Saveur Shrimp

A few weeks ago I received the March issue of Saveur in the mail. The cover story was all about shrimp. I didn't read it. But I was shocked and excited to see a recipe and full page photo of Barbecued Shrimp...a dish that J-lo ordered when we went to dinner for his birthday at Acadiana and he loved and we all were completely impressed by. The dish was supposedly one of the top 25 dishes served in the United States in something like 2005...it was really good.

Well, here's a recipe that looked and sounded almost exactly like the Acadiana dish. So, we had to try it and tonight was the night.

But first...note to self...when you read a recipe and plan to make it...check to make sure you have everything...and enough of it! I had everything, but not enough of two ingredients...it's ok...but I would have liked to try it by following the recipe completely.


Barbecue Shrimp
serves 4

16 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (tails on if you want) (1-1 1/2 lbs)
2 TB Creole/cajun seasoning
1/4 cup canola oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 TB finely chopped rosemary
1/2 cup amber beer
6 TB hot sauce
6 TB worcestershire suace
5 TB fresh lemon juice
12 TB butter
Crusty Bread!

All ingredients ready! It goes fast.

1) Heat a large skillet over medium heat until hot. Meanwhile, put the shrimp and cajun seasoning into a bowl; toss to coat. Set aside.

Shrimp chilling.

2) Add oil and garlic to skillet and cook until golden, about 1 minute. Add rosemary and cook for 2-3 seconds. Add shrimp and cook, flipping once, until it starts to turn pink, about 30 seconds.

Shrimp, garlic and rosemary.

3) Transfer shrimp to a large plate; set aside. Add beer, hot sauce, worcestershire and lemon juice in skillet; stir well. Cook, stirring, until thickened, 7-8 minutes.

Transferred shrimp.

4) Remove skillet from heat; whisk butter a few pieces at a time (sauce will start to thicken). Return shrimp to skillet; toss to coat. Return skillet to medium heat and cook until shrimp are cooked through, 2-3 minutes. Transfer shrimp and sauce to plates. Serve with chunks of crusty bread for dipping!

Shrimp and sauce, plus bread for dipping. Served with boiled potatoes with butter and parsley.

This was great! As I only tried a bite of shrimp at Acadiana, I think this was pretty close. Jason thinks it was pretty close as well, not completely, but close!

So what didn't I have enough of...I only had about 1 TB of chopped rosemary...the pack I bought just didn't have much in it. I also only had 2 TB of worcestershire sauce. Other adjustments I made, I went with 2/3rds cup of beer and only 8 TB of butter, instead of 12 TB! Really great as I made it...next time I'm going to try to get more rosemary and worcestershire. Oh, and I only did 4 TB of hot sauce.