The Fresh Market and Coconut Shrimp

I have always loved wandering around gourmet grocery stores, similar to window shopping for clothes, except it is for food. Give me some free time at the swanky Harris-Teeter at Morrocroft in Charlotte (where it’s not a “covered pick up area”, it’s a “porte-cochère” as seen in the photo) or at Trader Joe’s, the IKEA food market or The Fresh Market, and it’s like therapy for me.

As a pre-teen back in the 80’s, my parents and I would go to the new Fresh Market in High Point. I remember the grind your own peanut butter, the barrels of snack mixes and candy, the Jelly Bellies, and my dad hanging out beside the coffee barrels, sampling the coffee while mom and I shopped.

Now Tim and the kids and I enjoy shopping at The Fresh Market in Huntersville and deciding what cheeses, meats, and prepared foods to buy. Unfortunately, we never can remember to bring a cooler with us since it is a haul from the store to back home so the foods have to be already cooked. We are anxious to try the Greek Stuffed Chicken but not until we remember to bring our mini-cooler!

One thing we bought and loved was the coconut shrimp. I looked online for a recipe and found this one. It was really easy to make and had an excellent flavor. Plus it was baked and not fried. How ironic, all ingredients came from Aldi’s and not The Fresh Market. I may browse at the fancy pants grocery stores, but I actually buy from the discount stores!


Crispy Coconut Shrimp
Ingredients:
24 medium shrimp
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp garlic and herb seasoning (I used Old Bay)
1 egg, well beaten
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray large baking sheet with non-stick spray. Sprinkle shrimp evenly with seasoning blend and pepper. Place flour, egg, and coconut in three small separate bowls. Dip shrimp first in egg, then flour, then back in egg, then generously in coconut. Arrange shrimp on baking sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden and crisp. Serve with dipping sauce. Makes 4 servings.

So good!
Until next time,
Melissa


the fine print: For more Harris-Teeter photos of the swanky Morrocroft store, check out grocerying.blogspot.com. The Fresh Market photo is from bradleyfarless.com. Shrimp photo was taken by me.