Topsail Shrimp Tacos

No matter how well I plan for a trip it always seems that something gets left at home.  This time it was the ground cumin – really the only seasoning in my shrimp tacos recipe. Cumin normally goes in the shrimp and slaw, as well as the guacamole we whipped up to nosh post beach/prior dinner.  It’s supposed to add that undefinable Southwestern/Mexican/Latin American flavor to the dishes. After a run to the shrimp
market, now with white wine sangrias in hand, there was no more running out for
cumin. Oh well. Goes to show that sometimes all a dish needs is the great taste
of the ingredients themselves: fresh caught shrimp, limes, cilantro, avocados…So
feel free to add some cumin to this when you make it, or not.

For 6 hungry people

Shrimp filling:

3 lbs peeled & deveined shrimp

1 Tablespoon cooking oil (I use canola or olive)

Juice of half a lime

Salt and pepper

Creamy cilantro slaw:

½ large head of green cabbage, shredded or sliced into fine julienne

Half bunch of cilantro

Juice of one lime

1/8 teaspoon cayenne or some hot sauce

1 cup more or less of mayonnaise

Salt and pepper

Accompaniments :

Soft corn and/or flour tortillas

Salsa (See “Salsa Verde” for my tomatillo salsa recipe)

Chopped cilantro

Guacamole

Slice the cabbage or use a large bag of prepared coleslaw
mix (the thin shredded kind, not the fine chopped kind). Remove the leaves from
half the bunch of cilantro and chop them roughly. I don’t mind some cilantro
stems getting in the mix, but some folks don’t like the texture.  Toss in bowl. Squeeze the lime juice over the cabbage. Add cayenne, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Mix. Chill.

Heat oil in pan. Drain shrimp. Sauté in pan until cooked, seasoning with salt and pepper. Squeeze lime juice over at end of cooking. The shrimp may exude water when cooked: drain or use slotted spoon when taking them out of the pan.

Before serving, warm tortillas (cast iron pan, microwave, oven all work well for this). Let everyone make their own tacos: shrimp on tortillas, add slaw, and top with any  accompaniments.  If using corn tortillas, double them up to prevent splitting and leaking. Or just go at it with a fork when it does break up. Goes well with cold beer or white wine sangria. And the beach.