First off....New Orleans Barbecued Shrimp are not BBQ'd. No BBQ sauce, No charcoal, No grill required.
If you have never had these, you have not yet fully lived. Even if you do not like shrimp, you need to eat a few of these just to be sure. If you still do not like them, your taste buds are defective.
New Orleans Barbecued Shrimp are cooked a little different by every cook that makes them. There is no wrong way, per say. Some are better than others though. If you google New Orleans Barbecued Shrimp you will find no less than a couple hundred recipes. I have tasted many different styles and I think I liked every one of them. I did decide that I like this way better than the rest though. For me, the real enjoyment and the way these are meant to be eaten is, the messier the better. I cook them whole, heads and all. Just tails works fine. Peeled is ok, so long as you make a couple adjustments.
THESE ARE EASY TO MAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DON'T BE SCARED BY READING THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BE BRAVE AND TRY IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will give the recipe for 2 pound of shrimp, you can adjust for the amount of shrimp you have. However, about 2 pounds is the most you should cook in the pan at one time. If you need 4 pounds to feed the family, just cook 2 pounds at a time. It only takes about 5 mins to cook the pan full of shrimp. There will be sauce left in the pan, just drop the next load and keep cooking. Add a little more butter or beer if needed, probably won't be necessary. If you need to cook more than 4 pounds, you will need to add more butter, seasonings, and beer to make enough sauce. Just eyeball it.
You will need a large saute pan for this recipe. Big wide flat bottom, straight walls. Frying pans don't make great saute pans. You also need a wooden spatula or spoon. Plastic is dangerous. It melts and explodes in your face! Plastic is for milk jugs, not cooking utensils.
2 pounds of JUMBO whole RAW shrimp. Never buy cooked shrimp you plan to cook! Frozen is fine, just put them under COLD running water and they will thaw in about 10-15 mins. Try to get whole shrimp with heads and shells. If you can't find them, just get the JUMBO tails with shells on. If you want to eat the finished product with a fork and not your fingers, then peel the raw shrimp before you start. Keep the shells!!!! Please try this the first time with the shells on, please.
2 sticks of real, salted butter. Do not substitute butter flavored vegetable spunk. If you can't eat butter, stop here and go fix a spinach salad.
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. EVOO from here on.
1/2 a sweet onion, chopped
1 tablespoon of minced garlic, more is good
1 tablespoon of Creole Seasoning, I use only Tony Chachere's in the green can.
1 tablespoon of Old Bay's Seasoning
1 tablespoon of Rosemary, I used dried, but fresh is better.
2 Bay Leaves - Not required, but I always use them
1 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper - more if you like to sweat.
1/2 cup of Worcester Sauce
1/2 a good beer - or a cup of white wine. Both give good results. I like beer better.
2 lemons, peeled and sectioned, like you would do an orange.
Prep:
Peel the lemons and section them
Chop the onion
Measure dry spices and mix together in a bowl
measure out Worcester sauce
Wash the shrimp, peel if your a sissy. Save the shells
Drink 1/2 the beer
*start a pan of water for corn on the cob, if you're gonna eat that with the shrimp.
Weenies read this:
If you decided to peel the shrimp, your gonna need a couple more beers. I hope you bought enough.
Take the shells and heads if you have them and put them in a small sauce pan with a 1/2 a beer. Bring them to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 15 mins. Remove from heat and allow to cool 15 mins. Strain liquid off the shells and heads and save for later. See, you just took like 45 minutes extra to keep from peeling your shrimp while eating them. I guarantee it would have been faster to just peel them as you ate. I hope you at least drank a couple beers during this time.
OK, now on to the good stuff:
Add the EVOO to the saute pan on high heat
Add the onions and garlic and rosemary, saute for a couple minutes
Add the Worcester Sauce and continue cooking on high heat, stir like hell! You want to reduce the sauce, but not burn it!
After a minute of bubbling, add the butter and melt. Keep stirring like hell! Keep reducing, keep stirring, don't burn it!
Add the dry seasonings, lemons and beer. Weenies, use your shrimp shell flavored beer stock here.
Reduce the heat and allow this mixture to simmer for a bit. You want the butter to take on the flavors of the spices. About 10-15 mins.
Bring to a boil and add your shrimp.
Stir and shake the pan, keep the shrimp moving, keep coating the shrimp in the sauce. Make sure you get the ones on bottom off the bottom and the ones on top to the bottom.
Cook on high heat for 5-7 minutes. 5 minutes for peeled or small shrimp, 6 for shell on tails, 7 for head on whole shrimp.
Take it straight to the plate, spoon some sauce over the shrimp.
(OK Weenies, here is one way you redeem yourselves. Since you have peeled shrimp, after the first 2 mins of cooking, reduce heat by half, add a cup or more of heavy cream slowly, ever so slowly while stirring like hell. Cook 3 more mins or a little longer to thicken. This will make a wonderful creamy sauce. If you just dump the cream in, it may curd up and ruin the whole pan. Go slow and you will be fine. This is excellent served over linguine noodles.)
Careful now, these suckers will be freakin' hot! I have burned the ends of my fingers badly trying to eat these too fast.
Use French Bread to soak up the sauce. This is almost as good as the shrimp. Don't even think about serving this dish without french bread to go with it. Did you hear me? Don't do it.
I make corn on the cob to go with the shrimp. I just roll the corn in the shrimp sauce left on the plate, no need to butter or salt it. Using the french bread and corn to soak of the sauce is usually deemed more acceptable than licking the sauce off the plate. But, do whatever you have to do to get all the sauce your arteries can withstand.
If you have any leftovers, they make a great shrimp Po-boy with the leftover french bread the next day.
