Louisiana Style Barbecued Shrimp

 

Use head on, unpeeled, tail on shrimp if you can. The head and shell has a lot of flavor in them and makes for a really great sauce. You can use head off, unpeeled, tail on shrimp. The cooking time will be a little quicker and won’t have quite the depth of rich flavor, but it will still be very good. This dish can be done in the oven or your gas grill.

 

3 lbs head on, unpeeled, tail on shrimp

3 sticks unsalted butter

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup dry white wine (not chilled, room temp)

3 tablespoons minced garlic (I use Christopher Ranch in the jar)

1 onion, halved and sliced into thin half moons

1 bunch green onions, chopped coarse

Fresh parsley, chopped

3 tablespoons Worcestershire

1 tablespoon Old Bay

1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning

Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste

Hot pepper sauce, to taste (I like Pick A Peppa)

1 or 2 lemons halved and sliced into rings

Squeeze of lemon juice into the butter/olive oil mix

 

Melt 2 sticks of the butter and add the olive oil. Add seasonings and all remaining ingredients (except the shrimp, 3rd stick of butter and lemon slices) and mix. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. You want a rich and deep seasoned sauce that will meld together as it cooks. The sauce will mellow a bit when the shrimp release their juices.

Preheat your oven or gas grill to 325

Put rinsed and drained shrimp along with lemon slices in a 9×13 baking dish sprayed with Pam.

Add all remaining ingredients into the baking dish. Pour on the seasoned butter and olive oil seasonings mixture. Toss to coat well. Cut the 3rd stick of butter into pats and evenly dot the entire dish.

Place the dish into your oven or on your gas grill (lid closed) and bake at 325 for 30 to 45 minutes. It depends if you have a single layer of shrimp which will cook faster, or a bunch of shrimp stacked up. Stir the dish every 10-15 minutes.

Check after 30 minutes for doneness. The last thing you ever want to do, is over cook shrimp. It gets tough and rubbery and it’s not good.

Remove the head, peel the shrimp and enjoy! Have plenty of good, crusty bread on hand for sopping up all the goodness.