Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes from the New York Times (10 page)

Put the shrimp in a saucepan with water to cover and a large pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and turn off the heat; let the shrimp cool in the water for about 5 minutes, then rinse in cold water until cool. Peel and devein if you like. Serve with sauce or chill until ready to serve.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: ABOUT 20 MINUTES

MUCH OF THE
flavor of shrimp can be lost in the cooking, especially when you’re grilling or broiling, which allows the juices exuded by the shrimp to escape. Far better at preserving the crustacean’s essence is cooking it in liquid, and among the best of those liquids is olive oil. This is not sautéing, but cooking the shrimp slowly in the oil, to tease out its liquids without evaporating them, so these juices combine with the oil to create an irresistible sauce. I usually peel shrimp before cooking, but in this instance the shrimp are better left unpeeled, for the simple reason that the shells contain as much flavor as the meat (maybe more), and you want that flavor in the sauce. The results are a little messier, and certainly more difficult to eat, but they are tastier—and the dish is easier to prepare.

1.
Combine the oil and garlic in a 10- or 12-inch skillet. Turn the heat to medium and cook until the garlic begins to sizzle, then add the cumin and paprika. Stir, raise the heat to medium-high, and add the shrimp, along with some salt and pepper.

2.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp are all pink, no longer; you do not want to evaporate their liquid. Turn off the heat, add the parsley, and serve.

VARIATIONS

Shrimp, Scampi Style

Omit the cumin and paprika; use cayenne in place of black pepper. When the shrimp are cooked, stir in 2 or more tablespoons fresh lemon juice. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with lemon wedges.

Shrimp with Asian Flavors

Substitute peanut or vegetable oil for the olive oil and cook 1 tablespoon chopped peeled fresh ginger and 2 or 3 small dried red chiles (or to taste) along with the garlic; omit the cumin and paprika. When the shrimp are done, stir in 1 tablespoon soy sauce; garnish with minced scallion or fresh cilantro and serve with lime wedges.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 40 MINUTES

THE MAIN INGREDIENTS
are standard Italian, the technique and appearance are standard, but the seasonings are from the other side of the Mediterranean. And that’s the key: by substituting a couple of different spices, most or all of which you have sitting in your kitchen already, you can transform the common into the exotic.

1.
Put the olive oil in a deep skillet and over medium-high heat. A minute later, add the ginger and cook, stirring, for about a minute. Add the spices and lime leaf and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and some salt and pepper, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is nearly dry, about 15 minutes.

2.
Add the shrimp and stir. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp are cooked through, about 10 minutes.

3.
Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary, then serve over white rice, garnished with the cilantro and accompanied by the lime wedges.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 20 MINUTES

DESPITE ITS NAME,
this dish isn’t fiery hot, but the addition of a fair amount of paprika gives the shrimp a bright red color that makes people think they’re eating spicy food. The real key here is fresh paprika, not that tin you inherited from your mother. After you buy it, taste it; if it is hot, use half a teaspoon. You can let the shrimp sit in the spice paste for hours. (In fact, I like to dump both shrimp and paste into a covered plastic container, shake them together to coat the shrimp, then carry the container to a party and grill the shrimp there.) But you can also mix the two together right before cooking.

1.
Start a grill or preheat the broiler or oven. Make the fire as hot as it will get and put the rack close to the heat source.

2.
Mince the garlic with the salt; mix with the cayenne and paprika, then make into a paste with olive oil and lemon juice. Smear the paste on the shrimp. Grill, broil, or roast the shrimp, 2 to 3 minutes per side, turning them once. Serve immediately or at room temperature, with lemon wedges.

VARIATION

You can take this dish in a completely different direction by substituting curry powder for the paprika, peanut oil for the olive oil, and lime juice for the lemon juice.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 30 MINUTES

THIS SHRIMP DISH
is based on a combination of ingredients traditionally used to cook tripe in and around Rome. It’s a simple tomato sauce spiked with the powerful flavors of browned garlic, chiles, and mint. When you make it with tripe, it must cook a long time for the tripe to become tender; when you use shrimp, the dish is practically done as soon as the shrimp are added.

1.
Put the olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and chiles. When the garlic begins to color, cook carefully until it browns just a bit. Turn the heat off for a minute to avoid spattering, then add the tomatoes.

2.
Turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3.
Add the shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until all are pink, 5 to 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning; the sauce should be quite strong. Stir in the mint and serve.

VARIATIONS

Shrimp, Roman Style, with Pasta

This consistency makes the dish ideal as a topping for pasta: just cut the amount of shrimp to about a pound—with a pound of pasta as the base, there’s no need for more than that. Start the water for the pasta when you start the sauce and begin to cook the pasta at the same time as the shrimp.

Squid or Scallops, Roman Style

The same procedure can be followed to make this dish using squid, which should be cooked just until tender, probably even less time than the shrimp, or scallops, which will take about the same time as shrimp.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 15 MINUTES

THIS IS AN
old New Orleans recipe that has nothing to do with grilling or barbecuing. Its name comes from the spicy, slightly smoky flavor the shrimp gain while being cooked with Worcestershire sauce and lots of black pepper. It’s a fine and almost absurdly fast dish—once the shrimp are peeled, you can have it on the table in ten minutes, and that’s no exaggeration—with a creamy, rich, savory sauce that completely belies the amount of effort required on your part.

1.
Put the butter in a skillet over high heat; when it melts, add the shrimp and Worcestershire sauce. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is glossy and thick and the shrimp uniformly pink, about 5 minutes. If at any point the sauce threatens to dry out, add a tablespoon or two of water.

2.
When the shrimp are done, add salt to taste and ½ teaspoon or more pepper, then stir in the lemon juice. Serve over rice or with bread.

VARIATIONS

• Use 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar in place of the Worcestershire sauce; omit the lemon juice.

• Use 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard and 1 tablespoon of water in place of the Worcestershire sauce.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 30 MINUTES

THAI DISHES CALLED
curries
contain curry powder and a combination of herbs and aromatic vegetables. A typical dish might feature a mixture of garlic, shallots, chiles, lime leaf, sugar, and galangal or ginger. This curry, which features coconut milk, is just such a dish. Serve it with white or sticky rice.

1.
Put the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, and chiles and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are tender and the mixture pasty. Add the curry powder and cook, stirring, for another minute.

2.
Add the coconut milk and raise the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring only occasionally, until the mixture is reduced by about half. (The dish can be prepared to this point a few hours in advance.)

3.
Add the shrimp, a few pinches of salt, and a little black pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the shrimp release their liquid (the mixture will become quite moist again) and turn pink, 5 to 10 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon nam pla, stir, then taste and add the rest if necessary. Garnish with cilantro.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 30 MINUTES, PLUS TIME TO CHILL

DEALING WITH THE
lemongrass is the sole challenge of this dish, and only if you’ve never done it before. Maximum flavor is released from whole lemongrass stalks when they are beaten up a bit; bruising the length of each stalk with the blunt edge of a knife takes care of this in seconds. But to include lemongrass in a sauce you must first remove the tough outer layers—this is not unlike peeling a woody scallion—and then carefully and finely mince the inner core.