August 19, 2020–When I saw the picture for the chile and garlic shrimp in my Aug/Sept 2020 issue of Cooks Country I immediately knew they would be on my plate, and more importantly; in my stomach, in the not too distant future! The Chef, Morgan Bolling, made a bold statement at the beginning of there article, “Quick-cooking shrimp and ultraflavorful dried chiles team up to kick the midweek dinner blues to the curb.” I can tell you that she was not incorrect in her assessment. The ingredient list is pretty short and with the exception of the chiles you should have everything in your pantry and your garden.
First you make the sauce which is comprised of gauajillo chiles, water, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic cloves.
After deseeding the peppers you cut them into about 1-inch pieces and cook over medium heat until fragrant.
Once the chiles are fragrant you transfer them to a blender until finely ground. Be careful when you remove the lid because there will be fine chili powder in the air. Next add the water, Worcestershire, garlic, and salt. You blend this until smooth then set aside.
Now it is time to prepare the shrimp. You need about 2 pounds of the 21-25 per pound extra large shrimp that have been peeled, deveined, and tails removed. I always save my tails for use in seafood stock for my seafood bisques. Pat the shrimp dry, set aside, mix your seasonings, then sprinkle both sides of the shrimp.
Heat some olive oil over medium high heat in a 12-inch skillet. Once the skillet is just smoking cook half of the shrimp until the underside is brown but the top is still raw. Move to a bowl and cook the remaining shrimp.
Sauce some sliced garlic in the now empty pan until fragrant. Add the reserved sauce and shrimp. Cook until done.
Once shrimp is cooked, remove from heat and add lime juice and butter.
Chef Bolling recommends you sprinkle on some fresh cilantro and enjoy over rice or with warm tortillas. I tried them both ways; they were good but for my taste I would definitely add more spice or hotter chilies. These are a good second to the Shrimp Mozambique I made a while back which just happens to also be another Cooks Country creation.
