Killer Shrimp

Every once in a while the fiance and I try to put the hectic wedding planning behind us and enjoy a relaxing afternoon to ourselves. This Sunday that is exactly what we did.

Inspired by my love for Kitchen Window on NPR (and setting aside my lack of cooking abilities), I pulled out a recipe I found online for a version of 'Killer Shrimp' and had a go at it. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of sampling this dish, Killer Shrimp is a restaurant in Marina Del Rey, CA that gets its name from the main dish on their menu- their Killer Shrimp. I first discovered Killer Shrimp on one of my trips to Marina Del Rey to visit my uncle back when I was in high school. He took me to sample this spicy seafood dish and I have been craving it ever since. Being that I live nowhere near a reasonable driving distance from this amazing restaurant (and am horribly jealous of anybody that is) I figured the next best thing would be to attempt a passable version of it in the confines of my own small apartment. So I cracked open bottle of wine, armed myself with the best organic ingredients I could find, then got to work.

After sifting through the reader comments for this dish on allrecipes I decided to stray from the original recipe a bit. These are the ingredients I ended up using:
-2 quarts organic chicken broth
-1/2 a 6oz. can of organic tomato paste
-1 8oz. bottle of clam juice
-1/2 cup of butter (instead of a whole cup)
- 2 tabelspoons rosemary
-5 cloves minced garlic
-1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
-1 teaspoon celery seed
-1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
-1 heaping tabelspoon red pepper flakes (to add some extra spiceness)
-1 cup organic white wine
-1 and a half pounds of local caught shrimp (de-veined with tails and shells intact)
-1 loaf of fresh baked french bread (to use for dipping)

First I did some research via The Food Network to find out what type of white wine would be best. Their rules are: don't use something you wouldn't normally drink, dry wine works best for seafood, and "what grows together goes together". Since I decided to use local shrimp I figured it was best to use the local Cooper Hill Organic Pinot Gris as well.

Of course I also had to get some of their Organic Pinot Noir to enjoy during the lengthy three hour cooking process.

To start I mixed all the ingredients together in a pan (minus the wine and shrimp) and let it simmer for an hour:

After the hour was up, I added the white wine and let it simmer for another two hours:

After another two hours I added the shrimp:

I let the shrimp cook for about 3-4 minutes (just long enough to turn pink), then once they were finished I served it up in two large bowls and we both sat down to enjoy!

It turned out very spicy, aromatic, and delicious- also very simple to make. It was pure torture to have to wait a whole three hours to devour it while smelling the broth simmer! Was it as good as the Killer Shrimp I remember from years ago? Well... no, but until they open a restaurant here in Portland I think this substitute will do just fine!