Most people don’t know the way I was raised. I’m not saying I was raised by wolves or in a hippie commune, but...confession...I was raised by a BBQ fanatic. I don’t mean my Dad liked hamburgers/chicken/steaks on the grill (although he did). I mean the kind of BBQ that linguists debate being spelled “barbecue” or “barbeque” (when we all know it should be “BBQ” or “bar-b-que”...but, I digress) and that my Dad would detour 2 hours each way on a 12 hour roadtrip to try in the middle of nowhere (Newnan, GA for Sprayberry’s BBQ) because he read about in his BBQ bible. We went to places in rural GA in KKK territory (Zeb’s BBQ in Danielsville, GA) where my dad would tell us to be ready to run to the car when we sat down at picnic tables already laid out with Wonderbread. So, it’s no wonder that decades later I’m still a sucker for good BBQ - driving all over the decidedly un-BBQ loving state of CA with my BBQ ambivalent husband to try to replicate the taste of my youth.
Without a smoker or charcoal grill, I was a bit hamstrung to pick a recipe...especially since I would probably be the only person eating pulled pork sandwiches if I made a big pork butt. So, I went with the polar opposite of pork butt, a plate full of BBQ-ized peel and eat shrimp and potato salad.
Also, I really I have no idea how I remembered the names of restaurants we ate at once 30 years ago...it’s like the BBQ gods whispered their names in my ear. Too bad they didn't help me in 5th grade when, in a spelling bee, I spelled barbecue "BBQ"!
Ingredients:
Shrimp:
1 ½ lbs large shell on shrimp (heads removed)
½ c. butter melted
1 c. tomato juice
2 TB white vinegar
1 tsp liquid smoke
2 TB Worcestershire sauce
½ c. lemon juice
2 TB Louisiana hot sauce [I used Frank's Red Hot]
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp garlic powder
1 TB brown sugar
Potato Salad (I mixed a recipe from the book with a more mustardy one):
3 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 TB apple cider vinegar [my top secret addition]
1 TB salt
2 celery ribs, finely diced
1/2 medium sweet onion, diced
1/2 cup pickle relish [I did sweet relish]
¼ - ½ c. dill pickle juice (to taste)
3 TB yellow mustard
3/4 c. mayonnaise [I used Miracle Whip per the book, but I’m questioning that decision]
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
The potato salad needs to sit for a while so try to make it a few hours before you want to eat it - it comes together really quickly. Boil the potatoes for 10 minutes in salted water with the apple cider vinegar [the vinegar in the boiling water solidifies the starch in the potatoes so that they don’t just disintegrate - no one wants mashed potato salad (at least in my house!)]. You want them just tender.
Mix together the rest of the ingredients then taste. And taste again. I adjusted the pickle juice and pepper because mine was too sweet - I blame the Miracle Whip.
For the shrimp, mix together the marinade ingredients and pour over the shrimp in a glass dish. Marinate in refrigerator for 3-4 hours.
Recipe: Pour off most of the marinade and place the shrimp in a shallow stainless steel pan on a trivet, if possible [presumably to diffuse the heat]. Barbecue on the grill at 250F for 45 min to 1 hour.
What I did: I was nervous about my ability to keep my gas grill as 250F so I used my oven and my favorite LeCreuset pan. I made sure that I scooped the hardened butter into the pan with a few scoops of the rest of the marinade for good measure. I cooked the shrimp low and slow for 50 minutes.
Serve the shrimp in the shell, with plenty of crusty bread for mopping.
This was a sleeper hit - the sauce is amazing and the shrimp is tender. I couldn't buy a small container of tomato juice and thought I'd be throwing out the extra 56oz at the end of this, but I would 1000% make these shrimp again. The potato salad was really good, but didn't really go with the shrimp. I'm open to suggestions, but thinking next time I'd make more shrimp and just serve with more bread! I'm trying to figure out if I'd have the same results with peeled shrimp (I hate peeling saucy shrimp!), but I assume the shells protect the shrimp from overcooking and flavor the sauce.
Shrimp - Superb
Potato Salad - Good
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