Tequila Lime Shrimp with Pasta

Are you tired of snow yet? Here's my balcony:



Yesterday, after the snowfall we ventured out for a walk. Low and behold, we ended up at a bakery. Walks that end up at food locations are the best. Here are some St. Patrick Day cookies.



They go well with today's theme.



Emiline is hosting a St. Paddy's Day Pub Crawl Blogging Event. To participate, you need to cook and post a savory or sweet dish, using beer, wine, or hard liquor/liqueur.

I chose to feature tequila. Cause nothing says St. Patrick's Day like tequila.



Ok...maybe not. But, I've been wanting to try a tequila lime shrimp recipe for a couple of months now and this seemed like a great opportunity.

But before I talk about the recipe. I want to introduce a poll I've added. If you look at the top of the post, you'll see a poll. I was inspired to add this after yesterday's dinner. I invited a good friend of mine over for dinner. Throughout my dinner preparations, she would pop into the kitchen area and make some comment about how I was preparing things. When I warmed up soup for the recipe, she questioned why I did it on the stove instead of the microwave. When I was cutting the peppers, she questionned the amount of pepper in the recipe. She questioned the jalapeno. She questioned the lime squeezing method...the list goes on. By "questioned", I mean "expressed negative judgement". Finally, I got firm with her and kicked her out of the kitchen area. I just don't think I'm very compatible with others in the kitchen. Unless there is a lot of space (which isn't the case in my kitchen), or someone wants to be my kitchen bitch, I'm not interested in having help. What's your position on helpers in the kitchen?

Tequila Lime Shrimp with Pasta

Here are most of the ingredients:



1 tbsp olive oil
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh coriander leaves
2 jalapeno peppers, minced
1/2 cup tequila (you may also use rum or vodka)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup lime juice (about 3-4 limes)
3 bell peppers (yellow, red and orange) thinly sliced
1 medium red onion thinly sliced
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1/2 pound of large, raw shelled shrimp
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 box of linguini, fettucini or spaghetti

To start, place thawed shrimp in small bowl and marinate in soy sauce for at least 15 minutes. Create a paste by sautéing garlic, coriander and jalapenos in olive oil in large pan on medium-high until translucent and slightly softened (about 5 minutes, stirring often). Add tequila, broth and lime juice to paste and reduce until mixture turns thick, about 5-7 minutes. Once paste is thick, remove from pan and set aside.

Meanwhile, boil pasta until al dente. Sautee peppers and onions in oil on medium heat in large pan until slightly softened (about 5-7 minutes).



Add flavour paste and combine thoroughly. Remove pan from heat, add cream and stir until vegetables are well coated. Increase heat until sauce comes to a gentle boil. Cook for about 10 minutes until sauce thickens slightly, then add shrimp and soy sauce. When shrimp turns pink, add well-drained pasta, mix well and serve immediately.



This dish is quite good. Next time, I'll have to be a bit more patient with allowing the sauce to reduce. Also, I tried to use my new juicing tool for the lime juice. I must be doing something wrong, because I had to switch back to plain old squeezing after a few attempts with it:



Have a happy St. Paddy's day.



Have a pint, on me..

Since the blogging event is a pub crawl, I've decided to grab a pint of Strongbow at this stop. It's my favorite drink and is close enough to beer that I can get away with drinking it without having to order a really girly drink.



I'll also be submitting this recipe to this week's Presto Pasta Night Roundup