Garlicky Baked Shrimp

Garlicky Baked Shrimp - made September 15, 2012 from Normal Cooking's blog

When I started using pinterest, it was primarily to find good baking recipes and new dessert ideas from all the other bloggers out there.  What I hadn't counted on, but am glad about, is I've also come across some "real food" recipes that are simple enough for me to make.  I'll get lured in by a foodie picture of a scrumptious-looking dish and if the ingredient list isn't too long and the cooking steps aren't too complicated (remember, I'm barely a half step above Hamburger Helper in my cooking skills), I'll pin it and give it a whirl when I've completed the Herculean-to-me task of figuring out what ingredients I need (usually most of it), already have (typically very little of it) and what I need to buy, how much and where.

Case in point, this recipe for Garlicky Baked Shrimp.  I love shrimp.  It's easy enough to buy in a frozen pack - heads off, tails on - and keep in the freezer until I'm ready to cook it.  I'm not even squeamish about handling raw shrimp and peeling the tails off, thanks to having to help my mom during my formative years peel and devein shrimp.  The instructions were pretty straightforward and I thought I even had "most" of the ingredients.

I've listed the recipe as it was meant to be made but I will abashedly confess my shortcuts/misdemeanors.  I had a bulb of garlic I "borrowed" from my mom a few weeks ago when I intended to make a different recipe but never did.  So the garlic sat on my kitchen counter for awhile.  I don't know exactly how long but turns out it was long enough to shrivel up and dry out except for 2 cloves.  And even those were sketchy.  But I forged on and added garlic powder instead.  Never mind that it was months old and in a clump in the spice bottle.  It said it was garlic powder and that was good enough for me.  White wine.  I mentioned before I don't drink, right?  The only alcohol I have in the house is anything I had leftover from the last time I cooked that needed it.  Turns out I had red wine (don't know how long it's been opened) and sherry.  No white.  What the heck, I used the sherry. Italian-leaf parsley.  Didn't have that at Trader Joe's so whaddaya say to cilantro?  Good.

Despite my flexibility with the recipe, I thought this turned out pretty well.  If you ignore the fact that my Garlicky Baked Shrimp didn't have much real garlic in it.  And honestly, I love shrimp so I'm very forgiving over however it turns out.  I also have a low bar - as long as I don't give myself food poisoning, it's all good.

1 lb. raw shrimp, deveined and peeled (I pull the tails off beforehand too)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons white wine
salt and pepper
1/4 cup (4 Tbsp.) melted butter
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
2 Tbsp. fresh Italian-leaf parsley, chopped
half of a lemon (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In a bowl, combine the shrimp, garlic, and white wine.  Stir to combine, then pour into a baking dish.  Spread out evenly, and then season with salt and pepper.
3. In another bowl, use a fork to mix melted butter, Panko, and parsley until well combined.  With your fingers, sprinkle the mixture evenly in the baking dish over the shrimp.
4. Transfer dish to oven and bake until the shrimp are pink and opaque, about 15-18 minutes.