Grilled Greek Lemon Shrimp

I had planned on a different prep for this recipe but the shrimp I had were pretty small. Therefore, I decided to slice the lemons and use them as a base to keep the shrimp from dropping through the grill basket.

It worked really well for the grill – I think I only lost 2 shrimp to the fire!

If you don’t want to grill the shrimp, you could always put a layer of lemon slices on a sheet pan with the marinaded shrimp on them and bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes or so.

I also used Penzeys Greek Seasoning for the marinade. You could certainly make your own – see below for a recipe.

I served them with grilled zucchini (quartered into spears and tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper – grill them maybe 5 minutes longer than the shrimp) and rice.

The shrimp are really flavorful with both the spices, the grilled lemon and smoke. As this was for my mom’s birthday, I was super glad they turned out perfectly.

1 ½ lbs of shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Greek Seasoning
3 lemons

Juice one lemon. Mix together the olive oil, spice blend and lemon juice. Pour into a zip top bag and add the shrimp. Gently massage the marinade into the shrimp and then seal and place in the refrigerator while you set up the grill (no more than 30 minutes).

Set up the grill for direct cooking. I use a Weber kettle and used a half a chimney of charcoal briquettes. After they got ashy, I spread them evenly over the center of the grill, in the shape of my grilling basket.

Thinly slice the remaining lemons. Place a single layer of the slices in the bottom of the grill basket and then spread the shrimp over the slices. Close the basket so no shrimp can escape. Grill for 5 minutes with the lemon side down. Flip and grill for 3-5 more minutes or until shrimp are done. They will be pink, opaque but not too firm to the touch.

Remove from grill and place shrimp in a bowl. Squeeze some of the lemon slices over the shrimp and serve.

You could definitely make your own Greek Seasoning. I’m at my parents and the blend was easier than mixing up my own. Here is my recipe:

[Greek Seasoning]

1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon granulated garlic

Mix together all the spices and store in an airtight jar.

[/recipe]

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Trout Almondine

My roofer had taken advantage of the full moon high tide to head down to Grande Isle for some fishing. As an apology for then coming to my house late and without all the necessary tools to do the job, he reached into his cooler and handed me a fresh caught trout.

My go-to preparation for trout is simple but elegant – fish, lemon, butter and almonds. As I only had the one fish (ie two filets), I cut the below recipe in half. That gave me lots of lovely sauce.

Don’t be like me and take a phone call after tossing the almonds in, as then your butter might go a bit past ‘browned’ but it was still mighty tasty!

4-6 trout filets
1 cup milk
Salt, pepper, flour
1 stick unsalted butter, divided in half
½ teaspoon pepper (white, if possible)
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup slivered almonds
juice of 1 lemon

Soak filets in milk for 1 hour.

Remove from milk and sprinkle with salt and pepper and dredge lightly in flour. Sauté the filets in half a stick of butter for about 3-4 minutes per side or until golden. Transfer to an oven proof dish and keep warm in a very low oven (170 degrees F).

Melt the remaining ¼ cup butter over medium heat until it begins to brown and smell toasty. Lower heat. Add in almonds and toss well. Stir in lemon juice.

Arrange filets on the plate. Pour over sauce.

And, he swears he will come back on Sunday to finish the job!

Salt and Szechuan Pepper Shrimp

I placed a large order at Penzy’s for spices and one of the things I bought was Chinese Szechuan Peppercorns. They aren’t actually peppercorns but are seed husks and they have a complex flavor when made into a simple seasoning for shrimp.

I started by making the salt and pepper powder. Take two tablespoons of the Szechuan peppercorns and toast them in a dry skillet over medium high heat. Remove to a mortar and let cool while you lightly toast one tablespoon of sea salt. Add it to the mortar and use the pestle to grind the salt and pepper into a fine powder.

While the shrimp shells offer some additional flavor, I don’t like wrestling with peeling the shrimp at the table, so I peel them first. Besides, you lose the coating if you peel it after. Your choice to leave the tails on or not – they make a good handle.

The light corn starch coating gives them a little crunch and the salt and Szechuan pepper powder gives them a delicious bite. Served with rice and garlic and ginger green beans (recipe here), you’ve got a quick and terrific meal that takes no time to prepare.

1 1/2 pound large shrimp
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons salt and pepper powder
1 cup vegetable oil

Peel and devein shrimp and pat dry.

Whisk cornstarch, salt and pepper powder together in a large bowl. In handfuls, add shrimp and toss to coat.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Working in batches, fry shrimp until golden, crisp, and cooked through, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a flattened paper bag and let drain (paper towels can make them soggy). Taste for seasoning and sprinkle on more salt and pepper powder if necessary.

Serve with rice.

Preserved Lemon Butter Broiled Shrimp

This is a messy but good recipe that comes from my Great-uncle Garrett. He published it in Gulf Stream Cookin’ a “gourmetish” little book the Orange Beach Community Center put together of seafood recipes.

Back when I was a kid, they’d make several pans of these the evening after we’d pull a shrimp trawl and bring them to the table with paper plates and a couple rolls of paper towels. All of us would fall on them like ravaging hordes – peeling as fast as we could and licking our fingers to get all the terrific spice. As I’ve added cayenne pepper to the spices, be careful on how many fingers you lick if you’re not a big heat fan.

My big change is to remake his two sticks of margarine into 2 sticks of preserved lemon butter. I made up the preserved lemons in the fall and they are luscious and golden with an intense lemon flavor. Absolutely perfect for this dish. Here is how to make preserved lemons.

The preserved lemon butter is a step up from regular lemon butter. Mellow but lemony and the added kick from the cayenne makes for one tasty dish.

2 sticks butter, softened
1 preserved lemon
2 lb large shrimp, heads removed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 to ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Prepare the preserved lemon butter by finely slicing one preserved lemon, rind and all. Mix with the softened butter until well combined. Place on plastic wrap and roll up, twisting ends tightly. Place in the refrigerator to solidify.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.

If you are squeamish about the vein, run a deveiner or a pairing knife down the back to remove it. Leave the rest of the shell on. Otherwise, just leave the shrimp in shells.

Mix together the salt, black pepper and cayenne in a small bowl. Set aside.

Butter a large rimmed baking sheet. Place shrimp close together in rows on the pan. Thoroughly sprinkle with spices until well coated. Place thin slices of the preserved lemon butter all over the shrimp.

Bake until pink, about 5-10 minutes depending on size of the shrimp. Turn oven to broil and broil for 5 minutes. Done shrimp are deep pink and firm to the touch.

Since the shrimp are peeled with the fingers at the table, serve with a good supply of napkins. The more you lick your fingers, the spicier the shrimp will be.

Serve with bread for dipping into the lemon butter.

Grilled Charbroiled Shrimp

Mmmm, grilled shrimp.

I was able to grab a bottle of Drago’s Butter Garlic Charbroiling Sauce at my local grocery store but, if you can’t get it at yours, you can find copy-cat recipes for the sauce on the internet (NOLA Cuisine has a good one). If you’ve never been to the New Orleans area restaurant, their charbroiled oysters are legendary.

Frankly, this recipe was born from my laziness – I didn’t want to have to skewer 2 lbs of shrimp but I still wanted the smokey flavor of the grill. Cast iron to the rescue! Use a large skillet as you want the shrimp in as close to a single layer as possible so you don’t overcook them.

The end result is basically a grilled version of scampi. If you have a lemon, cut it in half and place it on the grates while the shrimp is cooking. Squeeze it over the final dish for a hit of citrus.

Quick and delicious! The use of fire adds a complex flavor and the bottled sauce is a nice shortcut to a delightful dish.

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined
½ bottle of Drago’s Butter Garlic Charbroiling Sauce or make one recipe of the sauce

Set up your charcoal fire for direct heat. When the coals are nice and ashy, place a large cast iron grill on the grate. Add oil to skillet and sear the shrimp on one side until golden brown, 3 minutes. Flip the shrimp and cook for 2 minutes. Close the lid during the cooking so the shrimp picks up a lovely smokey flavor.

Mix in the butter garlic sauce and cook until aromatic, stirring constantly. This will take about 2 minutes.

Bring the skillet inside and transfer shrimp and sauce to a serving plate. Serve with plenty of crusty bread for dunking.

Shrimp Étouffée

A very good friend of mine just got out from a week in the hospital after getting a heart bypass, so I decided to make him something delicious and comforting. Shrimp Étouffée fits the bill perfectly – I mean, c’mon smothered is IN the name. This classic dish was my gateway to Cajun/Creole cooking. It is much easier than gumbo as you only need to cook the roux to blonde plus it is ready in under an hour.

While this is already a full flavor/lower fat dish, I did want it to be a little more heart healthy for him so I made up a batch of my Creole Seasoning with no salt (original recipe here), used low sodium chicken stock and no salt added tomato sauce, and am serving it with brown rice.

To up the shrimp flavor, make your own shrimp stock. Peel the shrimp and place the shells in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat until shells start to turn pink, stirring regularly to prevent burning. Add 6 cups of water, a celery stalk broken in half, a carrot similarly broken and a bay leaf and increase heat to high. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain to remove solids. Use 1 cup in the recipe and freeze the rest in 1 cup measures for later uses.

It tastes like you spent all day over a hot stove – the natural heat from the Ro-tel plus the Creole seasoning gently warms you from the tongue to your tummy making this a lovely meal on a cold night. For those who want less heat, double the tomato sauce and eat more rice with each bite. For those who need more, add a dash or two of hot sauce at the table.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped fine
1 small green bell pepper, chopped fine
2 stalks of celery, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 can RoTel tomatoes and green chilies
1 -5 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup chicken stock
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 teaspoons Creole seasoning

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until the onions have turned golden, at least 10 minutes. Add bell pepper, celery and garlic. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and sauté until tender and garlic is fragrant, about 5 minutes.

Stir in butter and flour and cook until the roux is golden brown, up to 10 minutes. Be sure to stir constantly and don’t let it darken too much.

Reduce heat to low; add RoTel, tomato sauce and stock. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or so until thickened. Toss shrimp with Creole seasonings and put into the saucepan. Simmer until shrimp are cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and taste for seasonings.

Serve over rice. Have hot sauce on the table for those who need more heat.

Shrimp Risotto

We boiled up several pounds of shrimp the other day and froze what we didn’t eat in pint bags. My girlfriend had given me some arborio rice last time I saw her and I thought making risotto would be super comforting as the weather is starting to turn colder.

If you’re starting with raw shrimp, just sauté the peeled and deveined shrimp in butter until pink and then set aside until the rice is ready.

My folks aren’t white wine fans, so there wasn’t any in the house. If you are, add a half cup to the shrimp when you sauté them and a cup to the softened onion before adding the rice and serve the rest of the bottle with the meal.

However you do it, make some risotto soon – it is as delicious as it looks.

5-6 cups unsalted chicken broth
¼ cup butter (half stick), unsalted
1 cup onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup arborio rice
zest and juice a lemon half
salt and pepper to taste
parmesan cheese

Bring the chicken broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan.

Melt the butter in a Dutch oven or other heavy saucepan. Sauté the onion until softened and golden, about 5 minutes over medium heat. Toss in the garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add in the arborio rice and stir until well coated and begins to smell slightly nutty, about 3 minutes.

Traditionally, you add the warmed chicken broth one cup a time and stir until absorbed before adding the next. I cheat and add all the broth at once. I give it a stir and cover and simmer for 20 minutes, coming back and stirring every five minutes. After 20 minutes, I add in the lemon zest and juice and continue to cook just until the rice tender but still has some bite. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Toss in the shrimp for them to warm up and serve with some grated parmesan cheese.

Cucumber and Salmon Sandwiches

You don’t have to go to high tea at a posh noshery to enjoy a good cucumber and salmon  sandwich. Nor do you need to invite the Vicar.

These sandwiches are just elevated versions of the cucumber cream cheese sandwiches I used to sneak in to scarf during my mom and her friends bridge games and, later, mahjong games.

Light and refreshing originally, the addition of flaked salmon really kicks these up a notch.

Here is my salmon recipe. I just purchase a little more than I think I’ll need for dinner so I have about 1 extra serving (at least a cup) leftover for these sandwiches. The lemon flavor adds a nice touch so, if using canned, add a teaspoon of lemon juice.

Cucumber Salmon Salad Sandwiches

About a cup of leftover cooked salmon or 1 – 6oz can (drained)
1 cucumber, peeled
1 package cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 teaspoon dill or 1 teaspoon fresh dill, chopped fine
1 tablespoon grated Vidalia or other sweet onion
salt and pepper to taste

white sandwich bread, crusts cut off

Cut cucumber in half and scoop out seeds. Grate cucumber onto a towel and squeeze out some of the liquid.

Stir dill into softened cream cheese along with the grated onion and cucumber. Fold in the flaked salmon. Salt and pepper to taste.

Lightly mayonnaise or butter the sandwich bread. Spread on the cucumber salmon mixture and then assemble the sandwiches. For a nice presentation, cut into triangles. For a party, cut each into 4 triangles.

You can add a tablespoon of mayonnaise or yogurt to make it loose enough for a dip with crackers or crudités.

Shrimp Spring Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce

I had a craving for peanut sauce. What better way to get the stuff to your mouth than spring rolls?

The last time I had boiled a pot of shrimp, I made a couple of snack bags of the peeled leftovers so I could have shrimp to toss into things. They were perfect little bites in the rolls.

You can use most any veg in them but I like the coolness of the mint and cucumber and the crunch of carrots. This is especially handy if you get the peanut sauce too spicy!

Peanut Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup hot water
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon sriracha
1 teaspoon honey

Thin the peanut butter with the hot water. Whisk in remaining ingredients and then taste for seasoning. Add more hot water if it needs further thinning. Make at least 4 hours ahead and taste again for seasoning before using.

The recipe is based on the number on shrimp I had and the number of rice paper wrappers in the package, so we knew we could make eight spring rolls.

Shrimp Spring Rolls

35 small shrimp, pre-cooked
1 cucumber, seeds removed
2 carrots
half package rice noodle vermicelli
bunch of mint
package of spring roll rice paper wrappers

Prepare the vermicelli according the package directions. Slice the cucumber and carrots into matchstick sized pieces. Chiffonade the mint leaves.

Wet the rice paper wrappers in lukewarm water. Set the softened paper on a plastic cutting board. Place some rice noodles down and then a few cucumber and carrot slices beside and on top of the noodles. Sprinkle on some mint leaves. Make one tight roll. Set down the shrimp and continue to roll, folding in the ends before the final roll.

Set on a plate covered with a damp towel until ready to serve. Don’t stack as they will stick together. They are best eaten soon after rolling but can be covered tightly in plastic wrap and stored in the fridge for a couple hours if necessary.

Wolf Bay Lodge in Foley, Alabama

For my birthday, we went to lunch at Wolf Bay Lodge in Foley, Alabama. I’ve been here before and written about it (here and here) but it has been several years, so I figured I’d post again. We’ve been going here since it was a private club across Wolf Bay from my folks place.

At lunch we had about a fifteen minute wait for a table, as they were pretty hopping at noon. We spent our wait at the bar and the time passed quite quickly, especially once I received my tea filled alligator cup. Dad enjoyed the house draft and Mom had an ice cold bottle of Budweiser.

Once we were seated and had perused the extensive menu, my mom ordered the coconut shrimp. This is an appetizer but is actually perfectly sized for lunch time. The shrimp were lightly breaded with flour and toasted coconut and it was served with a tasty tropical marmalade.

Dad had the shrimp kabobs – the lunch portion is 2 kabobs of shrimp, coated in a sweet bourbon glaze before being grilled. It is served over rice and comes with a couple of very light and delicious hush puppies.

Michelle had the blackened shrimp tacos with a chipotle tartar sauce. They were very well seasoned and came with cheese and coleslaw on soft tortillas. It was served with chips and a very tasty house made salsa. She really enjoyed the flavor and would definitely order them again.

I ordered the large plate of fried Gulf shrimp. These are some of my favorite fried shrimp ever with lots of shrimp on the plate, covered in a light, crisp breading and fried to perfection. As the sign on the wall states – if it ain’t fried, it ain’t food! It came to the table with a full plate of french fries and a couple of their hush puppies.

I hope you like my alligator cup as much as I do. As a bonus, it also comes with free refills. Crazy to say, they sell it as a kids cup!

Most of the meals came with one trip to the salad bar – they have a pretty extensive selection of items including some pretty darn tasty deviled eggs. I convinced Mom and Michelle to add one for me to both their bowls, so I was happy.

The servers are friendly, even considering how busy the place is. The selection on the menu will satisfy piscivores and carnivores alike and the portion sizes are plentiful. They have a wide selection of seafood but, as you can see from our orders, their shrimp is what brings us back, year after year.

Wolf Bay Restaurant
20801 Miflin Road, County Road 20
Foley, Alabama 36535
(251) 987-5129