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Video: Dinner tonight: Shrimp Bruno and creamed spinach

  1. Closed captioning of: Dinner tonight: Shrimp Bruno and creamed spinach

    >>> this morning in "today's kitchen," what's on the menu? the perfect spring shrimp dinner. since 1926 the palm restaurant has been serving up legendary food to its customers. bruce is the fourth generation of the palm family . bruce, good to see you.

    >> good to see you, too.

    >> just ate at the restaurant in washington on sunday night.

    >> you did? thank you very much.

    >> this is one of the signature dishes. always like such an oxymoron. jumbo shrimp .

    >> jumbo shrimp bruno. so basically you want to start with a jumbo shrimp and really have your fishmonger devein it and cut it. because that can get kind of messy. and then you're basically going to put it in flour, put it in the egg wash.

    >> right.

    >> and then we're going to put it in our --

    >> and i notice you've got a little garlic there going.

    >> we have some garlic, just golden brown . we're going to put our shrimp in, and cook them until they're just a pale golden brown , too.

    >> they cook pretty quickly?

    >> they took pretty quickly. this dish was originated in 1978 in los angeles . so it's a great dish.

    >> so once you're done?

    >> once that's done you're going to kind of drain the pan of the oil and then you're going to put the white wine in the pan and that's deglazing the pan. that's going to get all the flavor of the shrimp and the garlic back in to the pan. you're going to put the dijon mustard in.

    >> okay.

    >> all right. there you go.

    >> spatula.

    >> kind of twirl that around. yeah, really get it in. and then depending on the thickness, you'll put a little chicken stock here.

    >> okay.

    >> salt is one of those key ingredients you just want to use sparingly because you can always put it in but you can't take it out. and there's the golden shrimp so that's done. once this is all sort of complete you have this beautiful bruno sauce.

    >> thickened sauce.

    >> we're going to put a little butter in there.

    >> of course. just a little.

    >> one of our key ingredients at the palm. thank you, sir. and we're going to serve this on top of quinoa which is a great grain. got the essential amino acids, a lot of iron. and then if you could just gently pour the sauce from the front to the back. right. great. that's great. beautiful.

    >> thank you.

    >> now, one of your classic side dishes .

    >> yeah.

    >> creamed spinach.

    >> over here i'm following you.

    >> we're just going to keep walking around.

    >> i go wherever you go. so we have creamed spinach. we already have our heavy whipping cream, our butter, our salt and pepper .

    >> come over this way.

    >> we're going to do a little nutmeg. we're going to do the flavor, which is --

    >> reggiano parmesan cheese .

    >> very nice.

    >> and we're going to do a slurry. a slurry is you want to whisk that a little.

    >> what goes into this?

    >> cold water and cornstarch. it will really thicken this up. and that step you really do 25 minutes into the cooking process.

    >> okay. just spirit in?

    >> pour it in. you have beautiful palm creamed spinach. which of course, we have a couple --

    >> oh.

    >> now when it comes to this --

    >> we nice aside. you believe in go big or go home.

    >> go big or go home. we have our new wedge salad which is vina great, bleu cheese , waken. this is a sirloin.

    >> wow. more importantly look at this.

    >> that's not one serving.

    >> that is a slice of the tom.

    >> that is --

    >> -- at the table.

    >> my gosh.

    >> get it for the table. you just hollow that out and people can live in there.

    >> hoda and kathie lee have been known to drown in this cake.

    >> this is a bourbon cake.

    >> there might be some in there.

    >> all right. thank you so much. all the great recipes are on our website today.com.

    >> and coming up, kathie lee and hoda will be in the judge's seat.

    >> as the competition begins to find today's voice the kid's

TODAY recipes
updated 4/9/2012 2:12:08 PM ET 2012-04-09T18:12:08

Recipe: Jumbo shrimp bruno

Ingredients
  • 3 each - U-8/10 count shrimp (raw, peeled & deveined)
  • Flour (to dust)
  • Egg wash (to coat)
  • 2 ounces blended oil
  • 2 each cloves crushed garlic
  • 1/2 lemon
  • 2 ounces white wine
  • 1 teaspoon grey poupon mustard
  • 3 ounces chicken stock
  • To taste, season with a pinch of kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon whole butter
  • 1 each speared lemon wedge on the side
Preparation

Flour shrimp, shaking off excess and dip in egg wash. Heat the blended oil in pan. Place the shrimp in the hot oil (oil must be hot). Sauté until golden brown, add crushed garlic continue to sauté. Drain excess oil and garlic, remove shrimp and finish cooking in the oven if necessary. Add lemon, white wine, let reduce. Add mustard and chicken stock and heat. Season with kosher salt. Add whole butter to create sauce. Place shrimp in a heated 8 ½ Sole dish. Strain sauce around of shrimp in the dish.

Recipe: Quinoa pilaf

Ingredients
  • 1 cup almonds, sliced & toasted
  • 1 ounce olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
  • 1/2 cup carrot, small diced
  • 1/4 cup green pepper, small diced
  • 1/4 cup celery, small diced
  • 1/4 cup sweet red pepper, small diced
  • 1/2 cup green onion, small diced
  • 6 cups quinoa, cooked
  • Kosher salt and black pepper (mill) to taste
  • 1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley (rough chopped)
Preparation

Toast almonds until lightly golden. Hold. Heat the oil over medium heat. Add garlic and the vegetables. Sauté vegetables until translucent (do not burn). Once translucent, add sautéed vegetables to cooked, hot quinoa, mixing well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add almonds and mix. Add the parsley.

Serving Size

Serves 6 to 8

Recipe: Creamed spinach

Ingredients
  • 1 box frozen chopped spinach (28-30 oz squeezed spinach)
  • 2 ounces whole butter
  • 1 1/4 quarts heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon white pepper
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons cold water
  • 2 cups grated Reggiano Parmigiano cheese
Preparation

Thaw and squeeze the spinach until all the water is removed. Heat heavy cream and butter in a pot until butter melts. Add the spinach. Add the seasoning. Heat until mixture comes to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook for at 10 to 12 minutes until the spinach is cooked/tender. Stir constantly so the spinach does not burn. In a bowl mix the cold water and cornstarch together. (Once spinach is cooked, add the cornstarch mixture to the spinach mixture, stirring constantly until mixture begins to thicken.) Add the parmesan cheese and mix well. Adjust  the seasoning if necessary. Serve hot.

Recipe: Iceberg lettuce wedge

Ingredients
  • Danish blue cheese, toasted walnuts, bacon, cherry tomatoes, chives and fried onions
  • 1/2 each head of Iceberg Lettuce (11-12 ounce)
  • 2 ounces garlic vinaigrette
  • 3 ounces Danish blue cheese dressing
  • 1/4 cup sliced cherry tomatoes (cherry tomatoes: ea tomato sliced into 4 slices)
  • 2 tablespoons cooked bacon (med diced)
  • 1 tablespoon toasted walnuts (rough chopped - toasted ahead of time)
  • 1 tablespoon chives - cut in 1/2 inch batons
  • 2 tablespoons Danish blue cheese - crumbled
  • 2 tablespoons Garlic Vinaigrette
  • 1 ounce Fried Onions
Preparation

Peel outer leaves of a head of iceberg lettuce. Remove stem. Cut in half horizontally and place on a dinner plate. Top with garlic vinaigrette. Top with blue cheese dressing, covering most of the entire interior of the lettuce. In a bowl, lightly toss the cherry tomatoes, cooked bacon, toasted walnuts, chives and dry blue cheese with 2 tablespoons of garlic vinaigrette. Toss well and place on top of the head of iceberg . Top with fried onions. Serve.

Recipe: Carrot cake

Ingredients
  • Cake
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tablespoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 1/2 cups canola or other vegetable oil
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons best-quality vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 pounds carrots, grated (4 1/2 cups)
  • 3/4 cups raisins
  • 3/4 cup pecan pieces
  • Butter and all-purpose flour, for preparing the pan
  • Frosting
  • 1 1/2 pound cream cheese, softened
  • 4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup superfine sugar
  • Zest of the orange, finely grated
  • Confectioners sugar, for dusting
Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In the bowl of an electric standing mixer, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Mix on the slow speed to combine. In a large measuring cup, whisk together the oil, eggs, and vanilla. Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients, and add the carrots. Mix on the slowest speed until evenly blended. The batter will be very thick. Fold in the raisin and pecans.

Butter and flour a 10-inch round cake pan with 3-inch sides. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top. Bake for 65 to 70 minutes, or until the sides begin to shrink away from the pan and a tooth pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a rack to room temperature.

While the cake is baking, make the frosting. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and super fine sugar vigorously with a wooden spoon until fluffy. Stir in the orange zest.

Run a small knife around the edge of the cake pan to release the sides, and turn out onto a work surface. Slice the cake horizontally into three 1-inch layers, using a long, serrated bread knife and placing your hand atop the cake to help guide the knife evenly. Turn the cake several times to be sure you are cutting even layers. (Take care that the cake is completely cool before you frost it, or the warmth of the cake will melt the frosting on contact.) Spread one cake layer with about a quarter of the frosting; then top it with the second cake layer, matching up the edges. Spread with another quarter of the frosting. Cover with the third cake round, and frost the top and sides of the cake evenly with the remaining frosting. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and up to 24 hours, to firm the frosting. For the best flavor, allow to return to room temperature before serving. Dust generously with confectioners sugar, and cut into wedges.

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