TWO CONSECUTIVE DAYS OF SHRIMP

 

Hi folks, Chef G. here with another episode of the award-winning Chef G. Cooking Channel.  One day, a skeptical reader asked, "what award did you win?"

"There are too many to name," I replied.

"Just name one," was his comeback.

"I refuse to dignify your stupid question with an answer."  I sure put him in his place!   

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Today, I'm going to tell you about my two-day fling with shrimps.  Yes, in Chef. G.'s world, the plural of shrimp is shrimps.  Not only that, but shrimps have a special meaning to me.  That's because I used to be a shrimp.  Not a literal shrimp, but a figurative shrimp.  That's right, between First and Tenth Grades, in four different towns, I was always one of the smallest kids in my class.

If I have no other purpose in this world, I hope my journey from shrimpy kid to culinary giant will inspire underdogs everywhere to strive for the stars . . . and beyond . . .

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DAY ONE OF MY RELATIONSHIP WITH SHRIMPS: Pan Fried

Tigers are known for their ferociousness.  When I saw something called "Tiger Shrimp" in my local grocery store's meat department, I worried about getting attacked by man-eating shrimp.  Thank goodness, I overcame my fear.

The tiger shrimp, while quite large, seemed pretty harmless--especially with their heads chopped off.  So, I brought a dozen of them home to test my shellfish cooking skills.

To my delight, the meat department guy accidentally gave me 13 shrimps--not the dozen I ordered.  Also, I was surprised that the 13 shrimps amounted to One American Pound of fresh seafood.  I divided the batch in two.  I put one half in the refrigerator for tomorrow and prepared the other half for today.  

 

As it turns out, Tiger Shrimp are so named because of the black stripes around their shells.  They have nothing to do with actual Bengal Tigers. 

My preparation began with melting some butter in a pan with olive oil.

Then you must throw some minced garlic into the pan.  Shrimp and garlic go hand-in-hand.

Then I added lime juice and soy sauce.

Saute for a couple minutes

Flip them over and saute for a couple more minutes

Sprinkle some chopped cilatro leaves over the top

And serve over a bed of brown rice.  DAMN that was good.

DAY TWO OF MY SHRIMPIAN ADVENTURE:  Charcoal Grilled

A half-hour before grilling, I whipped up a marinade for the shrimps.  My marinade recipe was excellent, but the video of me preparing it was beyond excellent.  It was brilliant.  Kudos to me and my team of cameramen, sound engineers, & technical advisors.  Check it out.

After the shrimps marinate, I'm going to stab a wooden skewer through them before grilling.  I'm glad I remembered an important step along the way.

One thing I've forgotten to do while making shish-kabobs in the past, is to soak the wooden skewers in water before putting them on the grill so they don't start on fire.

After a couple minutes over direct heat, the bottoms of the shrimps will turn orange.  That's the time to turn the skewer over.

Then, grill them for two minutes on the other side.

The photo is bad, but the shrimp was excellent.