Perfect Cocktail Shrimp

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I’ll be just with you, I never order shrimp cocktail at a restaurant. Why? Because almost continually the shrimp is too cold, the sauce is jarred and the recipe is way overpriced.

But for some reason, a twosome of weeks ago while on a trip to Ashe-ville, North Carolina, I was controlled. It might have been the shock of the fresh mount air.

With the server hovering over me, my finger stopped at the “Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail with Fresh Homemade Cocktail Sauce.”

The finger paused slight too long at the word “Sauce” and she took it as a sign of my order and zoomed off to make it occur.

When it arrived, I was still brooding but then I saw the plate. It wasn’t just a commis chef reaching into a bag of store-bought, pre-cooked tough shrimp and glopping a spoonful of jarred sauce. It really was the real-deal. If you create a “C” with your forefinger and thumb, that’s how big the shrimp were. The tasty, spicy sauce was a house-recipe. Instead of just baking the shrimp in plain water, the spices in their dish really make the big difference between insipid shrimp that serves as a carrier for the cocktail sauce and a shrimp cocktail with layers upon layers of flavors in every taste.

If you are using ice-covered shrimp, the safest way to melt them is in a bowl of ice water in the refrigerator. I like to buy tail-on, shell-on, deveined shrimp. Of course, use what you can find at the bazaars.

Ingredients

For the shrimp:

• 2 tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning
• 1 lemon, halved
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 24 extra large tail-on raw shrimp (more if you are using smaller shrimp)

For the cocktail sauce:

• 1/2 cup Heinz pepper sauce*
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon horseradish
• 1 dash Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 lemon Juice  
• 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco
• 1/2 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped

·         The chef specifically recommends Heinz peppersauce- it’s not very spicy and has a lovely sweet taste. If you use other type of hot pepper sauce, just starts with a pair table spoons first, then taste and adjust.

 How to make Cocktail Shrimp

 

1.       To make the cocktail sauce, mixture all the cocktail sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl and refrigerate until ready to distribute.

2.       Have a big bowl of ice water ready and set nearby the sink. To an 8-quart jar of water, add the Old Bay, lemon, granulated garlic, garlic, pepper powder, and salt. Take to a boil. Add the shrimp to the pot and when the water takings to a boil, the shrimp should be done! The shrimp should be lively pink.

3.       Directly drain and place the shrimp into the ice bath to cool for 2 minutes. Peel the shrimp (leaving the tail-on.) Drain and serve with the cocktail sauce.