New Orleans Shrimp
Here’s a good shrimp recipe that cooks up in a jiffy and makes a simple but special dinner.
I usually use frozen shrimp, but fresh is OK if it’s really fresh. Your nose knows.
Frozen shrimp comes cooked, raw, with or without shells, and in various sizes. For this recipe, try to find large shrimp, raw, shelled and deveined, with tails on.
If you buy fresh shrimp and aren’t sure what to do, check on peeling and deveining shrimp. It’s not hard to do, but a little time-consuming.
This recipe uses one pound of shrimp, which is enough for two dinners or four appetizers. Scale it up if necessary.
INGREDIENTS
1 lb. shrimp, peeled, deveined, with tails left on
10 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium shallots or 2 tablespoons minced onion
3 tablespoons black pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1 lemon, juiced and peel grated (zest)
8 sprigs fresh thyme
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons hot sauce
1/2 bottle dark beer (you figure out what to do with the other half)
4 tablespoons butter
INSTRUCTIONS
Combine everything except the butter in a bowl, mix it up, cover it, and put it in the fridge for 1 to 6 hours. Since this dish cooks quickly, now is the time to heat up a vegetable and cook some rice to go with the shrimp, if this is dinner instead of an appetizer. In the photo, the shrimp are being served with rice and fresh lima beans.
When it’s time to eat, heat up a 12 inch skillet and add 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add the shrimp mixture and stir-fry for about four minutes, until the shrimp are pink.
Remove the shrimp from the pan and whisk in the remaining two tablespoons of the butter to make a sauce. Put the shrimp over the rice and spoon the sauce over the shrimp. The thyme sprigs will serve as a garnish, or add paprika or other colorful garnish if you wish.
Serve with French bread, olive oil, and white wine or beer. Enjoy!