcook your shrimp! They will be rubbery & gross – plus you will return them to the pot for their final “dunk” before serving so they will gently simmer for a moment longer in the goodness you’re about to concoct!

Remove shrimp from the saucepan & place in a bowl, cover with tin foil & set aside.

In the same saucepan, sauté the bell pepper & onion until soft and translucent.

Once you are satisfied with the way your bell pepper & onion have cooked down, sprinkle in the 2 TBS of curry powder & stir gently to release the aroma & to heat up the spice – this is called “blooming” a spice & it is very important for dried spices which are considered “dormant” due to the fact that they have been dried (preserved) and not many people know how to properly get the full effect & flavor from a dried spice!

At this point, I’d also go ahead & season the bell pepper / onion mixture with the same spices you used for the shrimp – S+P, garlic & onion powder and cumin. It is important to season at each level, that’s how you build depth & flavor!

In this case, you are blooming the curry powder with very little liquid, just the residual 1 TBS of butter that you used previously to cook the shrimp & now the bell peppers and onions should have enough moisture to give the curry what it needs to heat thru & create a bit of a “paste” – don’t worry, that’s exactly what you’re going for here!

((you can also “bloom” a spice by rubbing it gently with your fingers before sprinkling it in a dish, you can use a mortar & pestle or you can always gently heat in a dry saucepan to help release more of the flavor!))

Once your curry is fully bloomed, pour in the entire can of coconut milk & stir gently to absorb the curry powder – this should smell AMAZING.

Next, empty the entire can of pineapple tidbits AND juice – hell yes that juice is gonna make everything SO damn good! The pineapple will soften with the heat & the pineapple juice is perfectly paired with the coconut milk.

Bring this mixture to a low, easy boil – you want the pineapple to be softened thoroughly & the liquid needs to be piping hot to poach the scallops!

Now would also be a great time to add in the 4 OZ of Curry Simmer sauce (I use Trader Joe’s brand) to give that extra kick of flavor just to round everything out that much more, drizzle of both honey & sriracha. These next steps will further develop the flavor of the broth & you can taste it after poaching the scallops to see if any more needs to be added!