Food Friday - Shrimp Scampi

Fortunately, today's actual dinner hasn't been posted on my blog before (I'm not really sure how... oh, wait, yes I do... I didn't have a picture before...). Tonight we are having Shrimp Scampi!! This is a favorite of ours, and especially mine, because it was the first birthday dinner Hubby ever cooked for me. I knew he wanted to do something special, but I also knew that a "complicated" dinner was making him nervous. Shrimp scampi seems all sorts of fancy, but really... it's very simple! (AND - the reason it's an extra favorite of mine, is Hubby didn't know how to cook it, so he bought Joy of Cooking for the recipe... and  my birthday present :-P... and I LOVE that cookbook!)

So, here it is. Joy of Cooking style:
Combine in a large skillet:
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
Cook, stirring occasionally, over very low heat until the garlic is golden, about 10 minutes; do not rush it. Increase the heat to medium-high and add
1 1/2 to 2 lbs large or extra-large shrimp, peeled and deveined (as long as it's the right weight, you could totally go smaller on the shrimp)
Cook until the shrimp turn pink on the bottom, and turn them over. Add
1/4 cup minced parsley (less if dried)
(1 tsp minced garlic) - optional
Cook until the shrimp are firm and pink, about five minutes total. Sprinkle with
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Minced parsley

Now... that's not now it gets made regularly here, because we totally add chardonnay, and don't use parsley.  Of course, we generally don't MEASURE either... so... that's that. Ours is more of a
coat the bottom of a pan with oil and brown up at LEAST a tsp of minced garlic (from the jar), add a splash of chardonnay and lemon juice and simmer. Add about a dozen and a half extra large shrimp (for the two of us), cook until pink throughout. Meanwhile, boil up some spaghetti and when ready, combine. Serve with a sprinkle of parsley if we remember that step and Parmesan cheese (from the jar)

Enjoy!

-Betsy