Shrimp In Garlic Sauce; An Ode To Simplicity

I am going to come clean about this week's cooking plan. Last week was crazy for me. As mentioned in an earlier post, Olivia's birthday party was last Saturday and my family was here for three days. What I didn't mention is that Brad and I ran the Whidbey Island Half Marathon this past Sunday. Although it is my 23rd race, it was my first one in almost nine years. To say I was rusty is the understatement of the year; although the race did go much better than expected. As you may already know, a half marathon is 13.1 miles........ 13.1 long, painful miles. This particular race was a bit more challenging because there were strong headwinds and the second half was quite hilly. Despite these extra challenges, Brad ran the race in 2:05:49 and I ran it in 2:30:06. We both felt a strong sense of accomplishment and relief when the race was over. To make a short story long, I am feeling unmotivated (okay, lazy may be more appropriate) about most things this week; including my cooking project. I have decided to embrace my unmotivatedness so I will be choosing three recipes that are on the simple side this week. I promise they will be good recipes; they will just cater to my current disposition.

Here goes. My first recipe is Shrimp in Garlic Sauce. The preparation time would have been less than 10 minutes had I not decided to buy "easy peel" shrimp. The truth of the matter is that they were pretty easy to peel but I still had to devein them. The recipe specifically noted that deveining is strictly for aesthetic purposes and that it is not necessary to do so. This is not advice that I could heed because deveining is imperative for me. I have a serious aversion to all things veiny, so it absolutely had to be done. This process was not quick but once the shrimp were ready, the recipe was a piece of cake. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

1/3 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic, cut into thin slices

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon dried red-pepper flakes

2 pounds large shrimp, shelled

1 1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp fresh-ground pepper

3 Tbsp dry sherry

2 Tbsp lemon juice

3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

In a large frying pan, heat the oil over moderate heat. Add garlic, bay leaf and red-pepper flakes and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add shrimp, salt and pepper to pan and stir to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are just done, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in sherry, lemon juice and parsley. (I halved the recipe because Brad and I could not and should not ever eat 2 pounds of shrimp by ourselves :).

Brad loved this dish. He actually said that if anyone thinks they don't like shrimp or prawns, they would change their mind after trying this recipe. He liked both the flavor and texture; which is a compliment from him because he is particular about shrimp texture. This recipe was simple but great. Just the way I like it this week.