A few days before my Daddy Dearest drove up for my graduation, he asked if hubby and I wanted any foodstuffs. I didn't intend to ask for anything, but then he mentioned shrimp. If there is one thing that breaks my heart about living in the midwest, it's the lack of delicious, fresh Gulf shrimp. So the mere mention of shrimp sent my little heart a pitter-pattering. When I mentioned Daddy Dearest's offer to hubby, his face lit up. Ours is a shared love of shrimp. Dad was more than willing to oblige.
Now, I always grew up with my dad saying such things as "it's better to have too much than too little." He is the king of preparing at least twice as much food as is needed (granted, I think it's mostly because he LOVES leftovers). So, I wasn't all the surprised when he showed up with a full sized cooler. It contained: 3 lbs of boudin, stuffed mushrooms and jalepenos, my absolute favorite sausage, and AT LEAST 5 (FIVE!!) pounds of shrimp! It's heavenly having this food filling my fridge.
So now I've got enough shrimp for 5 (well 4 now) delicious meals. Nom nom nom. This brings us to today's New Orleans Shrimp*. It's slap-yo-mama** good. This is exactly something you ccould order at any Creole restaurant. If you want to know what New Orleans tastes like, eat this. If you enjoy shrimp, eat this. Know that this is going into my arsenal of foods to impress people, especially since it is as easy as it is delicious.
New Orleans Shrimp:
1 lbs raw shrimp, deveined and peeled with or without tails (we removed them)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp paprika (I didn't have any, so I obviously didn't use any)
1/16 cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp parlsey, finely chopped
salt and pepper
If you haven't already, rinse your shrimp.
Lightly drizzle olive oil in a medium sized skillet and heat over medium high heat. Arrange the shrimp in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Once the shrimp begin to turn pink, flip them over. Once they are opaque, remove them from the pan. Shrimp only need a few minutes to cook; it doesn't take long at all. If need be, you can cook them in batches. I did.
Once your shrimp is cooked and removed from the pan, add a small amount of olive oil to the pan and reduce the heat to medium. Add the minced garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Stir moderately frequently so your garlic doesn't brown too much, but a bit of browning is perfectly all right.
Add the wine; cook until reduced by half. Stir in butter, paprika, cayenne, worcestershire, and parsley. (You can just sprinkle the parsley on the finished dish, but I added it at this point.)
Once the butter has melted, return shrimp to the pan and stir to coat. Salt and pepper to taste.
In true Southern Louisiana fashion, I served this over plain white rice. The original recipe advises eating the shrimp on a crusty bread. I say do BOTH! Have it on a rice with a piece of crusty garlic bread. You won't regret it, I promise.
Hubby and I both LOVED this dish. The sauce has a buttery, tangy, spiceness that perfectly complements the shrimp and rice. Hubby would have liked a bit more cayenne (of course) but I'm not sure I'd want to tweak this at all. It's that wonderful. Please, try this if you can.
* The original recipe calls this New Orleans BBQ Shrimp, but where's the BBQ, I ask. So, I removed it from the title.
** Slap yo mama is a common saying in South Louisiana (as well as a brand of seasonings) which implies that the food is SO good it'll make you want to slap your mother for not preparing such delicious treats for you. Now, I agree it's a silly saying and I definitely did not come up with it, but it's fun to use. Of course, I don't really condone slapping your mom... unless she really deserves it.. or you eat this shrimp.
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