Tequila Lime Shrimp Tacos

Does this happen to anyone else? People bring booze over for a party, we use it for some sort of specialty cocktail, then the rest of the bottle sits collecting dust on our shelf for the rest of eternity. The Hubs and I tend to stick to beer, wine, vodka drinks (me), or whisky drinks (him). Neither of us is opposed to an occasional margarita or mojito, but its not our typical drink of choice. Currently we have the following liquors collecting dust on our bar

-1/2 handle Captian Morgan spiced rum

-a bottle with approximately one drink’s worth for 25 aniversario tequlia

-3/4 small bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey

- 3/4 bottle of Jose Cuervo silver tequila

- 1/4 bottle of The Balvenie Scotch

- 1/4 bottle Cruzan white rum

-1/2 huge bottle Bombay Sapphire gin

-an almost full bottle of triple sec

-an almost empty bottle of limoncello

-an almost empty bottle of apple pucker (?!?!)

-1/4 bottle of brandy

Random? Yes. Most of this stuff has been here for a long time, and I can’t even remember what we made with it to begin with. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Our house is small. We do not have room for excess, therefore I decided its time to purge some of the booze the other day. Of course I would never just throw alcohol away, that would be crazy, so I took a poll on my facebook page to see what I could make. The response was overwhelmingly tequila lime shrimp. Duh! Seems like a no brainer, but for some reason it never crossed my mind. In the spirit of purging, I opted for tacos since we had some tortillas that needed to be used up as well. The result, delish! You guys never let me down. Now, what to make with the rest of this stuff??

Tequila Lime Shrimp Tacos 

2 pounds large, raw shrimp, peeled & de-veined

2 Tbs. olive oil

4 Tbs. tequila 

MARINADE

juice and rind of 1 medium orange

juice and rind of 2 medium limes

1/4 cup tequila

1 Tablespoon granulated white sugar

SLAW

2 cups shredded fresh green cabbage

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3 tablespoons lime juice

1/3 cup olive oil

1-2 teaspoons sugar (to taste)

Pinch of salt and pepper

GARNISH

Tortillas

1/2 c. queso fresco

1 avocado, diced

Combine marinade ingredient and shrimp in a large ziploc bag. Marinade the shrimp for 30 minutes in the fridge, turning several times, so the shrimp are evenly coated. 

Place 2 Tbs of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to smoke, remove the pan from the stove and add 4 Tbsp. of tequila to the pan. (You can avoid a dangerous flare-up by removing the pan from the stove.)

Drain the shrimp from the marinade. Discard the marinade. Add the shrimp to the pan and cook until pink.

For the slaw, whisk together lime juice, olive oil, sugar, salt and pepper. Drizzle over the cabbage and cilantro and toss to coat.

Serve shrimp on tortillas topped with slaw, queso fresco and avocado. Enjoy!