Fresh Family (Texas) Recipes

Since its inception, Fresh Family Recipes have featured the best recipes from Fort Worth’s star chefs. For our Discover Texas issue, we wanted to something a little different. We’re featuring two recipes from the Stillwater Inn, a beautiful restaurant and bed and breakfast in Jefferson run by Chef Bill Stewart and his wife Sharon. Since 1984, Bill and Sharon have provided East Texas with incredible meals in a historic house in this beautiful little town on Big Cypress Bayou.  

Spicy Thai Shrimp with Mango Chutney 

This luxuriously spicy dish marries gorgeously with the homemade chutney and is perfect for a dinner party or a Tuesday night with the family!

Ingredients 

For the chutney:

3 ripe but firm mangoes, preferably Altaufo mangoes, peeled and diced
¼ cup red bell pepper, diced
1 tablespoon jalepeño or serrano chili, diced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and either finely diced or grated
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 to 2 tablespoons brown sugar
¼ cup orange juice
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste

For the sauce:

2 tablespoons shallots, finely diced
¼ cup red bell pepper, finely diced
¼ cup dry white wine
¼ cup chicken stock
6 ounces coconut milk
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste
1 to 2 teaspoons corn starch
¼ cup cold water

For the shrimp:

4 jumbo shrimp per person (10-15 count), peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Directions 

For the chutney:

Mix all the ingredients together in a nonreactive bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. Before serving, taste for seasoning and correct if necessary. This can be made the day before. [Editor’s Note: this fresh chutney is also great on grilled pork, chicken, or fish.]

For the sauce:

Combine the shallots, red bell pepper, and white wine in a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. Reduce until the wine is almost completely evaporated. Add in the chicken stock, coconut milk, honey, ginger, and Thai curry paste and simmer for about 10 minutes. Dissolve the cornstarch into the cold water and stir into the simmering sauce. Allow the sauce to come back to a simmer to thicken, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat and pour into a blender. Cover the blender with a clean towel and blend. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve and keep warm while you cook the shrimp.

For the shrimp:

Heat one very large or two large, heavy-bottom sauté pans or skillets over medium-high heat. (You need the rooms because you don’t want to crowd the shrimp.) Add the olive oil and the unsalted butter. When the butter begins to brown and smell nutty, add the shrimp. Cook on one side just until the shrimp turns opaque, flip, and cook for about another 30 seconds. Transfer the shrimp to a strainer set atop a bowl. Add any dripping to the sauce and stir.

To plate, spoon some of the mango chutney onto the plate. Top with four shrimp per person, and then drape the sauce over the shrimp. Serves 4.

Carrot Terrine 

This is an elegant-yet-simple side served warm or cold. It’s much easier than it looks!

Ingredients 

2 ½ pounds carrots, peeled and thinly sliced (use a mandolin or the rotary slicer on a food processor or Kitchen Aid)
5 eggs
salt and freshly pepper to taste

Directions 

Bring a heavy saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the carrots and cook until they are soft yet still pliable, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Strain the carrots but reserve the liquid. Set the carrots aside in a large bowl and returned the reserved liquid to the stove. Bring to a boil and reduce by approximately 90%, until the sugars left in the water begin to caramelize, and the liquid begins to thicken. Be careful! Once the sugars start to caramelize, it can burn very quickly!

While the liquid is reducing, beat the eggs until they are fluffy and light. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Prepare a loaf pan: spray with nonstick cooking spray, line with plastic wrap (leaving a few inches overlapping the edges) and spray the wrap. Preheat the oven to 325°.

Remove the reduced liquid from the heat and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Combine the eggs with the cooked carrots and stir in the reduction. Fill the prepared loaf pan with the carrot mixture, pressing down so that the ingredients are distributed evenly. Drape the plastic over the top of the mixture, cover the pan loosely with foil, and place in a water bath (a roasting pan with about 2 inches of hot water in the bottom. Cook for about 2 hours, or until a thermometer inserted into the middle reads 185°. (Check after 1 ½ hours. And don’t be alarmed if the top starts to poof up!) Allow the terrine to cool in the pan for at least 2 hours or overnight. To serve, unmold the terrine and slice. You can reheat it in the microwave or arrange slices on a baking sheet and heat in a warm oven. [Editor’s Note: This is delicious cold with a crab salad or a simply poached fish!]