As in, I sauteed some salt & pepper dusted shrimp with butter, garlic, white wine and lemon juice earlier this evening. I totally pwned them. (http://omnom.foobeh.com/?p=132) I’m always amazed how simple ingredients combine to produce a great dish. It’s improving, not perfect, and I learned a few lessons in the process.

1. Shrimp(s) Need Space! I like the texture and flavor when the shrimp are slightly seared along the edge and this is impossible if you’re stir-frying the shrimp.  Rather, let them simply sit flat for 2-3 minutes in a pan of browning, melted butter & garlic. You’ll have to cook a few sets, setting each aside in a large bowl, but we need to remove the shrimp anyway in order to reduce the white wine & lemon juice! Take a few more moments and do it right. Done correctly, turn the shrimp only once after a few minutes. The shrimp should change from the dark blue-grey raw color to a light red/white with slight searing. If you have done this, then you are the best.

2. White Wine is Amazing. I’ve been increasing the intensity of the sauce and haven’t been disappointed yet. I’ve seen restaurants bolster the richness with butter, but I prefer the tang of white wine with lemon & pepper. Butter is great, but I want complexity. The more wine & lemon juice you reduce, the stronger the flavor will be. Add just a little bit more; it’ll be awesome, I promise.

4. There Is Never Enough Sauce. I served the Pwned Shrimp over white rice, which felt almost bland. Alas, I should have made more sauce! Rice or pasta is an excellent base for flavor; make sure you have some wine/butter mix left over.

Chris has lately been in the habit of burning my tongue to ashes. I am fairly sure he does not have taste buds anymore, and based on his spice tolerance I am beginning to think he no longer has a stomach. He probably just has a stainless-steel-lined black hole for an abdominal cavity. So after seeing my eyes water through two dinners in a row, Chris decided to seriously tone it down and for this recipe, he only tripled the amount of spices recommended. 

It actually turned out to be very savory and not at all spicy, even by Gloria standards, because he used taco sauce for the vinegar-based sauce requirement. In his typical style, he did not measure the ingredients, so the below are approximations and should be adjusted to taste.

Ingredients:

• raw unshelled shrimp ~1 pound
• 1tsp paprika
• .5tsp thyme
• .5tsp oregano
• 1tsp ground cayenne pepper (sub chile powder for less spice, or use less)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• “a blob” (maybe about a tablespoon and a bit) of vinegar based sauce (hot sauce, taco sauce, worcester sauce or some combination therein)
• a splash of citrus

For the sauce:

• 3/4 to 1 onion
• “some” celery
• “some” scallions
• 1 tomato, more or less
• 1c broth of your choice
• white wine (optional)
• spice mixture above used for shrimp

The Ingredients:

1.5 lbs of shrimp, peeled & deveined

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1/4 cup white wine

2 Tablespoosn Lemon Juice

Salt, Pepper

Melt butter in a pan large enough to hold a single layer of all the shrimp. Coat the shrimp lightly in salt and pepper; I put them in a plastic bag and agitated it while adding both. As the butter melts and starts to brown, add the shrimp and minced garlic. Avoid layering the shrimp if you can; cook each side evenly. They should begin to brown in about a minute; I used a cast iron pan that was slightly smaller than the ideal but it kept the heat very uniform. I lightly browned the shrimp and everything turned out very well. When they’re done, set them aside in a bowl.

Add white wine, lemon juice and lemon zest to the man. I essentially used an entire lemon, then added more lemon juice! For a less sharp taste, tone it down. Heat and reduce the concoction until it thickens slightly. (Recipe called for parsley, but I didn’t have any and wasn’t about to kill my sprouting plants.) Return the shrimp to the pan & toss them in the sauce. That’s it! You’re done!

It takes less than 10 minutes to make a great looking, great tasting dish. I served it alsongside thin spagetti & bread with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper. I wanted to take pictures but it all disappeared too fast.

Lessons Learned: I was careless while reducing the sauce and ended up using about half a cup of white wine to correct the volume. The taste was full and almost tangy but by no means bad. I tend to like my dishes overspiced and overflavored, when I make this again, I intend on making the same ‘mistake’ again.