Neighbor offered me some fresh-caught Gulf brown shrimp and Snapper throats recently. I stuffed the larger shrimp with a mixture of seranos, cream & manchego cheeses and chopped cilantro, then wrapped each in half a slice of bacon. These were set on the cooler side of the Hasty-Bake, away from the fire. I also used the left over stuffing on some jalepenos and wrapped them in bacon to join the shrimp.
The throats were simply prep'd with some home-made "Old Bay Seasoning" that to me wasn't a good knock-off at all. Years ago I recall using "Chesapeake Bay Seasoning" and really liked it, but evidently it's no longer made.
When the shrimp & poppers went to the hot side to crisp the bacon, the throats went on the cool side to slowly cook & absorb some pecan smoke.
Needless to say, the final results were delicious and quickly consumed with some chilled white wine and a few cold beers. It's mighty hot this time of year outside grilling!
Next, what to do with the smaller shrimp? Not a big fan of boiled (boring) shrimp and never liked that 'cocktail' dressing. It's been decades since I fried anything however, I also ran across an old, old recipe for home-made onion rings. Therefore, I decided to fry both.
I quickly discovered my Williams-Sonoma quick temp gauge wouldn't read above 250°F. I couldn't find the old candy thermometer either. (Might have cracked it years ago & tossed it). Then I remembered the IR thermometer. Didn't have one last time I fried. I used an entire quart of fresh corn oil in a 12" skillet, heated to about 370°F. This gave me about 1-1/4" oil depth. The big skillet allowed me to use the large electric coil heater to evenly distribute the heat.
Results?
While cooking multiple batches, I kept the finished in a 200°F oven on a wire rack to let the oil drain without sogging the bottom crust (a pet fried peeve of mine).
I'd forgotten just how good home-made onion rings & fresh, fried shrimp were!! Wow...the crust was very crispy, flavorful but didn't get in the way of the clean, fresh taste of the shrimp. Nor did I use tarter sauce...that'd be a waste on such good shrimp.
The onion rings had a shatteringly crispy crust, with great onion flavor. It's so difficult to find excellent o-rings where I live. What a shame.
I won't near as long to make the onion rings again! They'd go great with steak as well.
Any oil-heads here regularly fry shrimp or o-rings?
The throats were simply prep'd with some home-made "Old Bay Seasoning" that to me wasn't a good knock-off at all. Years ago I recall using "Chesapeake Bay Seasoning" and really liked it, but evidently it's no longer made.
When the shrimp & poppers went to the hot side to crisp the bacon, the throats went on the cool side to slowly cook & absorb some pecan smoke.
Needless to say, the final results were delicious and quickly consumed with some chilled white wine and a few cold beers. It's mighty hot this time of year outside grilling!
Next, what to do with the smaller shrimp? Not a big fan of boiled (boring) shrimp and never liked that 'cocktail' dressing. It's been decades since I fried anything however, I also ran across an old, old recipe for home-made onion rings. Therefore, I decided to fry both.
I quickly discovered my Williams-Sonoma quick temp gauge wouldn't read above 250°F. I couldn't find the old candy thermometer either. (Might have cracked it years ago & tossed it). Then I remembered the IR thermometer. Didn't have one last time I fried. I used an entire quart of fresh corn oil in a 12" skillet, heated to about 370°F. This gave me about 1-1/4" oil depth. The big skillet allowed me to use the large electric coil heater to evenly distribute the heat.
Results?
While cooking multiple batches, I kept the finished in a 200°F oven on a wire rack to let the oil drain without sogging the bottom crust (a pet fried peeve of mine).
I'd forgotten just how good home-made onion rings & fresh, fried shrimp were!! Wow...the crust was very crispy, flavorful but didn't get in the way of the clean, fresh taste of the shrimp. Nor did I use tarter sauce...that'd be a waste on such good shrimp.
The onion rings had a shatteringly crispy crust, with great onion flavor. It's so difficult to find excellent o-rings where I live. What a shame.
I won't near as long to make the onion rings again! They'd go great with steak as well.
Any oil-heads here regularly fry shrimp or o-rings?