Shrimp Tacos

Tonight's episode of "Cigars and the Man-Grill" is concerned with Shrimp Tacos. The recipe is easy and fun to make. The flavors are summery, simple and bright, and the dish is very informal. The addition of a chili pepper adds some pop to the finished work, the combination of fresh, raw garlic and lime juice imparts freshness, and best of all, the whole thing is done on the Man-Grill.

The libation could be anything fresh and cold. A margarita would be a good choice, or plain old water with lime. I chose water for our meal tonight, but afterwards a glass of Marquis Philips Sarah's Blend, about which more later.

The cook will need the following software:

• 1 lb. shrimp, on the small side
• 1 cup corn
• one chili pepper if its a big one, or two-three small ones
• one or two limes, at least one will be juiced
• 5-6 scallions or green onions
• 1 clove garlic - as fresh as possible
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• 6 or 8 inch flour tortillas
• extra-virgin olive oil
• kosher salt
• fresh cracked pepper

and the following hardware:

• 1 Man-Grill (gas)
• cast-iron griddle (optional)
• cast-iron skillet
• spatula, a wide one if you have it
• silicon brush for the oil
• timer of some sort - never cook without a timer

In broad brush strokes, we will grill the pepper, corn, onions, and shrimp, mix everything together and ladle into tortillas. The resulting taco will be spicy but not uncomfortably so, with simple layers of flavor, not very salty, and relatively low-calorie. The most caloric items are the shrimp and the oil. Oh well.

The corn should be fresh if you can get it, but frozen corn will work just fine - but no canned corn. The shrimp should be as fresh as possible, and can be pre-cooked if you like, either pre-cooked or cooked through on the Man-Grill will be completely satisfactory. Do not skimp on the ingredients: insist on the best extra-virgin olive oil, use fresh pepper cracked in a mill, and kosher salt. Have a high-quality Man-Grill, and the best implements available. Use fresh limes, don't buy the juice in the little green squeeze bottle. Invest in a juicer, the hand-driven kind works best - after all, it's all about playing with your food.

The chili pepper, now that is Man-Food for sure. This recipe has a lot of flexibility - all good recipes do - and one can use whatever chili pepper one likes. Tonight I chose a poblano, for two reasons: it looked best in the grocery store, and poblanos have good taste and kick, but are not so powerful they overwhelm the rest of the food. I suspect any good chili pepper would work well, but be advised that the really hot peppers can be overpowering. As good as habaneros are, they would definitely upset the balance of the simple flavors in the Shrimp Tacos.

Let's get started. Under normal circumstances, one starts up the Man-Grill about 15 minutes before use to allow it to come up to temperature, that is not necessary in this case. Wash the poblano and put it on the grill, and fire up the grill. The poblano will take 10-12 minutes to cook: the idea is to heat it up, soften it, and slightly blister the skin to make the skin easy to remove. After the poblano is on, put a cast-iron skillet on the grill, add a touch of oil (go easy here, a teaspoon is sufficient), and add the corn. Grill the corn until it is browning: if it starts to pop like popcorn, remove from the heat. The corn should take about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on the chili pepper and turn when needed. You'll want to blister both sides, but don't burn the thing to a crisp. The blisters are to assist in removing the skin, remember that.

After 5-6 minutes have passed, chop the green onion up to the dark green part and add to the corn. Count on about 3-4 minutes for the green onions.

When corn is brown, green onions are marked, remove from heat and place in a goodly sized bowl (it there is extra oil left, drain it off first). Remove the skin from the pepper, slice her up, and add to the bowl. Mince the garlic, add to the salsa (that's what it is, after all). Slice cherry tomatoes and add to the salsa. It is not time for the lime juice, leave it alone, or squeeze some into your tequila.

Prepare the shrimp: little bit of oil, kosher salt, and fresh cracked pepper. That's it. I told you it was simple. By now the Man-Grill is very hot and ready to grill the shrimp. I like a flat cast-iron griddle for this purpose. Grill the shrimp for 2-4 minutes at most, do not overcook. Add shrimp to salsa. Grill the tortillas until warm and slightly marked in the cast-iron skillet and take the lot to the table. Now add the lime juice to the salsa and serve it up.

Marquis Philips Sarah's Blend is a delicious, inexpensive red wine from southeastern Australia. I suppose it is a "meritage", since it is a blend of Cabernet, Merlot, and Shiraz. These are my three favorite reds, so blended together is perfect for me. I have 3 bottles of the 2006, and so far it is every bit the equal of the 2004, which was a banner vintage for this wine - even Robert Parker rewarded the 2004 with a 91 of 100.

Attribution: Weber's Real Grilling.
Additives (optional): grilled pineapple, avocados, cilantro

Technorati Tags: cooking, food, grilling, recipes, wine

Posted at 08:10PM Oct 25, 2007 by tgardner in Cigars and the Man-Grill  |  Comments[0]