Recipes

Finger-licking good

"I'll remember feeding him the spicy flavored shrimp — his tongue trailing my saucy fingers so slowly that I'm positive time stopped. I'll remember him rubbing the spices along my mouth, only to lick them off seconds later. I'll remember lips on fingers, tongues on mouths, heat and honey. And I will never think of grilled shrimp the same way again."

Anne, on her experience with spicy grilled shrimp and Eric, 6 dates in 2 weeks, Jacksonville, FL

yields 2 to 3 servings

Juice and zest of 2 limes, plus 1 lime cut into wedges for garnish
3 hot chile peppers, seeded and sliced
1 stalk lemon grass, outer leaves discarded and interior stalk thinly sliced
1 (2-inch) piece ginger, grated (about 2 tablespoons)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons honey
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
1 pound jumbo shrimp (16/20 count), deveined and shelled, if desired
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for 30 minutes to prevent them from catching fire on the grill. Combine the lime juice, zest, chiles, lemon grass, ginger, garlic, honey, olive oil, and cilantro in a casserole dish large enough to accommodate the skewers; mix well.

Thread 4 shrimp on 2 parallel skewers to keep them from spinning on the skewers. Repeat with the remaining shrimp. Add the skewers to the marinade, turning several times to coat well. (As an alternative to skewers, marinate the loose shrimp in a large, resealable plastic bag. Grill in a grill pan instead of skewering.) Refrigerate 30 minutes to 1 hour at the most, turning once or twice while marinating.

Prepare a grill with a medium-hot fire or preheat the broiler. Remove the shrimp from the marinade. Season with salt and pepper. Grill or broil for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until just cooked through. Garnish with additional cilantro and lime wedges.

Excerpted from InterCourses: An Aphrodisiac Cookbook.
Copyright © 2007 by Martha Hopkins and Randall Lockridge. All rights reserved.