On my return home last night from the Alabama Gulf Coast, a gift of fresh local caught shrimp from Billy’s Seafood was waiting in my fridge. It had been overnighted from my friends at the tourism department along with a few perks like an entire Hope’s Cheesecake, Box of Zatarain’s Seafood Boil, a Beach Bag full of swag like the one I just gave away on 30A EATS Facebook page, and a copy of Crazy Sista Cooking: Cuisine and Conversation with Lucy Ann Buffett. #Sweet!
Since I am on deadline this afternoon for several writing assignments, I wanted to make something quick and easy- BBQ Shrimp. It’s a great New Orleans dish that I learned how to cook at age 15 when living in Algiers. No need to break out the grill here. If time is not of the essence, then I sometimes reduce the liquid in a pan, add the shrimp until pink and serve in a pretty bow. When I want to speed things up I use a pyrex dish and the oven-what I did today!
Easy as one-two-three!
BBQ Shrimp
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2.5 pounds fresh headless shrimp, unpeeled (If head on, use 3 pounds…PS: Billy’s Ships!)
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
3 teaspoons cracked black pepper
2 teaspoons Creole seasoning (I used Emeril’s Original Essence)
1 full teaspoon garlic, minced
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed ( don’t hold back on the butter! Mine got to room temp so I smashed it as seen in photo)
A drizzle of good olive oil like Mac Farms or Georgia Olive Farms
1/2 tsp of fresh chopped dill
French bread for dipping
Preparation:
In a 9×12 pyrex dish (head on might need larger) combine Worcestershire, lemon juice, black pepper, Creole seasoning, unsalted butter and garlic. Place in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees until mixture melts about 5-7 minutes. Add shrimp and stir until covered in mixture. Place back in oven for 5 minutes, then remove to stir. Do this two more times for a total of 15 minutes. Do not overcook or shrimp will be tough and hard to peel!
Remove from oven and serve from Pyrex dish with warm French bread for dipping. Make sure you have a damp towel for each diner to wipe off with when finished.
Check out the hashtag #albeachblogger and #gsobfoodie to see what I was up to this week, and my first post on #AlabamaGulfCoast #Travel here. Part 2 is still to come!
