Creole Sicilian BBQ Shrimp

It's been a a while since I add anything to the site. The sun is coming out thus it is getting harder to stay inside. So what if it's 45 degrees, it's a sunny 45 and the body is used to cloudy, 15 degree days. The dog and I are running every night (when I'm not sore or coming home from a tasting.) I have been trying out some new recipes this week. I don't have any pictures though since the camera is being used elsewhere right now.

I had a craving for some good shrimp. I love creamy sauces that have creole flavors like a really good etouffee. We used to go to a great cajun/creole place up in Ithaca called Maxie's. Their gumbo was huge and so was the brick of cornbread that went with it. It was definitely my favorite restaurant in the city, and the reason why I love that type of food so much. Let's just say, I was never a fan of cornbread until Maxie's told me I was doing it all wrong my whole life.

I was definitely channeling a little bit of Maxie's last night. I came across a BBQ shrimp recipe in one of my Cooking Light books. The interesting thing about the recipe is that there is no BBQ sauce, ketchup, or molasses. You figure when you hear "BBQ", you definitely expect one of these in there. Well, the sauce was more creole and Italian than true Bible Belt BBQ. My only complaint about the recipe was that I ran out of wet-naps to clean my hands. I left the shells on to give the sauce some extra flavor but the mess was worth it. The sauce is creamy, and coats everything, but luckily it's light on the calories.


Enough chit-chat. Here's what you'll need:

• 1.5 - 2 lbs shrimp (you can use either peeled or unpeeled)
• 1/2 cup fat free Caesar dressing
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp dried rosemary
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 - 1.5 tsp black pepper
• 1 - 2 tsp hot sauce
• 4-5 bay leaves
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/3 cup dry white wine (Chenin blanc or Gewürztraminer)
  

1. Add all ingredients except wine and shrimp to a large skillet. Bring mixture to a boil. Stir often.
2. Add shrimp to boiling sauce. Cook for 7 min or until shrimp turns pink. Stir often.
3. Add wine to sauce. Cook for 1 min.
4. Eat the shrimp.

I also toasted a French baguette in the oven for 8-10 min preheated at 400 F. Just throw half of the baguette into the oven to get a crispy crust. Take out and slice diagonally, just watch out for the steam. Sprinkle some lemon juice over the shrimp and use the bread as a scoop/dipper to eat up all the delicious sauce. Bring extra napkins and lots of friends.

One last thing, my suggestion for the wine is not a set thing. If you can "only" drink Chardonnay then go ahead. I just think that the acidity and fruitiness of the Chenin or the Gewurz helps bring out some of the flavors in the sauce. It also helps cool the mouth if you overdid it on the hot sauce. Just don't use the fancy crystal because your dirty fingers are going to leave quite the messy prints.

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