Grilled Shrimp with Lime and Red Pepper Aioli

Saturday night dinners around here are normally on the easy side. It's the one day of the week that we spend almost totally together beginning with breakfast at our favorite Mexican restaurant, followed by shopping, errands and was the case yesterday, an afternoon marathon in front of the television catching up on recorded episodes of Covert Affairs that we missed while we were on vacation. Hey, it's darn hot outside so that's our excuse for playing it cool in the comfort of the AC.

Saturday also means JBug has help in the kitchen and as a result it took all of 15 minutes total to get dinner on the table. I peeled the shrimp, Big Guy deveined 'em and tossed them in olive oil and lime juice while I put the salad together. He grilled these garlicky, lime beauties on the little red gas barbecue using the grill pans so we didn't need skewers, while I cleaned up the kitchen and before you knew it we were chowing down with limited fuss and almost no cleanup after. 

Other than the shrimp, the extra bonus on the plate was the giant avocado half, filled with some of the red pepper aioli we made the other day. I had every intention of making Anne Burrell's version of mussels but while "residential" mussel season is back on at least in Oregon, the commercial season has yet to begin so I was unable to find the gorgeous sweet meaty little bi-valves thus the shrimp substitution.

Oh well - it just means that as soon as mussel season opens, we'll be enjoying a bowl along with more of this fabulous aioli. The wait will be worth it - most definitely. 

Grilled Shrimp with Lime and Red Pepper Aioli (from JBug’s Kitchen adapted from Foodnetwork.com)

1 pound extra large shrimp, cleaned and deveined

1 scant teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

Juice of 1 lime or half a lemon (we used lime)

Toss cleaned shrimp with salt, pepper, olive oil and lime juice. Grill on a gas barbecue or roast in a pre-heated 400 oven until just opaque – approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Serve with aioli.

Spicy Red Pepper Aioli

1 large red pepper

2 egg yolks

2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 tablespoon Sambal Oelek or Thai Chili Garlic Sauce

1/2 teaspoon Sriracha (optional)

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup olive oil

Roast red pepper over a gas flame or under broiler until well blackened. Place in a zip bag or covered container and allow to steam for 10 minutes. Peel and remove seeds. Place pepper into food processor along with egg yolks, garlic, vinegars, sambal oelek and Sriracha. Process until very smooth. With motor running, add vegetable and olive oil very, very slowly, in a drizzle and process until very smooth and creamy. Refrigerate until serving. (Aioli will keep well refrigerated for 2 to 3 days). 

A year ago - Drowned Beef Sandwiches

Two year's ago - Rosti Potatoes

Comments

[Lea]

Darn, what a sad world where you have to settle for big, beautiful shrimp! hehehehehehehe Beautiful salad my friend!

[June]

Lea - Thank you my friend. Beautiful aren't they and only $6 a pound. Such a deal!

[Lorraine]

Oh boy, that is some salad, and you know my eye went straight to the avocado filled with aioli and the shrimp drowning in it. What a way to go!

[June]

Gotta give Big Guy the credit for the photo and that was a Peruvian avocado if you can believe it. Perfectly ripe it was too.

[pam]

That's exactly how Saturdays are around here. And this looks like the perfect Saturday dinner!

[June]

Pam - nice to have at least one day of the week that's a "date day" and it really was a great Saturday night repast. Coulda' been better with a big slice of peach pie, but we're not into pie around here these days. LOL