Food for Wine: Garlicky Spicy Prawns

Instead of picking wine for certain food like most people do, I often decide what to cook based on what I want to drink.  As it gets hotter in Arizona I shift from red wine to chilled crisp white wine.  One of the dishes I love with chilled Sauvignon Blanc is garlicky prawns.  It is a flexible recipe.  As long as I keep the essential ingredients (prawns, garlic and olive oil), I can add or subtract ingredients depending on what I have or what I'm in the mood for.  I threw in some fresh oregano from my container garden. 

Click on Read more for the recipe.

Ingredients
About 1 lb prawns or shrimp (the larger the better), shell and vein removed
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2-1tsp crushed red pepper(amount depends on how hot you like it)
1/4 large red bell pepper, sliced lengthwise, optional
Splash vodka, dry white wine or tequila 
Handful herbs such as parsley, oregano, basil, or combination
Freshly ground salt & pepper
Capers, optional

1.  Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat.  Add garlic and crushed pepper.  When the garlic is golden in color, spread oil inside the pan and add shrimp in one layer. 
2.  Turn shrimp when bottom side turns red. 
3.  When both sides are cooked, transfer shrimp on a clean plate and add red bell pepper.  Add a splash of vodka and scrape off bits from shrimp and sautee with bell pepper.
4.  Add shrimp back in a pan and add herbs and seasoning.  I add capers on my plate since my husband doesn't care for 'em.

One thing I'm careful about when I'm cooking shrimp is to prevent shrimp from overcooking.  We want to keep them plump and moist. 

Other ingredients I might use include onions, crimini mushrooms, tomatoes, olives, lemon juice, and anything that goes with shrimp.  Although it goes with many ingredients, I like to keep mine simple and cook a couple of veggie dishes on the side instead.  Mmmmm, prawns!