Red Curry Marinated Shrimp

Last night I prepared one of my favorite shrimp dishes....I love shrimp in almost any form - fried, scampi style, grilled, in an Italian fish stew to name a few.

I wanted something that fit into a typical Monday night, not too time consuming, done on the grill and is a bit exotic. I found a recipe a number of years ago (not sure exactly where it came from but it might be Bobby Flay) and what you see now is my current adaptation: Red Curry Marinated Shrimp.
 
This is an easy dish to prep.
Throw the marinade ingredients together and mix in the shrimp (use shell-on for best results.)  I suggest at least a 16-20 size (meaning that there are at 16-20 shrimps in a pound). Anything smaller will be subject to over marinating and over cooking. Let the shrimp marinate for about 30-45 minutes. Any longer and the marinade will start to alter the shrimp....basically the lime juice will start to cook the shrimp on its own and you will end up with a mushy, over cooked dish.

While the shrimp is marinating, you can prepare something to go along with it. More on that later…
 
 The Ingredients
•    1-(14 oz) can unsweetened coconut milk
•    2 tablespoons red curry paste  (this will make a very spicy dish...you may want to cut back a bit)  **See enclosed picture of Curry Paste - available in most grocery stores.
•    1/2 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
•    1/4 cup chopped cilantro  (a bit more if you like the cilantro flavor)
•    1 lime juiced
•    3 tablespoons canola oil
•    salt and pepper - 2 tsp of salt and a like amount of pepper
•    2 pounds of shrimp (try to cut the shell up the back and devein, leaving the shell on)
 
Cooking  Instructions
Mix all ingredients together and let marinate 30-45 minutes. Grill 1-1/2- 2 minutes per side. I like to take the marinade and heat it on the stove, just to a boil. I do this to any marinade to remove any doubt about raw protein juice in the marinade. Then just spoon the sauce over the shrimp and serve.

Goes Great With Orzo Pasta
You can also serve over rice, but I chose to cook some orzo pasta. But instead of boiling like any other pasta (8-9  minutes), I sautéed a large shallot in butter and olive oil until soft, added some white wine to deglaze, then tossed in a cup of orzo to coat with butter for 2 minutes. Then I cooked the orzo (over medium heat) just like a risotto, adding slowly chicken broth a bit at a time as it is absorbed untill cooked. Start with two cups of chicken broth.  You may use a little less or maybe a little more. Taste the pasta as you go and stop when you are happy with the consistency. I like this because it is much cheaper than the Italian rice (Arborio) and almost as good.
 
Serve with sautéed sugar snap peas (or the last of the spring crop of fava beans and life is good....a nice glass of Pinot Grigio to cut the spice and life is good.