Wednesday, December 6, 2006

Greek shrimp with feta

I just finished reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. It's a wonderful page-turner of a book about Calliope Stephanides, and three generations of the Greek-American Stephanides family in Detroit. The book has everything a good page turner needs -- great characters, sex, car races, drug dealing, narrow escapes, and some fabulous food. Ever since I started this book, I've been craving Greek food, and the other night I finally decided to do something about it. I made the Greek shrimp stew with feta. Fish and cheese? In most cuisines it's a no-no, but this particular combination works surprisingly well.

Note: When tomatoes are in season, this dish is best made with fresh ones (you'll need about 5 tomatoes for 4 servings). But in winter, I use canned.

Serves 4

1-1/2 Lb medium shrimp, peeled and tails removed
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 Tbsp finely minced oregano
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup crumbled feta
Minced parsley for garnish
Salt and pepper to taste
  1. Place shrimp in a bowl of iced, salted water (1 Tbsp kosher salt per quart of water) and let brine while preparing the sauce.
  2. Set a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add olive oil, onions, and a generous pinch of salt. Cook stirring occasionally until onions are tender and golden, about 15 minutes.
  3. Add garlic and oregano and stir until fragrant, 1-2 minutes.
  4. Add tomatoes and wine, turn up the heat and bring to a simmer. When the sauce starts to bubble, return to medium-low heat and cook for 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt.
  5. Remove shrimp from the brine and dry on paper towels. Season with pepper and place on top of the sauce in one layer (don't mix). Sprinkle the feta on top. Cover, turn up the heat to medium-high, and cook just until shrimp turn pink, 2-3 minutes.
  6. Take off heat, sprinkle with parsley and serve with good crusty bread.

11 comments:

Kalyn Denny said...

I absolutely loved that book, and this recipe looks pretty great too.

Saffron said...

Darling! Your blog is a miracle for me! I'm not great at cooking fish! Thanks for your help!

Anonymous said...

Thank you, thank you, THANK you for removing the tails from the shrimp! What is with the current trend of leaving them on? And the recipe sounds and looks wonderful, Helen.

Helen said...

Hi Terry,

Y'know -- I never really understood why people leave the tails on. For cocktail shrimp, I guess it's convenient to pick them up by the tail, but when they are in hot dish...

Any idea how this trend got started?

Cheers,
-Helen

Dianka said...

Yum, these shrimp look perfect. And the sauce I'm sure is just right. Hope you and the baby are well!

Kalyn Denny said...

Hi Helen,
Just letting you know I'm featuring this recipe for South Beach Recipes of the Week, where I spotlight South Beach friendly recipes I see on other food blogs. It includes your photo, with a photo credit for you of course, plus a link to your recipe.

Anonymous said...

Yum.
One of my all-time favorite dishes is pasta with shrimp, feta and grape tomatoes. I'm definitely going to give this dish a try.

Helen said...

Hi Julie,

Thanks for stopping by Beyond Salmon. Hope you enjoy this shrimp dish.

Cheers,
-Helen

Edgington said...

Yum, your food looks edible from the blog! Thanks for the great site.
Mariah/Byron
caffection.com

Anonymous said...

Yummy! I made this dish last night and I added a little heat to it and it turned out fabulous! Awesome recipe!

The Orange Crush Kitchen said...

I love this recipe so much I am posting it on my blog! With credit to you of course!