INGREDIENTS

• 1     pound     Shrimp (heads still on)
• 1/2     pound    Butter (2 Sticks)
• 1/2    large     White or yellow Onion (small dice)
• 4     cloves     Garlic (peeled and minced)
• 1/4     cup    Worcestershire Sauce
• 1     Bottle     Abita Amber Beer (or any good craft brew amber lager)
• 1    lemon     Juiced
• Garlic powder
• Coarse Kosher Salt
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• Cayenne Pepper
• CajunLand Crab/Shrimp Boil (Powdered), or Cajun seasoning

METHOD

• Lay shrimp in one layer in a large Pyrex baking dish, sprinkle with kosher salt and grind a LOT of black pepper
• In a large saucepan, melt a bit of butter and sauté onion until translucent, then add garlic for a few minutes, then the two sticks of butter.
• When butter has liquefied, add each seasoning while stirring – garlic powder, salt, pepper, cayenne, crab boil, and Worcestershire sauce.
• Add the olive oil, squeeze in the lemon, stir, and then add about half of a bottle of beer (6-8 oz.).  It may foam up, so watch your heat on the stove.
• Keep stirring; drink the rest of the beer.
• When the foam from the beer subsides, pour the sauce over the shrimp in the baking dish; make sure the shrimp are covered by the sauce (or nearly covered).
• Place in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, stir, then another 5 minutes, or until shrimp are pink and cooked.
• Remove from oven and let rest for at least five to ten minutes.
• Serve in a bowl with lots of sauce and pieces of po-boy bread for dipping.

Shrimp and Grits – Southern Style

Serves 4 (about 8-10 large shrimp per serving)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 ½  pounds             Shrimp, Florida Pink, 21-25 — peeled and deveined
• ¼      cup                    Yellow Onion – Small Julienne
• ¼      cup                    Red Bell pepper – Julienned, small
• ¼      cup                    Orange Bell Pepper – Julienned, small
• ¼      cup                    Yellow Bell pepper – Julienned, small
• ¼      pound               Smoked Sausage, Uncle John’s Pride — Cubed
• 2        tablespoons   Butter, unsalted
• ½      cup                    White Wine
• 1        cup                    Heavy cream (or more if necessary)
• 1 – 2  glasses            White wine or Beer of choice (to drink while cooking)
• Creole or Cajun Seasoning — To Taste
• 1         recipe             Creamy Grits (recipe follows)

METHOD

• Season shrimp liberally with Cajun/Creole Seasoning (Emeril’s Essence is good and readily available)
• In a large sauté pan (non-stick is fine), sauté the sausage for 3-5 minutes to brown and render grease,
• then remove (leave the grease).
• Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in pan and add shrimp to pan and sauté for 5-6 minutes until they are pink and curled up (cooked, but not overdone).  Be careful not to overcook, as the shrimp will be added near the end to re-heat.
• In the same pan – melt 1 tablespoon butter then sweat the onions and peppers for 5-10 or more minutes until nearly soft.
• Add white wine and reduce for 5 minutes.  Then add heavy cream and reduce until desired thickness.

Add shrimp back to pan for 2-3 minutes.
Season to taste using salt, pepper and cayenne (or Creole/Cajun Seasoning).

Creamy Stone Ground Grits

(your best bet is to follow the recipe on the package of grits)

• 6 cups chicken Stock
• 4 cups heavy cream (can use whole milk)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup stone ground white grits
• 1 pound grated white or yellow cheddar

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, combine the chicken stock, cream, salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of the butter. Bring the liquid to a gentle boil. Stir in the grits. Cook for about 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. (**The grits will stick to the bottom of the pan, so make sure not to scrape the bottom of the pan. If the grits have absorbed all of the liquid, add some additional chicken stock or milk to thin out the grits.) Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and all of the cheese.

Easy method – use Quaker Quick Grits (not instant) and this process should only take 10-15 minutes.  The cream, chicken stock, butter and salt are the most important factors in making these, especially when they are being topped with a shrimp sauce.

Although I sometimes make this dish with chicken, my favorite is with shrimp.  And since they were on sale yesterday at the local supermarket, I picked up about six ounces of shrimp for my dinner for less than three bucks.   With the addition of just a few more ingredients, the whole dish took me ten minutes to prep, ten minutes to cook and only cost around $3.50 for one serving.

To complement the spicy chili sauce, I paired the dish with a German Riesling, 2006 Petals.  The wine was a bit sweet for me to enjoy by itself, but putting it with the food was a match made in heaven.  Spicy pink shrimp, Thai chili sauce and a nice sweet wine sure did make for an enjoyable weekday evening.  Try it yourself!

Courtesy of Kevin Lacassin
www.NolaFoodie.com

Serves 2, Wine Pairing: Riesling

INGREDIENTS

• ½ lb. SHRIMP, peeled and de-veined
• 2 packages Ramen NOODLES
• 3 green ONIONS, chopped
• 2 SHALLOTS, minced
• 2 tablespoons Sambal CHILI PASTE (can use Sriracha)
• 2-3 tablespoons BUTTER
• dash of SOY SAUCE
• 2 tablespoons olive OIL
• dash of HOISIN SAUCE
• dash black PEPPER

METHOD

1.    Peel and de-vein shrimp, season with black pepper, soy sauce and Hoisin sauce.  Fill a two-quart saucepan with water and bring to a boil (to cook the noodles).

2.    Coat a large (12”) non-stick skillet with a bit of olive oil and sweat the shallots and half of the green onions for five minutes, until soft.  Add shrimp and cook on a medium heat for several minutes, until shrimp turn pink.

3.    Add two tablespoons of butter and the green onions to the skillet.  Cook for a minute or two until all of the butter is melted.  Add two tablespoons of Sambal chili sauce and stir thoroughly.  Continue to cook the sauce on low heat for several minutes.

4.    While the sauce is cooking, open two packages of Ramen noodles and discard the seasoning packet.  Cook according to instructions on the package (generally 3 minutes).

5.    Drain the noodles and add to the skillet; toss all ingredients together and serve in a bowl or small plate with chopsticks.  Garnish with green onion.

NOTES

• You will have to eyeball each of the liquid ingredients.
• The Sambal chili sauce is spicy! If the end result is too spicy, you can cut the heat with extra butter.