So sorry, it’s been too hot to bake. I’ve used up all my frozen cookies and brownies, but until we have a break in the heat, there’s no way I’m going to turn on the oven.

Of course we did have a couple of nice days this week, but those were the days when my hot water heater was dead and waiting to be replaced, so I didn’t want to make a mess in the kitchen until I was able to clean it up again.

But I did make some awesome garlic shrimp.

Now the problem with cooking shrimp in sauces or glazes is that raw shrimp give off a lot of water when cooked. You could saute them in a little fat at a very high temperature, high enough so that all moisture evaporates immediately. But cooking them at a high temperature will generally overcook them. The unfortunate tendency is for them to give off their water and then stew in their juices. This is made worse by adding a sauce for them to simmer in. You end up diluting the sauce with the shrimp juice, which upsets the balance of the sauce. Then the shrimp get overcooked if you try to boil down the sauce, and if you don’t, it’s just a soupy mess.

I find that the key to making tasty shrimp is to poach them first, then add the finished sauce or glaze, toss, and serve. This will make sure the sauce or seasoning you use clings to the surface of the shrimp.

Considerations in poaching shrimp:
If you can get fresh raw shrimp, and you can afford them, then go for it. Raw gulf shrimp are never available here. Frozen raw shrimp should be soaked in a lot of water to get rid of any fishy or stale taste and remove the slimy polyphospate they add.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. (Enough salt so it only tastes a little bit salty, of course!) Drop in the raw shrimp, peeled if you intend them to be eaten with a fork. When they start to curl up, fish them out or pour into a sieve or collander and add a little cold water to stop them from cooking. With most shrimp it takes less than a minute, so be ready. THE SHRIMP SHOULD NOT BE HARD AND WHITE. A raw shrimp is floppy and curved, a properly cooked shrimp is springy and shaped like the letter ‘c’, and an overcooked shrimp is hard and firm, curled up in a little circle.

To make garlic shrimp, crush raw garlic cloves, added freshly ground black pepper and red pepper flakes and sauteed this very gently over low heat in butter and olive oil. Add plenty of salt – it should taste too salty. This is a seasoning used in the dish, not the main dish itself. When the shrimp are cooked, drain completely, then add the shrimp to the garlic oil and toss thoroughly. Serve over rice or rice noodles. Pea pod with red peppers will go well with this.