New Orleans BBQ Shrimp

• servings: 4 servings
• active time: 30 minutes
• total time: 1 hour

Ingredients

1 to 2 pounds shrimp, with the shells (and heads if you can get them)

Salt

3 tablespoons bacon fat or olive oil

2 shallots, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 lemon, sliced into rounds

1 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (optional)

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon Creole or Cajun seasoning

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup chicken or shrimp stock

3 tablespoons heavy cream

4 to 5 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces

3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Directions

Peel the shrimp and remove the heads, if you have them, and set them aside. Devein the shrimp with a paring knife and salt the shrimp lightly. Set them aside.

In a saute pan or sauce pot, heat the bacon fat over medium high heat. When it's hot, add the shallots, garlic and shrimp shells and heads. Saute, stirring often, until the shrimp shells turn pink and the shallot is translucent.

Add the pepper, lemon, Worcestershire, rosemary, thyme, Creole seasoning, wine and stock. Bring this to a boil, then drop the heat to a simmer and reduce the mixture for about 15 minutes. Strain it, moving the liquid to a wide saute pan that will fit all the shrimp.

Bring the mixture to a boil and let it roll for 2 to 3 minutes. You ultimately want this to be a glaze, but you still need to cook the shrimp without overcooking them, so you'll need to use your judgment; the shrimp typically need about 3 to 5 minutes in the pan, maximum. So when the sauce just barely leaves a trail when you run a spatula through the middle of the pan, add all the shrimp and toss to combine.

Keep the shrimp moving in the sauce until it is syrupy, then turn the heat to its lowest setting. Stir in the heavy cream until it's well mixed. Now, one tablespoon at a time, swirl in the butter. Add the parsley, toss to combine one more time, and serve at once with rice, grits or bread.

Nutrition

• Calories: 463 kcal
• Total Fat: 28 g
• Saturated Fat: 12 g
• Cholesterol: 331 mg
• Sodium: 1586 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 23 g
• Dietary Fiber: 2 g
• Total Sugars: 9 g
• Protein: 26 g