Garlic Butter Shrimp

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year everyone!
I hope you are enjoying The Most Wonderful Time of the year. Late December is for sure my favorite time of the year. I love seeing the Christmas lights and the trees everywhere. Even though many people here do not celebrate Christmas, we still decorate the tree for the New Years Eve. 

I decorated our tree a little bit late this year. With projects, exams and many other stuff, I was able to put up our tree in mid December, which is pretty late because I usually have the tree ready and decorated in the first week of December. However late is better than never.

This year here in Istanbul, the weather is extremely unusual, it is warm and therefore no snow :( It seems like we won't have a white New Year's Eve this year. But still, I am looking forward to our annual family dinner. 

Today you are not going find a classic gingerbread cookie recipe, nor a hot cocoa. I wanted to share a gingerbread recipe, but I remembered that I already had one the last year. So, I today you will be able to find the recipe for one of my favorite dishes: butter shrimp. No matter what the season is, I am always in the mood for a warm and spicy shrimp dish. Here is the recipe, I hope you will like it:

Ingredients: 
4 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
250 g. shrimp*
2 gloves of garlic, finely chopped
Juice of a half of a lemon
3 tablespoons warm water
Salt, pepper and paprika to taste
A couple of dashes of hot sauce (tabasco)

*: I was not able to find any fresh shrimp at my grocery store so I used frozen. They ended up okay but if you can find fresh, it would be great. 

Directions: 
1) Melt 2 tablespoons butter and add in the olive oil in a skillet. Add in the garlic. When the pan is hot, add in the shrimp and let them cook for about 2-3 minutes stirring occasionally. When the color of the shrimp is a pinkish white, transfer them to a plate. 

2) Add in the parsley and pour in the water. Stir in the lemon juice and bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer until the mixture is reduced by half. 

3)Melt in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and mix well. Stir in the shrimp and gently toss in the sauce until coated well. Add in the chopped parsley and serve warm. 

Enjoy. 

This recipe goes great with a bowl of green salad and/or a simple pasta.