Fear and Loathing with Kataifi

Kataifi? What's that? We didn't know either. Kataifi (pron: ka-tye'-if-ee) is Greek shredded phyllo dough. It looks like shredded wheat. By accident I found this video on Greek Recipes.TV  (http://www.greekrecipes.tv/304/shrimp-wrapped-in-kataifi-phyllo)  showing how to make kataifi wrapped shrimp. After watching the video, we immediately knew we had to try to make them. The cook, Patricia Vasos, made it look interesting AND easy. Simply open up the kataifi. pull off some shreds, wrap it around a few shrimp poke in a wooden skewer and fry. You've got yourself some really cool looking wiry crunchy shrimp. Plus the ingredients in the dipping sauce sounded perfect. What could be simpler, right?

The first challenge was finding the kataifi. But with the help of a Greek friend, we located some here in Atlanta at the International Bakery on Cheshire Bridge Road. We will be regular customers of this market. Loaded with all kinds of imported Mediterranean food plus fresh made Greek cakes, pastries and sweets.

We made the shrimp and the killer dipping sauce for dinner along with fava beans & artichoke hearts and basmati rice with almonds and apricot preserves as sides. This is how it all looked on the plate, but between opening the package of phyllo and getting all this on the table, the journey was a Greek Odyssey of it's own - a little more complicated than we anticipated but we had fun. Lisa handled the kataifi  wrapping process while I made the dipping sauce and marinated the shrimp. We divided up making the rest of the meal.

On the plate - the kataifi wrapped shrimp, sautéed fava beans & artichoke hearts and basmati rice with toasted almonds and apricot preserves.

This is what kataifi looks like right out of the package. Recipe below.

Marinate the shrimp in olive oil, butter, garlic, oregano and salt & pepper. Mix together with your hands, it's OK. Then put in refrigerator for an hour.

 Meanwhile make the dipping sauce - Into the food processor - Greek yogurt, olive oil, mustard, parsley, green onion, garlic, lemon juice, capers, salt & pepper.

Put in the fridge for an hour

Sautee the shrimp with the marinade

It will look like this. Let cool.

Lisa working the kataifi

Pull shreds of phyllo and brush with butter. Work on wax paper.

Wrap the shrimp with the kataifi. It had a tendency to break though.

Brush the wrapped shrimp with melted butter

Line the wrapped shrimp up on a baking sheet

Push skewers into the shrimp

Quick fry just to get the kadtifi brown and crunchy, maybe 10 seconds or less. Greek Recipes called for frying in extra virgin olive oil but we used olive oil/canola oil blend.

Well... this is what happened. At first most of the kataifi fell off the shrimp in the oil... But we developed a technique - twisting the shrimp as it fried, like twirling spaghetti.

We got better at it eventually.



Lisa's kataifi wrapped angelfish from our aquarium...

Sautéed fava beans and artichoke hearts. 

Here are the ingredient amounts

Shrimp & Marinade:

1 lb medium/large shrimp

1/4 cup melted unsalted butter

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Salt & Pepper

- Put marinade ingredients in a bowl and add the shrimp
- mix together
- chill in refrigerator about an hour

Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons brown grainy mustard

2 cups plain Greek yogurt

3 cloves garlic chopped

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1/4 cup capers rinsed

1 green onion sliced

1/4 cup lemon juice

 

- Blend in a food processor
- Chill in refrigerator

Favas & Artichoke Hearts

1 lb fava beans in pods - need to be shelled and prepped

1 package frozen artichoke hearts

3 cloves garlic sliced thin

1 teaspoon dried thyme or 2 teaspoons fresh

Olive oil

Salt & Pepper

 

- Sautee the artichoke hearts in olive oil with thyme, til browned.

- Add the fava beans and garlic. Sautee on med heat for about 10 min.

Rice

1 cup basmati rice

1/2 medium onion chopped

1/4 cup almonds roughly chopped, toasted
Zest of one lemon

1 tablespoon apricot preserves

Salt & Pepper

- Toast the almonds, set aside

- Sautee the onion, set aside

- Cook the rice as recommended on package

- When rice is done, stir in the almonds, onion, lemon zest and apricot preserves