Grilled shrimp on saffron rice

Tonight's Menu

Grilled jumbo garlic shrimps

Roasted asparagus

Saffron rice

Wine Pairing: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay

Grilled jumbo shrimp and asparagus on saffron rice

While browsing through for ideas for sides with grilled shrimp, I found an elegant meal served by Ina Garton of Barefoot contessa fame. The combo looked perfect and so here It is. I made several changes in the saffron rice recipe and am sure you all will love this version. It kind of evolves from the pilaf recipes of the Mughlai cuisine, and goes very well with shrimp. This rice can be served with any BBQ meats such as Cedar wrapped salmon , Malai chicken tikka , Tandoori chicken , Grilled red snapper , Stuffed chicken breast and grilled Tilapia. To avoid the flavour competition, I kept the shrimp and asparagus fairly simple.  

Saffron rice

Saffron Rice 
Ingredients: serves 4
1/2 tsp saffron threads plus 1 tbsp milk
2 Tbsp ghee or clarified butter
4 green cardamom pods
1 small (2-inch) cinnamon stick
5 whole cloves
1 1/2 cups basmati rice
3 cups water
Salt to taste (optional)
1 tbsp orange zest
3 Tbsp pistachios
3 Tbsp blanched slivered or sliced almonds
1/3 cup cranberries

• Wash rice and drain the water.
• In a heavy bottomed pan heat ghee and add cardamom, cloves, cinnamon. stir for 10 seconds and add rice along with zest and cranberries. stir to coat the rice with ghee and spices.
• Add water and salt. mix well. Add the saffron threads soaked in milk. Stir well if you want the entire rice to turn yellow OR just give it one random stir to get the effect you see in the picture.
• Bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes till rice is cooked through and all the water is absorbed. Remove from heat and stir in the almonds and pistachios.

Shrimp and asparagus on the grill

Grilled garlic shrimp and Asparagus
Ingredients: (serves 4)
500 gms fresh asparagus, hard ends trimmed off
25-30 jumbo shrimps
4 tbsp olive oil 
2-3 cloves of garlic grated
1 tsp dry parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 450 F.

• Drizzle asparagus and shrimps with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and sprinkle parsley on top. Add grated garlic to the shrimp and mix well. 
• Place asparagus in a single layer on the preheated grill on high. It will take about 15 minutes for them to grill. Turn after 7 minutes. At this point place the marinated shrimps in a single layer. Shrimps will cook way faster than asparagus so time accordingly. 
• Roast shrimps for about 4-5 minutes per side (will need less time if shrimps are smaller in size) till they turn pink.  Roast asparagus till it wrinkles a bit.
• Serve on a bed of saffron rice.