Quick Fried Shrimp with Sweet Toasty Garlic

Dear Friends,

I have a confession to make.  I love shrimp, especially when it's all garlicky with a little bit of heat thrown in for good measure.  I made this recipe with the best of intentions in mind.  I thought I'd share these garlicky jumbo shrimp with my husband.  The problem is, when it was time to eat, my husband was outside riding bikes with my son.  I went out quickly and looked for him and when he was nowhere to be found I decided to go ahead and taste a shrimp right out of the pan.  This is where I went wrong. One shrimp lead to another and another and before you know it I had eaten all but four.

In my defense there were probably only 20 shrimp in the pan.  They were colossal sized shrimp after all.  And secondly, they were coated with the most addictive lip-smackin' garlic and chipotle flavored oil.  It was really just too hard to stop. I found myself trying to use the shrimp to scoop up all those extra garlic pieces at the bottom of the skillet.  Rick Bayless says that if you're a garlic lover then you are in for the treat of your life with this dish.  I agree. Sometimes I think shrimp with garlic is my favorite meal on earth.  Try these one day and eat them straight from the pan with your hands.  They are seductive.

 
Quick Fried Shrimp with Sweet Toasty Garlic

adapted from Rick Bayless, found online here

Serves 2-4, depending on who's eating
(I halved the recipe with great results)

2 whole garlic heads
1 cup good-quality oil, preferably extra-virgin olive oil
Salt to taste 

 3 limes
2 canned chipotle chiles en adobo, seeded and cut into thin strips
2 pounds (about 48) medium-large shrimp, peeled (leaving the last joint and tail intact if you wish)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or parsley (optional)

  
To make the mojo de ajo:  Either chop garlic with a sharp knife into 1/8-inch bits or drop cloves through feed tube of a running food processor and process until pieces are roughly 1/8 inch. You should have about ½ cup chopped garlic. Scoop into a small saucepan, measure in oil (use all of it for even cooking) and ½ teaspoon salt, and set over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally as mixture comes barely to a simmer (there should be just a hint of movement on the surface of the oil). Adjust the heat to very lowest possible setting to keep mixture at that very gentle simmer (bubbles will rise in the pot like mineral water).Cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is a soft and pale golden (the color of light brown sugar), about 30 minutes (the slower the cooking, the sweeter the garlic). Squeeze juice of 1 of the limes into the pan and simmer until most of the juice has evaporated or been absorbed into the garlic, about 5 minutes. Stir in chiles, then taste the mojo de ajo and add a little more salt to taste. Keep pan over low heat, so garlic will be warm when shrimp are ready. Cut remaining limes into wedges, scoop into a serving bowl and set on the table.

To cook the shrimp: Devein shrimp. Over medium-high heat, set a large nonstick skillet and spoon in 1½ tablespoons of oil (but not the garlic) from the mojo. Add half of the shrimp to the skillet, sprinkle generously with salt, then stir gently and continuously until shrimp are just cooked through, 3 or 4 minutes. Stir in cilantro or parsley if desired. Scoop cooked shrimp onto deep serving platter. Repeat steps for cooking shrimp with the remaining half and another 1½ tablespoons of the garlicky oil. When all the shrimp are cooked, use a slotted spoon to scoop out the warm bits of garlic and chiles from the pan, and douse them over shrimp. (You may have as much as 1/3 cup of the oil leftover, for which you'll be grateful -- it's wonderful for sautéeing practically anything). If you're a garlic lover, you're about to have the treat of your life.  Serve with lime wedges to add sparkle.

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