Gambas al ajillo

I have some fun recipes lined up for you, but not today. Today is just deliciousness in a dish without a recipe per se.

I have been cooking and baking and taking pictures but I find my mind goes blank whenever I have a couple of minutes to write. Work has taken up a lot of my time, thoughts and energy recently as you may have noticed from my less frequent posts lately.

I do however feel like hanging out with you and chatting a bit even if I just can't get my act together so humor me, will you? Just for today.

I read this comic strip and this one and this one that cracked me up, so I thought I would share them with all you parents of young ones. Story of my life. Maybe that is why I feel drained in the evenings, hehe.

I remember singing along to How Will I Know? day dreaming about a much older guy (a friend of my sister's - he was 18!) like it was yesterday. Whitney Houston was really a part of my adolescence. It is so sad to see yet another example of extraordinary talent leave us.

I made this dish the other evening and it was finger lickin' good. And I am not just saying that. We actually licked our fingers after eating this. There was almost oil dripping from our elbows we got so into it, talk about crowd pleaser.

Why did it take me so long to make this at home? Why wait to go to Spain to eat this?

Having the right dish, a cazuela de barro, may make it look and feel more authentic, but you can prepare this typical tapa with any heavy-based pan. Make sure your very few ingredients are top quality and you will be on a roll. I overcrowded the pan because I was lazy about making two batches since I only have one clay pot and the family was hungry, but believe me when I say they were delicious anyway.

Ingredients
about 20 large shrimp

2 cloves garlic

good quality extra virgin olive oil

chili to taste

salt to taste

Heat enough olive oil in a pan to cover the shrimp. Peel and cut up a couple of cloves of garlic and let sizzle in the hot olive oil with some chili pepper, making sure the garlic doesn't burn. The garlic and heat factor are completely up to you. Add the shrimp and cook for a couple of minutes, just enough to ensure it is cooked through otherwise they will get tough. Sprinkle with some salt and eat with lots of good bread to soak up the garlic studded oil. Accompany with some cold wine or beer.

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