Friday, August 8, 2008

Let the games begin.

I've said before that I love the Olympics, as does my husband, so I am bummed he's traveling and is unable to watch the opening ceremonies with me tonight. But ya gotta make lemonade out of lemons so I've been using his time away to cook things he doesn't care for. Do you have those foods in your house? The foods that divide you and your family? We do. Fortunately it's a relatively short list compared to some that I've encountered, but some of them are my very favorite.

Grilled shrimp is definitely one of them. So in honor of the Olympics, I present my own spicy and garlicky grilled shrimp. Spicy enough that it could in fact , light the Olympic torch. Light the Olympic Torch Shrimp
1 lb uncooked, peeled and deveined shrimp
1 large clove of garlic, minced*
1 TBSP chili garlic paste (or much, much less if you don't like heat)
1 TBSP sweet chili sauce
1 TBSP olive oil

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and marinate for 10 minutes. Thread on to skewers and grill over med-high heat until shrimp is opaque--this may take only take 5-7 minutes maximum depending on how big your shrimp are. Mine were relatively small and took less time.

The Boss had a much more tame version which means, pretty much nothing but the garlic and olive oil and we finished off the simple meal with some local sweet corn. I'm a huge sweet corn snob. I know, what a weird food snob item, right? That happens when you grow up across the street from a farm and the corn you ate was never more than 30 minutes off the stalk which is a stark contrast to what you find in most grocery stores. My husband didn't even know that corn on the cob wasn't supposed to be starchy and chewy which is what happens when you let it sit in a fridge for a few days. Fortunately, the farm market has been delivering me corn as good as I remember from my youth.
*I just wanted to offer up my favorite way of mincing garlic. I haven't actually chopped a clove or used a garlic press in probably ten years because I love how finely it can be grated on my microplane grater. This way you get all the great flavor of garlic without any chunks because it practically melts into the dish and you're not stuck with a single-use kitchen gadget!

Go U.S.A!

2 comments:

jen said...

As someone who grew up with corn growing in my backyard, I totally get the corn snobbery. I think that's one of R's favorite things to devour whenever we visit the folks.

Lisa said...

I'm obsessed with shrimp. I need to try this recipe asap!