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spicy marinated shrimp wrapped in snow peas
If you have the time, it's best to buy your shrimp raw and cook it yourself to make sure the shrimp isn't overcooked. Just boil up some water, toss in a bay leaf and salt, and cook the shrimp briefly until the outside turns pink -- you actually want the shrimp slightly undercooked when you pull them out, as it'll continue cooking a bit. Should they already be cooked through totally when you pull them out of the pot, rinse them immediately in cold water to stop them from cooking further. For those of you who aren't totally anal-retentive control freaks like yours truly, however, yes, pre-cooked shrimp can work fine. But do test the shrimp to make sure it's firm but not tough, and most definitely not mushy.

ingredients
1 lb. large shrimp, tail-on and cooked
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tbsps. olive oil
1 fat clove garlic
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper, plus a few dashes more if you want more kick
¼ tsp. salt
generous sprinkle of fresh ground pepper
20 or so snow peas

makes 2-3 dozen, depending upon how big your shrimp are

1 Very carefully remove the shell from the tail of each shrimp; you want to retain the pretty tail meat but get rid of the inedible shell. The easiest way to do this is to poke your thumbnail along the inside edge of the shell (where the shrimp curls in), and gently break it open. Tug at the very tips ends of the tail shell, doing your best to avoid pulling the tail meat along with it.
2 Mix up the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, crushed red pepper, salt and black pepper. Toss the marinade with the shrimp, and refrigerate for at least a few hours, or better yet a day, tossing the mixture from time to time.
3 At some point while the shrimp is marinating, boil up some water and drop in the snow peas for about 30 seconds. Drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking; your peas should now be pliable and a brilliant green color. Carefully split the peas in half by digging into the tip with a fingernail; peel apart the two sides of each pod.
4 To assemble the appetizer, wrap a pea pod half snugly around the middle of each shrimp, and secure with a toothpick.

o

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