fortification fridays - grilled salsa shrimp

It's barbecue time! We recently enjoyed a variation of a recipe we frequently use for grilled shrimp, based on the Cook's Illustrated recipe that appeared in the magazine in 2006. Since we grill vegetables at the same time we grill our main course, we thought we'd combine them in this delicious, lemony, buttery, garlicky sauce. It uses the ingredients in salsa, but is really nothing like fresh salsa. Use jumbo shrimp (16-20 count), the freshest you can find. The recipe below is for a standard charcoal grill (Weber kettle, to be precise), and I'm assuming you have some grill knowledge. See Cook's Illlustrated if you need to adapt the recipe to a gas grill, since I don't have one.

Kitchen needs: charcoal grill, chimney starter
Serves: 4-6 as a main dish



Grilled Salsa Shrimp

2 lbs. raw jumbo shrimp (16-20 count), shelled but with the tail on
2 T. olive oil
1/2 t. red pepper flakes (or paprika, if they are too hot for you)
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 T. butter
1 large lemon, juiced
salt and pepper to taste
about 2 dozen cherry tomatoes
1 green pepper (or pasilla pepper, or red pepper)
cilantro

Heat coals in a chimney starter, then prepare the shrimp skewers and marinade. The shrimp should be shelled and with the tail still on. Place them on the skewers so they are fitted rather tightly into one another, then brush with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Skewer the tomatoes, too, and seed and cut the pepper into quarters.

In a large aluminum (disposable) pan, combine red pepper flakes, minced garlic, lemon juice and butter.

When the coals are ready, pile them all on one half of the grill to create a two-level fire. Don't forget to lightly oil the grilling surface. On the "hot" side of the grill, place aluminum pan to melt the butter and cook the garlic a bit. Move to the "cold" side or take off the grill after garlic is golden. Place the shrimp and tomato skewers on the hot side of the grill, and the peppers where they will get charred. Flip shrimp when opaque, about 2/3 of the way through. Flip tomatoes several times so they don't completely burn, but some charring is ok. Turn peppers, too. This procedure will be quite quick from start to finish.

When shrimp is cooked through and tomatoes are charred a bit, add both to aluminum pan, and cook in sauce over "hot" side for a few minutes. Remove peppers and chop into little pieces; add to sauce. Immediately prior to serving, add chopped cilantro, a few more squeezes of lemon, and salt and pepper to taste.

If you have another vegetable side dish, the original recipe (see shrimp in green bowl) is also nice. Just substitute cilantro for parsley and use the same marinade.

let there be light?

We had the electricians come out and fix a minor problem with a GFCI outside on the back porch, so I took the opportunity to ask about other stuff. Looks like it will be an easy matter to install a light on the shed (northeast corner) that will illuminate the otherwise dark backyard, since we already have electricity in the shed. We have a hole drilled for a light to the right of the door (I assume, since I don't think the original use was for a bird house, which was its use until I kicked some feathery ass), but the electrician said a northeast corner light (above the yellow paint sample in the picture) would light up both areas of the yard. Good point, that.

Also easy is installing a new back porch overhead light -- I'm going to tackle that project on my own, now that I know the wires are in good shape. Not quite so easy is pulling a line under the house and through to the front porch, but it's doable. And not super easy at all is disconnecting the fan/light combo and running a separate line for the fan. I think the latter will have to wait for the bathroom remodel.

what lies beneath

So we open up a letter from the city, asking for us to notify them when we have fixed the plumbing issue from our outtake to the alley. A year ago, they reminded us, they noticed that black smoke was billowing out of the broken end cap, and told us it was our responsibility to fix it.

Um. Yeah. Considering we didn't move in until Oct 31, and there was nothing disclosed in the sale transaction, thanks for the letter A YEAR LATER.

We did fix the broken end cap (barely visible next to the black mat in the picture, my fantasy flagstone project that still has not been started), thinking that the crappy POs just knocked it off with a lawn mower and didn't bother to replace it. But billowing black smoke from the sewer? Say it ain't so.

disaster preparedness

Somehow, I lost both my umbrella and my sunglasses. Now I am unprepared for both the 90+ degree weather and the thunderstorms in Texas, where I'll be going tomorrow. I know they are somewhere in one of the drawers. Or boxes. Or bins. Or something. Sigh.

we're pregnant!

No, not like that. Sorry to disappoint. But I've got baby veggies and fruits just bursting from their mama plants: artichokes, peas, fava beans, raspberries and grapes. Pass the cigars...ready or not, here they come!

hell's kitchen

OK, compared to some other kitchens I've seen, it's not really hell's kitchen, but it has been a bummer because of the poor finish work that needed to be addressed before I painted the whole thing. It's come a long way (see last picture with the horrible apple wallpaper border), but there's still miles to go before I sleep.

I had been really dragging my heels. My mom came to visit and lit the proverbial fire under me. I'm amazed by her energy. She not only spent hours digging caulk out of the crack between the counter and the wall (which had clearly been applied with a rusty spoon), she TSPd the ceiling, mudded holes and messed-up parts of the walls, and recaulked the new(ish) kitchen sink, which the plumber had done with clear caulk over a dirty counter (UGH!).

You can see her powerful cleaning action in the picture of the sponge in motion. She can tackle soy sauce explosions and grease on the ceiling like it's no one's business.

The paint colors I'm using in the kitchen are -- as they are in the rest of the house -- Woolskein and Dover White, in Bath Paint (for scrubbitude) by Sherwin Williams.

We still need to work on painting the rest of the room, and doing something with the frustrating window sitch, like ripping the whole damn thing out. Behind that weird panel just above the sink is wooden ventilation slats (louvers? I have no idea how to spell that) which were covered oh-so-elegantly with a piece of plywood.

Isn't that just the prettiest sink caulking job in the whole world? If you remember, we replaced the utilitarian stainless steel sink with uber-heavy enameled cast iron one the plumber "found" for us, via a client who upgraded to who-knows-what because of her new granite counters.

THANKS, MOM!

on the move

We've been busy with guests and travel, so no posting for us! Will do a nice, fat update when we get home from St. Louis. Cheers!