Table Talk: Pan-Seared Shrimp

It was my turn to host this week.  I picked this recipe because I think Jonathan and I should eat more fish.  But after looking through all the seafood recipes I couldn't find one that could compete with fish caught in the cold lakes of Wyoming and cooked in camp that night.  So I switched my focus from fish to some other from of seafood. 

This recipe turned out to be much simpler than I thought it was when I read it.  But it's really hard to mess up shrimp and I liked the lemon flavor. 

The hardest part of the whole dish was pulling the tails off the shrimp.  I had bought a 2 pound bag at Costco. 

They already had the shells removed and deveined.  But the tails were still on.  I hate it when I get a shrimp dish in a restaurant and the tails are still on!  You either have to cut all the tails off or pick them up with your fingers and squeeze the shrimp out.  So I decided to take them all off before I cooked it.  That was the longest part.  I spread them all out on paper towels to dry them.

I decided to use the full two pounds because I didn't know when or how I would use the left over half a pound.  I seasoned it with the sugar (weird, not sure what that did), salt and pepper.  I kept the rest of recipe the same.

The shrimp cooked very quickly.  So it didn't take any time at all to cook the two batches.

I moved all the shrimp into a bowl and covered it with aluminum foil.  Then I added the olive oil and garlic to the pan and cooked the garlic.

The garlic cooked up fast as well.  I kept a close eye on it since burnt garlic is awful!

I took it off the heat, dumped the shrimp back in and the lemon juice and tossed to coat.

Looks yummy, right?  Even though I didn't have any parsley to make it pretty? 

Like I mentioned previously it went really well with the cauliflower recipe I made.  Both were nice and lemony.

If you want to try the recipe for yourself the recipe is below.

PAN-SEARED SHRIMP WITH GARLIC AND LEMON

SERVES 4

The cooking times below are for extra-large shrimp.  If using smaller or larger shrimp, be sure to adjust the cooking time as needed. 

1 ½ pounds extra-large shrimp (21 – 25 per pound), peeled and deveined (see note above)

¼ teaspoon sugar

Salt and Pepper

4 teaspoons canola oil

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, sliced thin

4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

Lemon wedges (for serving)

 

1.       Pat the shrimp dry with paper towels and season with the sugar, salt, and pepper.  Heat 2 teaspoons of the canola oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking.  Add half of the shrimp and cook until curled and lightly browned, about 2 minutes.

2.       Transfer the shrimp to a bowl and cover with aluminum foil.  Repeat with the remaining 2 teaspoons canola oil and shrimp; transfer to the bowl

3.       Add the olive oil and garlic to the skillet and cook over medium-low heat until light golden brown, about 1 minute.  Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and parsley.   Stir in the shrimp and toss to coat.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with the lemon wedges.

PER SERVING:  Cal 260; Fat 11g; Sat Fat 1.5g; Chol 260mg; Carb 3g; Protein 35g; Fiber 0g; Sodium 400mg