BBQ shrimp

[tissue]

Mindy, What a coincidence!  I made some BBQ this weekend too.  I saw this post last week but finally had the time to register for the site.  Below is my complete recipe, should be on the website by this afternoon.

Uptown Kevin's Culinary Adventures

New Orleans BBQ Shrimp

BBQ Shrimp is a classic New Orleans staple.  Quite a misnomer, as anyone who puts BBQ sauce on or near this dish should be sent packing.  This is super easy to prepare, and my version REQUIRES Abita Amber beer, one of the best I have found for cooking.

Ingredients

Software

1 lb. Shrimp (heads still on)

2 Sticks Butter

½ Large White Onion

4 Cloves Garlic (Peeled and Smashed)

Olive Oil

Worcestershire Sauce

1 Bottle Abita Amber Beer (Do Not Substitute)

Juice of one lemon

Garlic powder

Coarse Kosher Salt

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Cayenne Pepper

CajunLand Crab/Shrimp Boil (Powdered)

Hardware

2 Quart Saucepan

Large Pyrex baking dish

Prep (5 minutes)

Dice Onion

Smash Garlic

Clean shrimp and lay them in one layer the baking dish, sprinkle with kosher salt

Cook (15 minutes)

1. In the saucepan, sauté onion until translucent, then add garlic (yes, in chunks), then the two sticks of butter.

2. When butter has liquefied, add each seasoning while stirring – garlic powder, salt, pepper, cayenne, crab boil and Worcestershire sauce.

3. Add the olive oil, stir, and then add about half of a bottle of beer (6-8 oz.).

4. Keep stirring; drink the rest of the beer.

5. When the foam from the beer subsides, pour the sauce over the shrimp in the baking dish.

6. Place under the broiler for about 10 minutes, stir, then another 5 minutes, or until shrimp are pink and cooked.

7. Remove from broiler and let rest for at least ten minutes.

8. Serve in a bowl with lots of sauce and pieces of po-boy bread for dipping.

I use a similar recipe like this for BBQ shrimp. I don't use 8 pounds of butter but I use a lot, depending on how much shrimp I buy. Don't get mad but I substituted Newcastle for the beer.

Edited June 8, 2004 by tissue (log)

[UptownKevin]

Well, I do use BBQ sauce on mine, although it is my version, not the traditional baked thing.

Also note that the recipe I put in above is actual BBQ'ed shrimp, though this could work well in the oven.

Also note that my recipe does not need 8 lbs of butter to make it taste good.

What these other places are doing is closer to shrimp scampi.

FistFullaRoux,

I think we are going to have to agree to disagree on this one.

The subject at hand is New Orleans BBQ shrimp, a dish that originated in New Orleans and contains NO BBBQ sauce. Period. There is no discussion on that. That's just the way it is. I'm not sure if you've ever lived in New Orleans (excuse my ignorance), but those dishes are not shrimp scampi, they are New Orleans BBQ shrimp.

The recipe you describe is that of grilled shrimp. Looks like a good recipe. Cooking something on a grill is generally called grilling. Slapping BBQ sauce on food cooked on a grill doesn't necessarily make it BBQ. There is a difference between BBQ and grilled food. BBQ is food cooked slowly with indirect heat. Food that is cooked over direct heat is grilled.

Hope this helps to clear up the misconception.... I have a couple of good grilled shrimp recipes, perhaps we should start a "grilled shrimp" thread.

Kevin

www.uptownkevin.net

[bleachboy]

I don't think anybody disagrees with you, Kevin. There's no barbecuing or BBQ sauce involved with barbuecued shrimp in New Orleans. It's just "one of those things".

And while I'm trolling on eGullet constantly posting off-topic, I recently noticed that my copy of "The Cotton Country Collection" is MISSING pages 255-286. I can't make Jambalaya!!! I have half a mind to sue the Junior League.

[Mayhaw Man]

You want a new copy? I can give you the right Junior Leaguer to complain to.

One of the best eating years of my life was when they were testing recipes for that book. That's a bad part to be missin, though-Trudy Aron's Stuffed Pork Chops (my old next door neighbor), Jambalaya, Joe Baum's (yes that one from Windows on the World--he had a bunch of relatives in Monroe) Grilled Leg of Lamb, Tamale Pie, and all of the meat sauces.

On second thought-maybe you should contact an attorney.

[PopsicleToze]

Hi, Kevin & Mindy Moo

[tissue]

I have half a mind to sue the Junior League.

I'm an ignorant californian, what's junior league?

[Mayhaw Man]

If you have to ask you will never be considered for Membership.

Jr. Leagues are service organizations that exist all over the country, but primarily in the South and are, frankly, just extensions of sororities and operate a great deal like them as well. Members are friends of friends and older women become sustaining members (which allows them to get their daughters in without a chance of blackballing). They raise money for various charities, often through the publishing of cookbooks.

These cookbooks, as far as I am concerned, are enough reason for these women to get together. Several of the best cookbooks ever printed (IMO) came out of Southern Jr. Leagues. THe COtton Country, Southern Sideboards, River Road, and Talk about Good! are all Jr League books worth having. Some of these are legitimate best sellers-The Cotton Country and River Road have both sold well over 1/2 million copies at this point.

My wife's complete disinterest in the Jr League has been a bizarre source of dissappointment for both my mom and my MIL. It comes up every once in a while and we just laugh.

[tissue]

If you have to ask you will never be considered for Membership.

I'm asian. They probably wouldn't let me in anyway, hehe.

I'll check out their cookbook though, sounds cool.

[MindyMoo]

Hey Rhonda - cooked fried green tomatoes from my NOPSI cookbook last night - I'll tell you about it at SM!

[MindyMoo]

Oh, and about the Junior League's River Road and River Road II cookbooks - I actually bought my copies at Wal-Mart in Chalmette, LA for a pretty good discount... I had to overcome my distaste of the Junior League, but the cookbook was worth it!