i wrote this into my first notebook with a date of 11/9/91. andrea, ron, barbara, and steve were here for dinner. i have gone back to this recipe many times since. it's basically the traditional spanish appetizer gambas al ajillo, with a shot or two of JD added. it's not very original, but it's easy, quick, and oh so good. a great first course. use medium to large shrimp, nothing too big or too small. at least 45 minutes before you cook them, you season the shrimp. even as much as 2-3 hours before you cook them you can season them, infusing flavor into the shrimp. another requirement is good crusty bread to sop up all the juices. and serve it hot right out of the pan; your guests should already be at the table when you start it. cooks pretty quickly. don't walk away while this is cooking.
ingredients for 4 :
1.5 to 2 lbs of shrimp, peeled & de-veined (or not, your call)
salt, pepper, spanish paprika (pimenton), ground cumin; a pretty heavy hand with all of it.
good spanish evoo
at least 4-5 cloves garlic chopped fine, more if you are a real garlic lover
an oz or two of jack daniels
chopped parsley
a big enough skillet or saute pan so that the shrimp are not much more than one layer deep. like 10" at least.
to season the shrimp: on a big piece of aluminum foil, spread out the shrimp in one layer. sprinkle all the seasonings all over the shrimp. pick up the ends of the aluminum foil and toss the shrimp around to coat all sides with the seasoning. or figure out your own way to get it done.
heat the skillet on medium heat. add about 4-5 tbs of evoo, might seem like a lot but it's pretty much all the liquid that will become your sauce. when the oil is shimmering, add the shrimp, making sure they are spread out into one layer, and be careful, they can splatter the oil. if your pan and oil were hot enough, within about a minute, you will need to be turning the shrimp to the other side. as soon as you turn them, add the garlic. it should all be sizzling pretty good, after another minute, give it all a good stir, or toss the pan. add the whiskey, being careful not to set yourself on fire. you can light a match and flambe it if you like, but either way, the alcohol will cook off or burn off just leaving the flavor. another minute and you're done. toss in the parsley and mix. so i would figure total cooking time is about 4 minutes. to serve, just plate it on a small dish, then go back and spoon out the remaining sauce. you should get at least a tablespoon of sauce on each serving. if not, increase the amount of evoo next time. don't forget the bread. i love this with ice-cold - like 20 minutes in the freezer cold - spanish or portugese white wine.
what can go wrong? if the garlic starts to brown, bad thing. add some olive oil and take the pan off the heat to slow it all down. the only other bad thing would be to cook the shrimp too long and dry them out.
the true essence of this dish comes from the spanish pimenton. if you don't have any, get some from la tienda.com, or probably gourmet stores will have it. comes 3 ways: sweet, bitter-sweet, and hot. if you like hot, go for it. it's not that hot. i like to mix in a little hot along with one of the other two.
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