It was St. Patrick’s Day on Saturday and we always go over to Andy and Mark’s Irish Pub, The Roy to celebrate. Andy was a production artist who worked where I work. A few years ago, his partner Mark was down-sized and that’s when they started seriously thinking about opening a pub. Mark is of Irish decent and they named The Roy after Mark’s dad who passed away a year or so earlier. The pub is in a cute little up-and-coming area in the east end of Toronto called Leslieville; Andy and Mark have lived there for about 7 years, maybe more. Andy quit working with us shortly after they opened the pub, and it’s been doing very well. They serve house-made, honest pub food. It’s not expensive and it’s good and you can always be sure that you will get a smile and a hug when you visit.
We invited my friend Kim (boss and neighbour) to join us on our patronage to The Roy so she dropped by the house for a cocktail and a bite (I always serve some food with booze) before we headed over. Late last week I was over at Tracey’s Culinary Adventures and noticed a Shrimp Burger she blogged about and I thought it sounded interesting and way, way back, Greg at Rufus’ Food and Spirits Guide told us about his Mom’s Maryland Crab Cakes…I knew I had to combine the two somehow and make a delicious protein packed appi! Isn’t that what inspiration is all about?
I wanted a protein packed appetizer because we were about to indulge in some drinking..maybe even more than one! And no one wants a HO, at our age! One would think we would know better!
I pan fried some and found the frying did not add to the flavour to any degree, so I baked the rest of them. I made the recipe twice and rolled them around in sesame seeds the second time.
Gluten Free Shrimp Balls
Makes about 12 balls about the size of a melon baller (one bite)
Ingredients:
- 65 g raw shrimp, cleaned, de-veined and tails removed, chopped coarsely
- 1 tbsp cilantro, coarsely chopped
- 1/4 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tbsp fat free mayo
- pinch of cayenne
- 1/2 tsp Worcester sauce
- 1 green onion coarsely chopped
- 2 tbsp egg whites (or one whole egg)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp chick pea flour
- 1/4 cup black and white toasted sesame seeds
Directions:
- Pre-heat the oven to 375°F.
- Add all of the ingredients except the chick pea flour and the sesame seeds into a mini food processor and process roughly, you don’t want to make the shrimp into a paste, just smallish pieces.
- Pour contents into a small bowl and stir in the chick pea flour, adding enough to allow the mixture to form into a ball (cookie dough consistency).
- Roll around in the sesame seeds and place on a cookie sheet about 5 cm apart. Bake for 17 minutes or until they are golden.
- Serve hot with traditional shrimp sauce (ketchup and horseradish).
These shrimp appetizers look so tasty and easy to make! B, however, doesn’t like chickpeas (that includes the flour). Can you recommend another gluten-free flour that might work with this recipe?
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Hi, you can try rice flour, or even potato flour instead of the chick pea flour. Not sure how much flour to liquid you may need since they absorb differently; let me know if you try it and if it works out. Thanks for your comment.
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Mmmm… those look addictive! I can eat a big basket of them all by myself 🙂
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Those look terrific and so nice to have a “go to” pub!
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Thanks Ann, it is a place where everyone knows your name!
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The shrimp balls are perfect cocktail nibbles. I like that you tried them three ways…fried, baked and with the sesame seeds.
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Thanks Karen, all three worked out well.
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I’m with you. No HO’s for me. It seems I have about one every year and a half or so and it’s enough to remind me why I can’t party like I’m in my twenties anymore – until a year and a half later that is. LOL. These shrimp balls look fantastic. We ate risotto balls last night and they were out of this world good. I bet I could combine the risotto with the shrimp (wouldn’t be gluten free anymore though). And we thought of you the other day – Mike and I went out for Moroccan food. It was amazing! 🙂
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Thanks Kristy, I am so glad you enjoyed the Moroccan food with Mike, and thank you for thinking of me! It’s strange with HO’s, that it usually doesn’t take much to push you over the edge and sometimes it’s just the type of wine that will do it (red for me, sadly). Risotto balls are amazing, arancini, right?
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Arancini – that’s them. I’m hoping we can recreate them as I’m still craving them. They were just so good. And yes, for me it’s mixing red wines. Tasting parties are what usually get me. Ugh.
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I hear you, Kristy, I can’t even order pairings with a prix fixe!
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I love shrimp balls and these are great in that there is so much actual shrimp in them 🙂 And I also like the fact that they’re baked too!
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I really should have googled a recipe for them, Lorraine, but I usually just get something in my head and there is no stopping me! Now that you mention it, I think I will!
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Good friends and good food, goes hand in hand! Not forgetting that Martini in your hand, of course! The shrimp balls looks wonderful, love party snacking food like this! Yummy!
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Thank you kindly Joyce, it was a very fun evening, and the shrimp balls were a great start!
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I’ll have one of those martinis.. please and thank you.. to go with your cute appetizer! Great idea to combine two fav recipes!
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Thanks Barbara, as Greg put it, it may have been a bit of a stretch, but they did inspire!
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Love the looks with the black and white sesame seeds.
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Thanks Norma, I don’t think there is much of a taste difference between the two, but I do love how they look.
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With sesame seed coating…these must be DELICIOUS!
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Very tasty, Angie, the chick pea flour really brings an earthiness to the flavours.
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Great job on combining two ideas together to make something delicious Eva. I love that you were also “thinking ahead” too. 🙂
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It was quite a fun night but also one that could get out of hand (been there, done that) so it was something I had to make sure we were covered!
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These look awesome – I would love to try these. And the sesame seeds make for a striking presentation!
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Thank you kindly Bill, they were quite tasty indeed.
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I can proudly say I’ve never had a hangover – even in my misguided years of youth 😀
Love the look of the shrimp balls eva – it’s so fun that you have a chance to give all this gluten-free stuff a try. So wonderful to be able to expand your culinary horizons like that!
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Hi Charles, never had a hang over, even in your youth? I am very impressed!
Thank you for your kind words. You have no idea how much restraint it’s taking me not to capitalize my name. 😉
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Oops – can’t believe I didn’t capitalise your name! Apologies 😀
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No worries Charles, I was just teasing you!
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I love baked recipes and I’ve got some chick-pea flour that I never know what to do with.
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Thanks Sharyn, I know how terrified you are deep frying!
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Now that’s a great way to celebrate St. Pat’s, with good food & drink among friends at an Irish pub. I bet your shrimp balls were the perfect way to start things off.
“And a good time was had by all …”
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Thanks John! We all survived with out any pain the following day!
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I inspired you to make a gluten free recipe? Ha, these look fantastic!
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Inspiration comes many different things Greg! And thank you!
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What a great night out you must have had. There is nothing better than heading out to a pub where you know there will be great food for a wonderful price. I love the sound of your gluten free balls. I’m sure they were great with a pre-dinner cocktail. xx
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Thanks so much Charlie. It was a very nice time at the boys’ pub, it was lively and fun. The shrimp balls were a good base to start the evening.
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