Spicy Jalapeno Tequlia Shrimp

It's always a bit of an adventure cooking dinner at my mother's house.  The only spices she has are in their original glass tins and have 1978 stamped on the bottom as their expiration date.  I kid you not.  When it's my turn to cook there I usually go out and buy everything fresh, or bring it from home.  The one thing I did not bring was tequilla.


Another fun fact about my mother- though she doesn't drink, she loves a good deal and returns from yearly cruises with 4-5 bottles of liquor.  Mango rum?  She's got it.  Raspberry vodka?  Check!  ("But it was only $6 in St. Maarten!")  I assumed she'd have tequilla amidst her liquor bottles under the stove.  There wasn't any, so we didn't follow the directions to set fire to this recipe, but it still had plenty of flavor.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup vertically sliced onion
• 1/2 cup julienne-cut seeded jalapeno pepper
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup tequila
• 3 cups chopped seeded tomato
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 6 cups hot cooked rice
• 1 peeled medium avocado, cut into 12 wedges

DIRECTIONS

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, jalapeno pepper, and garlic; saute 8 minutes. Add shrimp, vinegar, and salt, and saute 3 minutes. Pour tequila into one side of skillet, and ignite tequila with a long match. Let flames die down. Add tomato and cilantro, and cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and stir in lime juice. Spoon shrimp mixture over rice. Serve with avocado wedges.

VERDICT

Even without the tequilla (or cilantro... I didn't bring that either), this was really good.  Really, really spicy though!  Those jalapenos add a ton of spice!


We served it over pasta and had plenty of leftovers.