Smoky Shrimp with Garlic and Olive Oil

Posted May 03, 2010

Find more about dinner , tapas , shrimp

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This is such a simple meal, but I find it totally thrilling.

While the shrimp are thawing. . .

. . . you can assemble the rest of the ingredients, which won't take long (can you see the price sticker on my vinegar? I got it at the Scratch-and-Dent for $2.99!)

Yes, it's a lot of garlic. But we love garlic. Even though some relatives of mine who are the grandparents of my children can't eat it. Alas.

Oh, they cooked in the time it took you to look at them cooking!

Just make sure. . .

. . . your cat is busy doing something else, such as being a battle site, or he will make a somewhat incessant case for his needing of the shrimp.

This is pretty much a perfect plate of food.

And it's even good. . .

. . . after it's gone.

Sigh.

Happy May! Birdy just mused aloud, "Mama, if you were a May fly, you'd have to start planning your funeral the day you were born." Indeed.

In honor of the season, I'm offering you a perfect dish to eat out at the picnic table in the spring twilight. Or inside by the fan with the lights off. And you only have the stove on for about 7 minutes altogether, so it's nice in the heat. It's a recipe was actually inspired by a dish I didn't make: "Portuguese-style pork and clams with chorizo and fried potatoes" from the exquisite Sunday Suppers at Lucques cookbook that I checked out of the library. It's a cookbook that really makes me understand the expression food porn: it stays under my side of the bed, and before I go to sleep I look at the photographs in a drooling stupor of fantasy, thinking about the actual dinner I've eaten the way maybe some people think about their regular old non-centerfold wives. Sigh.

And I could make that dish--I could. Clams are relatively inexpensive, and I love them. And Ben loves clams. And Birdy, well, Birdy is Birdy when it comes to any chicken-of-the-sea type of situation, so clams and shrimp--it's all the same yuck to her. But Michael is allergic to clams. Or was. Or is still kind of. And only because somebody so rudely mentioned that a recipe column may not be the best place to tell my endless stories about barf (What the?) will I spare you the details. Of the two incidents. One of which involved Michael not singing his rightful half of a West Side Story duet in the car ("Honey, honey, this is you! Tonight, tonight. . . Wait, are you okay?. . . . Oh. . . . yikes. . . . ") and the other of which involved baby Birdy in the Bjorn. With Michael and his clam poisoning. Enough said.

So I made up this shrimp recipe as a response to all that clammy lukewarmness, and man--as compromises go, this is as good as it gets. So good, in fact, that I ended up making them, and then making them again five days letter: both times we licked the platter clean. With the smoky paprika and the sherry vinegar, you'll feel like you're eating tapas on the coast of Spain (or so I imagine, having never eaten tapas on the coast of Spain). And you have to serve the shrimp with lots of crusty bread for mopping up all of the lovely, ruddy, garlicky oil (and so that crustacean-haters like Birdy can eat just the bread and oil for dinner: Hello, unbalanced meal! "Pretend the shrimp are sea monkeys!" I said. No, just kidding. I would never.) I could eat them again this second, and if shrimp weren't on the pricier end of our food budget, I would. (Alas, tonight's more of a lentil night. Not that I don't love lentils. Lentils!)

But I actually think that this exact recipe would be really good with clams subbed in for the shrimp, and Michael swears he's ready to try again. I promise I won't tell you how it goes.

Smoky Shrimp with Garlic and Olive Oil
Serves 4 for dinner (as long as one of those four people is a child who won't eat it)
Active time: 10 minutes; total time: 25 minutes

I really, really recommend using the ingredients as listed below. Sherry vinegar is just so incredibly smooth and deep--you will love it here, and on a salad with walnuts, and drizzled onto a dish of lentil soup. . . And the smoked paprika, well, you know how I feel about it. And the masses of garlic. Also, do take the time to salt the shrimp beforehand: it seasons them beautifully and also firms them up a bit, which make for a more appealing texture.

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (thaw frozen shrimp by running cold water over them in a colander for five or so minutes; I use frozen "Whole Catch" peeled, tail-on raw shrimp)
2 teaspoons kosher salt (or half as much table salt)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped garlic (5 or 6 large cloves)
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
Chopped flat-leaf parsley

Sprinkle the shrimp with the salt and set aside for 10 or 15 minutes.

In a wide skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil over medium heat until very hot but not smoking. Add all the shrimp to the pan in a single layer (more or less) and sprinkle the garlic over it. Cook for a minute, then sprinkle in the paprika and cook, stirring, until the shrimp are pink and cooked through--around three minutes altogether. Turn off the heat, stir in the sherry vinegar and sprinkle on the parsley, and serve. Sprinklingly.

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Smoky Shrimp with Garlic and Olive Oil

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BeanieNLuLu says:

May 26, 2010

Oh Catherine, what was I thinking not coming to your blog and recipes for several weeks? No wonder I have been depressed. Laughing out loud here at your barf references, and Hello unbalanced meal! You are great! My mood is uplifted now after a rather downer week, thank you.
I am trying to eat healthier and become a better cook - never was very good at it. I love all the detail you put into explaining the process of the recipes, all the whys and wherefores... what can and should not be substituted, very hot but not smoking, different amounts per kind of salt, etc. That is very helpful for a novice cook trying to improve. I am definitely going to try this shrimp. I couldn't agree more with your photo and caption about the perfect plate of food, yum! Love the battle ensuing on Craney's belly too.

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megansandry says:

May 13, 2010

YUM! I just wiped the last bit of oil out of the pan with some leftover bread. My six year old and I loved it. My three year old screamed, plugged her nose, and gagged when a tail fell off her brother's plate. You can't win 'em all, I guess.

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cefkennedy says:

May 10, 2010

We made this over the weekend and it was delicious! And it looked so fancy! It got the ultimate compliment from my 7 year old "Can you put this in my lunch box?" I had to say, no (I just couldn't put left over seafood in a lunchbox, maybe I'm being crazy but it doesn't seem like a good idea), but it was still a great compliment. (You're not going to want to hear this, but I think I may cut down on the salt the next time I make it.) --Cathy K

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Dalai Mama Dishes

by Catherine Newman

Catherine Newman cooks for the family

Dalai Mama Dishes

Catherine Newman cooks for the family

Smoky Shrimp with Garlic and Olive Oil

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