Thursday, January 31, 2008

No such thing as "too much" of a good thing, if the "good thing" is BUTTER!

Several years ago I was looking for...something. Can't remember what it was but in the looking, I stumbled across The Gumbo Pages and I've been an avid fan ever since. Found this recipe there and it has been a keeper...often requested and always enjoyed! I'm thinking I'll do this as my contribution for this year's Super Bowl feast.

This is one of those dishes for the friends you really love. We do it with tubs of beer setting around the table, and we eat on vinyl tablecloths so you can just pile up the shells. I add red pepper flakes in the cooking, and then have bottles of Tabasco out on the table. NAPKINS. The key word here is LOTS of napkins, although we put out rolls of paper towels last time. Butter is good.

New Orleans Barbecued Shrimp

2 pounds butter
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
6 ounces beer
1 medium onion, minced
4 tablespoons chopped parsley
5 pounds shrimp
2 tablespoons creole seasoning
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
10 cloves garlic, minced
3 ribs celery, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Melt a stick of butter in a skillet. Saute the garlic, onions, celery, parsley, rosemary and seasoning blend for 2-3 minutes. Add the rest of the butter and melt it, then add the beer (drinking the rest of the bottle to get you in the mood). Add the worcestershire and lemon juice.

Drown the shrimp in the seasoned butter, using as many baking dishes as you need. Make sure the shrimp are more or less submerged...if they're not, melt more butter and add to the sauce. (What the hell? What's another stick or two when you're already up these butterfat levels?) Bake in a 350 degree oven until the shrimp turn pink, about 15 minutes.

Serve in big bowls...I have a gorgeous Italian pottery platter that measures about 24 inches across and I just dump the entire concoction out on that platter. Roll up your sleeves and if you're kin to this family, wear a bib. Serve with plenty of French bread to sop up da sauce!

"This dish has nothing to do with a barbecue pit or barbecuing. Why is it called "barbecued" shrimp? Beats the hell out of me. If you're really curious, ask someone at Pascal's Manale Restaurant on Napoleon Avenue in New Orleans; it's where the dish was created. Me, I don't care. This dish is so good you can call it whatever you want. Just, um, don't have it every day. You'll know why immediately when you see the first ingredient listed."

This is one of the ten best things I ever tasted in my life. I like it with extra rosemary but then, that's me.

2 comments:

City Girl said...

Homer had it almost right:

Mmmmmm....Butter.

Country Girl said...

Yeah, you know how that "six degrees of separation" thing doesn't fly in the South? Because 99% of us are no more than three degrees away from anyone else? I think Paula Deen might be my mother.