Semi-Lime-Cooked, Semi-Yucatecan Shrimp with Garlic Chips

[ts]
It's that time again... time for a smackDOWN!!!

We missed the previous month's First Thursday at Thursday Night Smackdown, so we had to do something this month. The theme: the color orange.

For our entry, we turn again to Bittman's Best Recipes in the World.

I was torn between two recipes. Well, not so much torn as a little befuddled. One was Lime-Cooked Fish/Shrimp with Crisp Garlic (Mexico) and the other was Garlic Shrimp, Yucatecan Style (Mexico too, obviously).

Lime-Cooked Shrimp called for frying some garlic slices first, then adding shrimp and dried chiles to the now garlicky oil. A good dose of lime juice also goes in. The finished dish is bam'd(!) with cilantro and more lime juice.

Yucatecan Garlic Shrimp also called for frying some garlic slices (double the amount). Then, the shrimp is sautéed in the garlicky oil and served with raw tomatoes and cilantro.

"They're virtually the same!", I think to myself. So, I morphed the two recipes together to make Semi-Lime-Cooked, Semi-Yucatecan Shrimp with Garlic Chips.



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First up, frying up garlic.

Into a pan went a glug of oil. When it was hot, I added the garlic slices. I tell you, these moments were the most fear-filled moments of my cooking life! I was so afraid these thin garlic slices were going to burn! Especially nerve-wracking were those last moments trying to fish out the remaining garlic chips in the pan; we have bad, bad utensils! But, fortune smiled on me. I sprinkled the garlic chips with salt and turned my attention to the shrimp.

I heated the same pan (with the garlicky oil), then added the shrimp and not quite as large an amount of lime juice as in the Lime-Cooked recipe. The recipe called for about 1/2 cup of lime juice. I merely used 2 limes.

When it was cooked, I bam'd(!) it with some parsley (because we, for some reason, didn't have cilantro; insane). No raw tomatoes to serve alongside (no tomatoes present either), only some lime wedges. The garlic chips were scattered on top of the dish.

Voilà!
Semi-Lime-Cooked, Semi-Yucatecan Shrimp with Garlic Chips!
(I should have my own cookbook.)



It was good.

(We had some chimichurri and you bet I used that as a condiment. Does that make this an Argentinian Mexican dish?)

[eatingclub] vancouver Mexican
Tacos... then
Tacos... now
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Semi-Lime-cooked, Semi-Yucatecan Shrimp with Garlic Chips
Chicken, Broccoli and Cheese with Pipían Verde
Quickie Turkey Tortilla Soup
Tacos of Carnitas with Pineapple, with Roasted Salsa and Sweet Potato
Shrimp a la Mexicana (Camarones a la Plancha)
Enchiladas Verdes
Cilantro Horchata
Strawberry Cilantro Salsa, on Grilled Flank Steak
Mexican Ancho Guajillo Chicken
Chipotle Ground Turkey on Flour Tortilla
Tacos... again (July 2009)
Tacos al Pastor with Chipotle Peanut Salsa
Tacos with Beer-braised Carnitas Filling
Shredded Beef and Tripe Tacos
Duck Enchiladas with Chipotle Peanut Salsa
Blueberry Tres Leches Cake
Crab Tostada
Homemade Mexican Chorizo Sausage
Torta (Mexican Sandwich)

We're submitting this to First Thursday: ORANGE at Thursday Night Smackdown.

First Thursday posts:
Mario's Pine Nut and Ricotta Tart
Radishes, Three Ways
Semi-Lime-Cooked, Semi-Yucatecan Shrimp with Garlic Chips
Lemon Feta Dip
Chicken Marsala