Some people like to jump off cliffs or buildings with a parachute, but I prefer to get my kicks with a chemical–Capsicum! It’s what makes chili peppers spicy. It’s the soul of the chili pod! In Texas, and in New Mexico it’s almost a religion, right along with riding bucking cayuses and roping doggies. One of our favorite recipes is stolen from a woman who is one of my mentors, and we believe the world’s greatest cook of Mexican food. It’s called, “Camarones a la Diabla”, or “she devil shrimp!” We fix it in one pot, so it adapts well to Dutch oven cooking. Do it her way if you like the “heat” (picoso) or you can use chilies of lower octane if you want to tame it down.
Melt a stick of butter in a Dutch oven, then sauté about two or three pounds of peeled shrimp. Add a tablespoon of chopped garlic,and when the shrimps are pink, cover with about a cup of chicken broth. Now simmer this in the open pot while you put ten guajillo chiles and five chiles de arbol in a blender and make a red paste. Put this into the pot, with two bay leaves, four cloves, and one more clove of garlic. Simmer this while you make a pot of rice, and pour the shrimp over the rice. Watch out for the chile de arbol, but if you need to crank up the “heat” use ten of them instead of five. But even when it’s done with mild chiles it’s Del-yow-shuss! Or as we say ¡Muy Rico!