Thursday, September 1, 2011

Be still my heart...Garlic Shrimp!

Shrimp, Prawns...whatever you call them, I love them.

I like to have a big bag of the frozen raw ones in my freezer for a quick, easy, and delicious meal. My kids also love them so I find I have to cook a LOT just for us 4.

Here's how I do it:

First, defrost your shrimp. I usually use half a bag - about 500g. The fastest way is to put them in a bowl and cover with tepid water. They will be ready to peel in about 10 mins or less. Now peel the shells off. Although it does look nicer to leave them on, I take the tails off too, for easy eating. Make sure you don't take any flesh away with the tails though!

Now chop some garlic. A lot. For this amount of shrimp I will use 6-7 large cloves. Chop finely. If you sprinkle some salt on them you will find they don't fly around the kitchen quite so much. I much prefer chopped garlic here instead of crushed or microplaned.

Now heat up a skillet, pretty hot (we don't want to boil them). Put 1/4 - 1/2 a stick of butter in there (30-60g) along with some olive oil. Wait until it's hot and getting frothy and then throw your shrimpies in there. They should begin to colour immediately. Shake and stir them around for a minute or so and them put a good grind of pepper and your garlic in there. Continue to stiry until they are evenly coloured and cooked through. This won't take long - about 4 mins so make sure the rest of your dinner is ready to go. I finished them with a handful of chopped chives just before they came out of the pan. We like to eat them with a nice bread and some salad. Tonight we had them with the grilled local veggies and some rice, because that's what was on hand.

A delicious variation on this (though not so kid friendly) is to add a chopped red chilli (a birds eye with seeds is my preference), a Tbs of paprika, some fresh oregano, and lemon zest along with the garlic. Then finish it off with a good squeeze of lemon juice. This will absolutely knock your socks off. I love them like this. But then, I'll take them any way.

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