earl grey-brined shrimp + bergamot-lemon thyme butter.

if someone says shrimp it doesn't illicit much of a response from me. my brain doesn't instantly dream of cold seafood cocktails or of crunchy tempura-battered hand rolls. the truth is, i don't love shrimp. it's whatever, it's good, not great. fine, not fantastic. you get the idea.

  

i don't really cook much meat or fish at home. i probably shouldn't admit this but for some reason proteins intimidate me. once i start working with them i tend to get quite existential....it's weird, i know, but it's the truth {i'm deep?}. eating an animal doesn't bother me, but preparing one does, and since i'm a carbaholic anyway i never really saw a huge need to learn how to. earlier this year though, during my annual physical, my doctor sent my blood work in for a fancy nutrient analysis test. turns out i'm uber-healthy {score!}, but my blood did show that i was deficient in a few vitamins and nutrients that are found in lean protein. so, just so i can have super nutrient blood {and more so i can confidently prepare anything i want} i decided i need to start getting use to cooking with this stuff. 

shrimp is, unfortunately for me, the only protein i've consistently cooked pretty well so starting there seemed like an obvious first step. i began to feel that vague, nagging, bored sensation but then i stumbled upon this dish. there was something about the name of it that got me. i've never heard of shrimp dressed in such a regal way before. the idea of tea-soaked shrimp dripping in bergamot transported my mind to imperialist england. though that's not a particularly proud period for england, or much of the world for that matter, there's still is something oddly romantic about it. think back to a time when asia and the east were still this mystical foreign land known as the orient {which now, i know, might be the most politically incorrect term you can call this region and i mean no disrespect when i say, for some reason, i find it quite lovely in a nostalgic sort of way}. this foreign land which, in the minds of westerns, was filled to the brim with silks and spices, unique and unheard of items and ingredients. the world was still this huge place yet to be discovered, an untapped resource that we've managed to annihilate only a few hundred years later. i mean, c'mon, if you heard that there was a whole new continent we somehow never found in all these years you know you would be full of anticipatory excitement at its discovery. there's just something grand about the exotic and the unfamiliar and if this recipe could convince me there was something exotic and unfamiliar about shrimp, well, then my niacin levels might end up a little less deficient. 

this turned out to be pretty delicious. think of scampi spiked with tea instead of wine. are you thinking about it? yes, it's as interesting and wonderful as you imagine. i wouldn't go so far as to say that shrimp and i are in love, but i think i might be calling for a second date.

earl grey-brined shrimp + bergamot-lemon thyme butter.

serves 4
from melissa clark {via gilt taste}

• 2 large garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 lbs. shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 tbsp. salt
• 2 1/2 tbsp. + 2 tsp. earl grey tea
• 1 tsp. whole peppercorns
• 5 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 6 sprigs of lemon thyme
• 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest
• fresh cracked pepper
• basil leaves, torn to garnish

1. peel one garlic clove. put in a pot with 2 1/2 cups water, the salt, 2 1/2 tbsp. of tea and the peppercorns. bring to a boil, then pour it into a bowl and let steep for 5 minutes. add 2 cups of ice to cool to the liquid down. 
2. using a fork, prick the shrimp all over. add the shrimp to the tea brine and refrigerate for 2 hours.
3. in a small pot over the lowest heat possible, melt the butter - do not allow it to brown. as soon as the butter is melted, stir in remaining tea and the lemon thyme, pressing upon the thyme a few times to bruise the leaves. allow the mixture to infuse for 15 minutes. strain the butter through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing out solids. discard the herbs and tea.
4. one by one, take shrimp out of the brine, dunking them back in if needed to wash off any tea leaves. lay the shrimp out on a paper towel-lined plate; pat the tops of the shrimp dry with more paper towels. mince the remaining garlic and add it to a small bowl with the lemon juice and zest.
5. in a large skillet over medium-low heat, warm about three-quarters of the butter. add the shrimp and cook until pink on both sides, about 4 minutes. stir the minced garlic-lemon mixture in during the last 30 seconds of cooking. 
6. to serve, drizzle the shrimp with the remaining butter, then top with black pepper and basil leaves.