The Best Shrimp

A few days ago I had dinner at a friend's house. Correction, a few days ago I cooked dinner at a friend's house. Nothing fancy, just some shrimp and greens with a salad. It was fabulous, so I thought I'd share the tricks of perfect shrimp.

First, let me talk about the shrimp themselves. I like to buy shrimp without heads, but no yet cleaned. This is because I usually buy them on sale in one pound bags, then freeze them. I think the shells help protect the fragile meat from breaking up when they thaw.

So, in the morning, take your frozen shrimp block out of the freezer and put into a bowl in the fridge (to avoid a puddle in your fridge). Around dinner time, take the shrimp out and put them into a collander in the sink while you prep the rest.

Rinse one pound of rainbow chard dry well.

Slice one or two cloves of garlic into chips.

Now it is time to clean your shrimp. Begin by peeling the shell off, grabbing the feet and 'unwrapping' the meat. Next, take a paring knife and run it along the back of the shrimp revealing the vein. This is not really a vein. It is really a poop shoot. It can be sandy, but even if it's not, it's still a yucky idea. Rinse said vein away under cool running water and continue onto the next little guy. I say little figuratively. I think shrimp smaller than 18-20 per pound are kind of a waste of time. They are hard to clean and it takes a lot of them to fill you up. A pound of 18-20s will feed two adults and a kid no problem.

Next, toss your clean shrimp with 1/4 cup of veg oil, the garlic, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp oregano and 1 tsp basil.

And save those shells! They will refreeze great to be available for stock as needed.

Place a 10 in stainless skillet on med hi heat and let it warm for 2-3 minutes. Then drop your shrimp in. Cook 2-3 min on the first side, or until they pink and curl up. Once you flip them, toss the chard on top and squeeze a lemon over all. Cook another 2 minutes then mix the chard with the shrimp. Cook maybe one more minute, just until chard melts.

Drop in 1 tblsp butter to finish the sauce.

MMMM.. Serve alone or over a simple pasta.

And so I return!

Hello everyone!
After an extended hiatus, I am returning to my blog as I think it will be a simpler way of sharing my recipes than repeatedly writing them on dinner napkins.