The Plaid Pladd

I wanted to start off my New Year’s Resolution to make one recipe out of each of our (completely underused) cookbooks with this one, partially because I considered it a challenge! Also because we’ve had it for like two years (I think it was a Christmas gift to Steven) and have never used it once.

Plus, I spent at least once of those years thinking it was a joke

This book actually has a ton of recipes in it, with chapters on Soups & Starters, Beef & Pork, Poultry & Seafood, Sides, Sauces & Salads, and Desserts. A lot of them don’t really use that much Coke–maybe a little in the sauce where you might normally use sugar–which would explain how they could work in so many different kinds of recipes, from Asian beef to paella. But, let’s be real, you could easily make any of these without Coke. In fact, for most of them I think you could follow the recipe in the Coke cookbook, but omit the Coke, and still be fine. It really didn’t seem like it made too much of a difference in most of these recipes, which is probably for the best tasty-recipe-wise. The one I decided to make was “Sweet and Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa” (recipe after the cut):

Steven and I are both pretty bad at folding tacos so the stuff doesn’t fall out so we usually don’t even try

It turned out delicious! I’m always a little nervous about cooking shrimp, and the process usually involves me yelling “What do you think now?” at Steven multiple times before we both agree that they’re probably beyond done. I really liked the mango salsa, although we started late so it didn’t get to steep the required 1 hour in the fridge before we ate it. This meal was kind of weird, but good, and not really as much work as its length made me think it would be. I guess this book makes the cut, even if it is a little silly. Especially since I still want to try some of the desserts, like Coca-Cola Float Cupcakes.
Recipe:

Sweet and Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa
(serves 6)

Shrimp:
1.5 lbs uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Sauce:
1/2 cup Coke
1/3 cup chili sauce + 1 tsp hot pepper sauce (I didn’t really know what this meant, so I used a mixture of hot sauce, sriracha sauce, chili powder, and sunflower oil)
2 tbl brown sugar
1 tbl lime juice
1 tbl chopped cilantro

Mango Salsa:
2 mangoes, pitted and chopped
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 bell pepper (I used orange), seeded and chopped
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbl chopped cilantro
1 tbl lime juice
1 tble Coke
Salt and Pepper

Combine all salsa ingredients and stir well. Cover and refrigerate for 1-4 hours before serving.
Sprinkle the shrimp with salt and sugar and then cook in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shrimp are pink and opaque, cooked through. Meanwhile, heat all sauce ingredients except cilantro in a small pan over medium heat until sauce begins to simmer and thicken. Remove from heat; stir in cilantro and pour over cooked shrimp. Serve with tortillas and salsa!