One of the most popular seafood entree's in the restaurant business is shrimp. For whatever reason, people going out to dinner love to spend their money on shrimp and in some cases quite a bit of money. Go to any Italian eatery and on their menu you will see one of a million versions of scampi (which, as opposed to popular belief, is not the Italian word for "shrimp"). The French, they love this little shellfish too! Asian restaurants sometimes will have an entire column dedicated to shrimp. Simply put, shrimp is big!
Well here is scampi recipe one million and one, albeit this one is a little different. I created this recipe when I first moved into the depths of the Sierra's about 10 years ago (living up at Zephyr Cove). Once I had it perfected, it hit the menu of one of my restaurants in San Francisco under the name Scampi St. Lucia. The name means nothing, I just thought it was catchy. When I made it for friends who would visit me at home, it became known as Sierra Scampi. Call it whatever you want, it's good, it's fresh and dammit, it's shrimp!
Ingredients needed to make Scampi St. Lucia (serves 2):
- 1/2 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 Tbs. olive
- 2 Tbs. butter
- 2 shallots, minced
- 1 green onion, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tbs. minced cilantro
- 1 Meyer lemon, just the juice
- 2 Tbs. grated Asiago cheese
Steps:
- Rinse the shrimp under cold running water and set aside.
- In a medium saute pan or skillet over medium heat, melt the butter into the oive oil.
- Add the shrimp and saute 5 minutes.
- Into the pan add the shallots, green onion, garlic, cilantro and lemon juice and cook 5 minutes.
- Spoon the shrimp onto serving plates, top with the Asiago cheese and serve.
Chef's Note: I've gotten quite a few questions regarding why, in certain recipes, I tell you to melt butter into olive oil. This is a simple trick taught in European culinary academies and the reason is, the butter will not burn and it keeps its natural taste and color (see the slideshow picture of me sauteeing the shrimp). You also get a more rich sauce.
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