Shrimp Scampi Recipe
Vote for Scampi!
Your Nugget of Vaguely Nutritional Info for this Post:
Like Bubba told Forrest: "shrimp is de fruit of de sea" & beyond the myriad manner of preparation Bubba then put forth--a myriad not including scampi, interestingly enough--there's a huge amount of protein in this little bottom feeder. Just 4 oz. provides 23 grams of protein, about half the RDA for the average adult, and if you're like most people and feel you're just a >leetle< bit above average, why, it's pretty easy to go whole shrimp, and getcher total protein on eating these crusty critters.
Like a lot of crustaceans, it's cholesterol-high, and like a lot of crustaceans, this isn't really a problem. Few of us are able to consume such luxuries with any kind of regularity, so we won't concern ourselves with that just now, and by just now, I mean ever, of course. Yes, a lot of the shrimp purchased are farmed these days, and who knew you could even plant shrimp? They still measure in with one of the lowest levels of mercury contamination, and Monsanto hasn't figured out how to splice and dice them yet, so I say: indulge. Peel. Dip & pop, because the tidbits are as tasty, as this bit is silly, so we best gets to steppin'! Recipe steppin'...;)
The Results!
The Ingredients:
Recipe in Rebus:
Cook Time
Ingredients
- 1 lb. fresh shrimp, 30-40 count smallest
- 1 cup NS chicken stock
- 1 cup white wine, of choice
- 1 cube chicken bouillon, optional
- Handful Italian parsley, chopped fine
- ½ -1 blulb garlic, minced
- 1-2 TBSP. olive oil
- 1-2 TBSP. butter, or butter substitute
How to Do It:
- I like to prep the sauce ingredients first. Grab parsley bunch firmly by the stems, and rake a fork through the cluster of leaves like a comb through ratty hair. This easily removes leaves without too much stem attached. Mince a handful, and set aside.
- Prep garlic by smacking lightly with a meat mallet to crack shell. Peel, mince and set aside.
- Measure out cups of wine & stock for easy adding, and let's head to the stove top!
- Melt a pat of butter & a little oil. When sizzling, add garlic. Just as soon as you hear THIS sizzle, it;s time to add the wine. TIP: overcooked garlic can be very bitter, so pay close attention.
- Add the stock pretty much immediately--but not the bouillon cube. The cube is a contingency cube. If the sauce tastes fine without it, go ahead and skip it altogether. (we can't know for sure until it reduces, though) Stir the sauce well, and let reduce for 20 minutes. TIP: if you're strapped for time, you can cut the liquids (and time involved) by half.
- A good a time as any to prep the shrimp. Peel each little critter tip to tail, including that little bit on the tail end that doesn't want to come off so easily.
- De-vein as needed and necessary, but do not skip. Nobody wants to eat shrimp veins...not even shrimp.
- Once cleaned & peeled, grip shrimp with curve of tail arcing toward you, and carefully butterfly the meat. Do this for all of 'em, and head back over to check on the sauce.
- Scrape down accumulating fend from pan sides. Stir well and taste. Add bouillon cube if desired (I skipped it in this case) It should taste like scampi, not alcohol, and if this is the case, go ahead and remove it from heat now. Once removed, add parsley and stir, and dish into bowls.
- Melt a pat of butter & a little oil. When the pan is verrrrry hot, and working quickly, add butterflied shrimps butterfly side down. Do this carefully and by the shrimp...meaning, don't just toss them in there, hoping they land "right side up"
- Pretty much as soon as you've laid down your last shrimp, the first shrimp is ready to flip, and so that's how this part plays out. The shrimp needs to cook for no longer than 2 minutes, all told & "all sides"
- Remove, and drop into waiting bowls of scampi sauce. Add rice, cous-cous, pasta, or quinoa as a side to soak up all that yummy goodness, and you're sitting Bubba Gump pretty.
Spoon into dish with sauce, and whoop! There it is.
