Shrimp Tacos

This recipe comes from Rick Bayless. You may have seen his cooking show on PBS: Mexico: One Plate at a Time. You can find the original recipe here.

We ate this for dinner today. Even Josie loved the shrimp.

Ingredients

• 1 lime, halved
• 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, very coarsely ground
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice berries, very coarsely ground
• 3 bay leaves
• 12 ounces shrimp, deveined but unpeeled
• 1/2 small red onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 ripe medium-small tomato, cored and cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 5 radishes, finely diced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 5 tablespoons vegetable oil, preferably half olive oil and half vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

Squeeze the two lime halves into a medium saucepan, then add the two squeezed rinds, the black pepper, allspice, bay leaves and 1 quart water. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.

Raise the heat to high, add the shrimp, re-cover and let the liquid return just barely to a simmer. Immediately remove the pan from the heat, hold the lid slightly askew and strain off all the liquid. Re-cover tightly, set aside for 5 to 8 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through, then rinse the shrimp under cold water to stop the cooking.

Peel the shrimp. If the shrimp are medium or larger, cut them into 1/2 -inch bits; place in a bowl. Add the red onion, tomato, radish and cilantro to the shrimp. In a small bowl or jar with a tight fitting lid, combine the lime juice, oil and salt.

Shortly before serving, mix the dressing ingredients thoroughly, then pour over the shrimp mixture. Toss to coat everything well, cover and refrigerate or set aside at room temperature.

Serve with tortillas.

Serves 4.

Here are a few of my own recommendations:

• Use less that the 5 tablespoons of oil that it calls for. Next time, I'll try it with 2 tablespoons oil.
• We left out the radishes (because I forgot to buy them). We didn't really miss them, but I think it would have been good with them in.
• We used flour tortillas, but I think corn would have been better. I always prefer flour tortillas to corn, but I think this dish may be an exception.