Brined Shrimp with Mango Salsa

When I first made this recipe I thought it was a Martha Stewart recipe.  Which kind of made sense since it was overly complicated and needlessly fussy.  But I'm ok with Martha being complicated and fussy because most of her stuff is good.

In my junior year in college I lived in a house with seven women.  One had a boyfriend that was slightly older and already had a job.  A real one.  He came to visit one week night and made a Martha Stewart recipe for jungle juice.  I don't remember exactly what it had in it, but the $70 of high-end alcohol was clearly more sophisticated than our amateur recipes.  And it was good.  Ridiculously good.  We got drunk on a Tuesday night.

Ever since then I've been looking for that recipe.  And I've given Martha a wide berth when it comes to her recipes because although they're fussy, they're worth it.

Which led to this recipe:

INGREDIENTS

1 medium mango, diced
2 TBS finely chopped red onion
1 tsp finely chopped jalapeno pepper
2 tsp finely chopped and peeled ginger
juice of 2 limes
2 tsp plus 1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup kosher salt 
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 lbs. raw shrimp, peeled
2 TBS cilantro
1 tsp honey
2 tsp garlic, chopped
1 tsp chopped parsley
1/4 crushed red pepper flakes
2 TBS dry white wine

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the mango, red onion, jalapeño, ginger, lime juice and 2 teaspoons of the olive oil in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days. Season to taste with salt.
2. Stir the salt and brown sugar into 1 quart of cold water until dissolved. Add the shrimp and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil with the chopped cilantro, honey, garlic, parsley, red pepper flakes and wine and set aside.
4. Remove the shrimp from the brine and rinse thoroughly, then pat dry. Toss the shrimp with the marinade. Transfer the shrimp and marinade to a resealable plastic bag and marinate for at least 20 minutes or up to 45 minutes in the refrigerator.
5. Preheat the broiler or a grill. Cook the shrimp until just cooked through, about 1½ minutes per side. Arrange the shrimp on plates and top with the mango salsa and cilantro sprigs. Serve warm or at room temperature.

VERDICT

So now that you've read the directions, you have to agree that it's overly fussy.  The brineing, the marinating, all of the ingredients... it's fussy.  It's also not really worth it.  The shrimp are surprisingly bland. 

And it turns out this wasn't a Martha Stewart recipe after all.  It was Rachel Ray.

You can be fussy and complicated if the taste in the end is worth it.  This wasn't.  And I'm STILL not a fan of Rachel Ray.