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stick it
skewered
goodies by Yee-Fan Sun
| 1
2 3 4
continued from page 3
spicy
marinated shrimp wrapped in snow peas
If you have the time, it's best to buy your shrimp raw and cook it
yourself to make sure the shrimp isn't overcooked. Just boil up some
water, toss in a bay leaf and salt, and cook the shrimp briefly until
the outside turns pink -- you actually want the shrimp slightly
undercooked when you pull them out, as it'll continue cooking a bit.
Should they already be cooked through totally when you pull them out of
the pot, rinse them immediately in cold water to stop them from cooking
further. For
those of you who aren't totally anal-retentive control freaks like yours
truly, however, yes, pre-cooked shrimp can work fine. But do test the
shrimp to make sure it's firm but not tough, and most definitely not
mushy.
ingredients
1 lb. large shrimp,
tail-on and cooked
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tbsps. olive oil
1 fat clove garlic
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper, plus a few dashes more if you want more kick
¼ tsp. salt
generous sprinkle of fresh ground pepper
20 or so snow peas
makes 2-3
dozen, depending upon how big your shrimp are
1 Very
carefully remove the shell from the tail of each shrimp; you want to
retain the pretty tail meat but get rid of the inedible shell. The
easiest way to do this is to poke your thumbnail along the inside edge
of the shell (where the shrimp curls in), and gently break it open. Tug
at the very tips ends of the tail shell, doing your best to avoid
pulling the tail meat along with it.
2 Mix
up the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, crushed red pepper, salt and
black pepper. Toss the marinade with the shrimp, and refrigerate for at
least a few hours, or better yet a day, tossing the mixture from time to
time.
3 At
some point while the shrimp is marinating, boil up some water and drop
in the snow peas for about 30 seconds. Drain and rinse in cold water to
stop the cooking; your peas should now be pliable and a brilliant green
color. Carefully split the peas in half by digging into the tip with a
fingernail; peel apart the two sides of each pod.
4 To
assemble the appetizer, wrap a pea pod half snugly around the middle of
each shrimp, and secure with a toothpick.
o
check
out these related articles:
the
fine art of finger foods | say
cheese: how to assemble a cheese plate | get
swanky: cocktail party
or
browse the recipe index
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