As the day dawns this morning I’m in Galveston, picking up Jess (of Jess McGlothlin Media, our daughter) as she’s finishing up an AFFTA meeting down here.
Yesterday I attended what was (hopefully) my final appointment in Houston. It was a bittersweet time, as the doc (Dr. M) who had led my team, an uber-fit, marathon-running, long distance hiking, fly fishing, and otherwise pretty damn clean living guy who’d just turned 61 died not quite two months ago after an unexpected heart attack and subsequent complications.
He had just a few weeks before announced his transition to part-time, looking forward to more time fly fishing and travel with his wife and large family.
The treatment team (save for one) I’d come to know over the past year was still as chipper, efficient and encouraging as ever, though the lead nurse, a lovely women who spent the better part of two decades with my Doc broke down when I asked how she was holding up as we sat down for a final checkout conversation.
She composed herself quickly and pulled a handwritten note from my file containing this recipe – Chile Garlic Shrimp; it was apparently the Doc’s favorite way to prep shrimp at home, and after my last visit he’d brought it in to give me after we’d talked about chasing redfish and seatrout on the flats along the Texas coast in our youth (and later).
With a final hug she reminded me, as I’m sure she has everybody she crosses paths with of late, to not wait for some mystical milestone in the future to squeeze the most out of every day we all have before us.
Amen to that. And dammit, the good do die far too young sometimes.
We’ll be having this in the next few days; as soon as Jess is done this morning we’re putting 4 or 5 pounds of fresh shrimp in the cooler and hitting the road.
2 tbsp coconut oil or EVOO
10 garlic cloves, peeled, sliced thin
2-3 dried red chiles, stemmed, seeded and crumbled by hand into large pieces
2 lb. large shrimp, headed, shelled and deveined
1 tbsp brandy
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Sprinkle of good salt
Shake of crushed red pepper flakes
Heat the oil in a medium-large sauté pan over high heat; toss the garlic slices in and sauté until browned (2 to 3 minutes); keep ‘em moving.
Add the chiles, shake to coat with the oil, then add the shrimp. Sauté for another 4 to 5 minutes until the shrimp are just cooked through.
Pour the brandy over the shrimp and cook for another minute; immediately remove from the heat and transfer to a serving platter.
Garnish with the parsley, sprinkle with a good salt, and go to it. And tip your hat and cold adult beverage to the Doc when you rustle up a batch of these.
Enjoy.
