Cool Eats and Hot Treats: Tapas--"Caliente Baby"

food-dictionary.com tells us that tapas were originally "a slice of ham or chorizo sausage placed over the mouth of a wine glass, from tapa 'to cover', some say to keep out flies and others say to increase thirst. Now consists of small portions of any kind of made-up dish or small snack served with wine in Spanish bars (although not exclusively Spanish in nature)."

I followed my Spanish theme this weekend and cooked a meal of tapas (although tapas in Spain are never meant to be the main course). All the dishes looked so good that I couldn't keep myself to just one. The first wonderful discovery for me was that these mediterranean dishes were all fabulously flavorful with a scant 4-5 ingredients. The main staples (all my favorites) olive oil, garlic, salt (sea salt of course), pepper, lemon or lime juice and chopped parsley.

The best of the five tapas dishes that I tried was (blue ribbon winner by far) the "Lime-Drizzled Shrimp." From the cookbook "Tapas" by Susanna Tee.

4 limes, 12 raw jumbo shrimp, 3 tbs spanish olive oil, 2 garlic cloves, splash of white wine, salt and pepper and 4 tbsp chopped cilantro (the recipe called for fino sherry which I didn't have and instead of chopped cilantro, it was flat leaf parsley, but I thought that the cilantro would pair nicely with the lime and I was correct).

grate the rind and squeeze the juice from 2 limes....cut the remaining 2 limes and use later. Remove the shells from the shrimp (leaving the tail intact). Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add shrimp and cook 3 minutes (until pink). Mix in lime rind, juice, and a splash of white wine then stir well together. Transfer shrimp to a serving dish and season to taste with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with cilantro. Serve piping hot and accompanied by lime wedges for squeezing over shrimp. Include crusty french bread for dipping in sauce and ENJOY!!!