Hot Spice, Cool Friends and a Warm Heart

Spur-of-the-moment weekend meals are a great way to catch-up with old friends before facing the chaos of the coming week. So when two of my favorites called from Sonoma, I invited them for dinner on their way home to the city. I wanted super simple food packed with the flavors of the season and ready to go when they arrived. That way, I could join in the fun rather than being stuck fussing with the food.

Let’s face it, kitchens are like ovens in the soaring summer heat, so I head outdoors to the garden and depend on my trusty grill for most dinners. Drawing on a well-stocked pantry and gorgeous produce from the farmers market, I go for easy-but-scrumptious meals like my marinated, spicy Mexican shrimp with colorful summer sides.

This marinade and dipping sauce is ridiculously simple. Start with a few chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (from a can), add tomato juice and blitz in a blender. Done. The heat is controlled by the ratio of chiles to juice-I start with two to three chilies, but go ahead and blow out your eyeballs with the entire can if you want.

The sauce is intense so I pair the shrimp with a hearty black bean and sweet corn salad with roasted peppers, tomatoes, onions, chiles and cilantro. A simple lime dressing provides plenty of zest. Add a pot of Basmati rice with colorful shards of orange carrot, and dinner is ready.

When my friends arrived at sunset, I guided them to the garden where the sizzling grill and crickets competed for attention. Soon the air was filled with happy conversation, laughter and the smacking sounds of lusty eaters. I slipped away to organize dessert: chilled watermelon-simple summer goodness. I cut the melon into bite-sized pieces, spritzed them with fresh lime juice, and piled the brilliant pink cubes into pretty, long-stemmed glasses. They sparkled in the light and reminded us all of summers past, making this a very cool ending to a perfect warm evening.

How to Buy, Store, and Clean Shrimp

Shrimp is extremely perishable and typically frozen at sea before fishermen transport their catches to the mainland. Local markets sell both frozen and thawed by size and number per pound. Commercial names may vary slightly, but the numbers are fairly standard.

Unless you’re buying it frozen, purchase shrimp on the day you plan to cook.

Storing and Thawing Shrimp

Keep frozen shrimp in the freezer until you’re ready to defrost it. Place the shrimp in a colander and run cold water over them until thawed. Never let them soak in water or you’ll lose significant flavor. Never defrost the shrimp at room temperature or in a microwave oven-no exceptions.

If you purchased thawed shrimp at the market, place them in a bowl set over a larger bowl filled with ice before refrigerating. (Most refrigerators are not cold enough on their own to keep shrimp.) Store for 24 hours or less.

Cleaning Shrimp

Larger shrimp have dark black veins on their backs that should be removed. These digestive tracts are gritty and can ruin the eating experience with a dirty taste. Deveining is easy but time consuming. If you’re in a hurry, consider purchasing pre-deveined shrimp from your fish monger. To clean shrimp:

1.Grasp firmly and snap off the head if your fish monger did not remove it. Pull back the legs and shell to remove them.

2.Slip off the tail, if desired. (You may leave this on for certain recipes.)

3.Use a small, sharp knife to make a shallow cut along the back edge of the shrimp, exposing the dark “vein.”

4.Scrape out the vein with the tip of your knife. This is most easily accomplished while holding the shrimp under fast-running water.

5.Pat the shrimp dry and proceed with your recipe or store as directed above.