Alice in the Kitchen

Garides me anitho – Zaytinya Shrimp with Dill

I recently had the (bittersweet) pleasure of toasting to a friend’s move from D.C. at Zaytinya during their Mezze Ora cocktail hour, where the group smartly order garides me anitho – simply described on the menu as sautéed shrimp, dill, shallots, mustard, and lemon juice.

It.was.crazy.good.  As in, there were no more shrimp left in the dish and we were all still eagerly dipping our pita bread into the lovely, buttery sauce, without hesitation.  Without judgment.  It was that kind of good.  So I was thrilled when I discovered that the food blogger for the Washingtonian had shared the recipe here, and I knew I had to try it out – and soon.

I will say that the recipe is very close to what I had at Zaytinya that day – but I think with a few tweaks, it would have been even better – so I’m going to post the recipe below, but I’ll note my suggested modifications in parentheses.  (Also note in my photos, I quadrupled the recipe.  We don’t have cocktail hours at our house, we just eat dinner.)

You’ll need:

• 1 tablespoon minced shallot
• 6 shrimp, (preferably 21/25-count size), peeled and deveined
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard (I would use HALF this amount.  If you compare the restaurant photo above and my photos below, you’ll see mine have a ton more mustard seeds – would have been better with less.)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon white pepper
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• Salt to taste
• Minced dill to taste (to taste?  the dill is what makes the dish!  for my purposes, I used an entire small package of fresh dill.  When chopped,  it was at least two tablespoons, and it would have been better with twice this much dill.)
• Olive oil as needed

In a sauté pan set over medium heat, sweat the shallots in a little olive oil (not the tablespoon of extra virgin).  Add the shrimp and sauté briefly until the shrimp start to turn slightly opaque.  Add the garlic to the pan and sauté another minute.  Add the mustard and cover the pan.

When the shrimp are almost done, about 2 minutes, add the lemon juice, tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil, and minced dill to taste. Season with white pepper and salt.

Cook for another minute, then add the butter to the pan to create a sauce.  Swirl the pan until the sauce becomes creamy.

Garnish with more dill and serve.

All I was missing was some pita bread to dip in the leftover sauce.  Thanks Zaytinya and Recipe Sleuth!