Toasty Garlic Shrimp (Camarones al Mojo de Ajo)

Before we get to the food part, hello everyone! I discovered through the giveaway post that there are so many more of you than I thought! And many of you de-lurked to enter and tell me what you think of this here blog. Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here, and I hope you enter the contest if you haven’t already! I’m now following all of your blogs, so I can’t wait to read what you guys are writing!

And now, the food.

Hey, remember way back when I hated Rick Bayless? But then I discovered that he’s actually everyone’s favorite nerdy uncle? That time? Well, in that post, I forgot that I actually really love one of his dishes, one that isn’t as hot as the surface of the sun. We found this recipe in one of those Food & Wine cookbooks, the best of the year or something like that. I can’t remember. They have good compilation cookbooks, you should buy one at a used bookstore.

So this recipe is one of my standbys. You should have most of these things in your kitchen already. The ingredients are pretty simple: shrimp, lots of garlic, lime juice, chipotles in adobo sauce. That’s pretty much it. The garlic takes a long time to hand chop. Even though it’s a lot, I hope you hand chop or process it. Please don’t use the minced garlic in a jar. The fresh garlic is so much better and turns out so much sweeter in this dish.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup peeled whole garlic cloves (about 2 large heads)
• 1 cup good-quality oil, preferably extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt
• 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 in tact if you wish)
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or parsley (optional)

Directions

Step 1- Preparing the mojo de ajo

Either chop the garlic with a sharp knife into 1/8-inch bits or drop the cloves through the feed tube of a running food processor and process until the pieces are roughly 1/8 inch. You should have about 1/2 cup chopped garlic. Scoop into a small (1-quart) saucepan, measure in the oil (you need it all for even cooking) and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and set over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally as the mixture comes barely to a simmer (there should be just a hint of movement on the surface of the oil). Adjust the heat to the very lowest possible setting to keep the mixture at that very gentle simmer (bubbles will rise in the pot like mineral water) and cook, stirring occasionally, until the 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 the 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 the chiles, then taste the mojo de ajo and add a little more salt if you think it needs it. Keep the pan over low heat, so the garlic will be warm when the shrimp are ready. Cut the remaining limes into wedges, scoop into a serving bowl and set on the table.

Step 2- The shrimp

Devein the shrimp if you wish: one by one lay the shrimp on your work surface, make a shallow incision down the back and scrape out the (usually) dark intestinal track; pull or scrape it out and discard.

Set a large (12-inch) nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and spoon in 1 1/2 tablespoons of the 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 the shrimp are just cooked through, 3 or 4 minutes. Stir in the cilantro or parsley if you’re using it. Scoop the shrimp onto a deep serving platter. Repeat with the remaining half of the shrimp and another 1 1/2 tablespoons of the garlicky oil.

When all of 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 the shrimp. (You may have as much as 1/3 cup of the oil leftover, for which you’ll be grateful—it’s wonderful for sautéing practically anything). If you’re a garlic lover, you’re about to have the treat of your life, served with lime wedges to add sparkle.

Notes

Working ahead: The mojo de ajo keeps for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator (the oil will become solid but will liquefy again at room temperature) so I never recommend making a small amount. Mojo in the refrigerator represents great potential for a quick wonderful meal. Warm cold mojo slowly before using. For the best texture, cook the shrimp immediately before serving. Or cook them several hours ahead, douse them with the garlic mojo and serve it all at room temperature.

And there you have it! I’ve found that this dish is good with rice, but it’s a little simple. So last night, I made it as tacos, with flour tortillas, grated queso asadero, cilantro, and avocado.

Tasty! I highly recommend it, if you like shrimp tacos and avocado and garlic. If you don’t like those things, I have no idea what to cook for you.

Camarones Al Mojo De Ajo

About these ads