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Quick Fried Shrimp with Sweet Toasty Garlic

Quick fried shrimp with sweet toasty garlic and Chipotle peppers. A recipe from Rick Bayless, flavor packed and oh-so easy. 
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings 8
Calories 387kcal

Ingredients

  • ¾ Cup Whole garlic cloves Peeled, about 2 large heads
  • 1 cup oil preferably good quality extra-virgin olive oil
  • Salt to taste
  • 3 limes
  • 2 Canned chipotle chiles en adobo seeded and cut into thin strips
  • 2 Pounds Shrimp medium to large, peeled (leaving the last joint and tail intact if you wish), about 48
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or parsley optional

Instructions

  • To Make The Garlic Oil: 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 garlic into a small (1-quart) saucepan, measure in oil 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 garlic oil and simmer 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 make shrimp:
  • Devein shrimp.
  • Over medium-high heat, set a large (12-inch) nonstick skillet and spoon in 1½ tablespoons of the garlic oil. 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.

Nutrition

Calories: 387kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 286mg | Sodium: 884mg | Potassium: 167mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 13IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 196mg | Iron: 3mg