Chanterelle Restaurant Puerto Rican Shrimp with Crispy Onions and Avocado Salad

Source: Chef Jim Turknett, Chanterelle Restaurant, Sacramento, California

Puerto Rican Shrimp:
6 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup dark rum
1 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
6 juniper berries
1/2 lemon, zested
1 clove
1/2 bay leaf
1/2 cup dark molasses
1 cup orange juice

Crispy Onions:
2 cups canola oil for frying
1 red onion, julienned
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour

Avocado Salad:
1 avocado, sliced
1/2 lemon, sliced
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro

To prepare shrimp, add all ingredients except shrimp to a small saucepan. Heat to a boil and reduce by one-half. Let cool, add shrimp, and marinate for two hours.

Cook the shrimp on a grill on in a grill pan for about a minute on each side (shrimp should just lose their translucency). Keep shrimp warm.

Next prepare crispy onions. Heat oil in a deep fat fryer. Soak onions in buttermilk. Dredge in flour, then fry in hot oil. Drain well and keep warm.

To assemble dish, place fried onions in center of plate. Add three avocado slices to corners of plate. Place shrimp on avocado slices.

Serve while warm, garnished with lemon and cilantro leaves.