Asian Thursday Night Dinner

I had a wonderful opportunity to not only revisit a San Francisco Thursday Night Dinner, but also to celebrate a good friends birthday.  Teaming up with Keith, we knocked out an incredible meal for Cara's birthday.  Her request was "Asian seafood" and we ran with it.  There was a few dishes I had been wanting to try for a while, one of which was Shrimp-Jalepeno Spring rolls.  
Taking spring roll wrappers, I placed 2 shrimp (21-25, cleaned & peeled), some sliced jalepenos, cilantro, and diced scallions.  Wrapped, sealed and then repeated until I had a pretty large tray of rolls. For a dressing/dipping sauce, I decided to go with mango.  I sliced up a beautifully sweet mango, added a handful of cilantro, the juice of a few limes and a touch of Ponzu sauce.
These were then deep fried. They turned out spectacular and were easily the dish of the night.
(Note: For some reason, the picture wont upload... I guess Ill have to make these again soon.)

Also on the large menu:

Cucumber & Watermelon radish salad
Keith's Chicken Salad
Wasabi Mashed Potato Spring Rolls
Miso Marinated New York Steak (Brown miso paste, sirracha, mirin, brown sugar)
Tequila Lime Shrimp Skewers
Lots of wine

Shrimp Caprese Bruschetta

So, the family was in town this past weekend, and naturally we all gathered around the table for a nice family meal with wine and lots of trash talking.  I was given the assignment of appetizers.  I love trying new apps, and this one was no exception.  With not a whole lot of time to prepare and shop, this one definitely came together in the kitchen.  My idea was to use shrimp, and fresh basil. Building on that, I added some cherry tomatoes, smoked mozzarella, and pizza dough.  Without calling it a pizza, i tried to make a sort of bruschetta to top for the dough; pre-baking the dough with olive oil and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. I lightly sauteed the shrimp in olive oil, butter and a bit of basil.  Once cooked, I put the shrimp in a mixing bowl with diced cherry tomatoes, more fresh basil, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.  

I then added a layer of the smoked mozzarella to the pizza dough and put it back into the oven until the cheese melted.  Once finished, I added the shrimp mixture and topped with a bit of Parmesan cheese.  Sliced and served.  The app was pretty much gone before it made it to the living room.  My mom added a great suggestion of next time adding some arugula for a bit of bitterness & texture.  Great suggestion. This one is a new keeper.