Shrimp on the Barbie

For those of you who have been reading my blog for any length of time you know I live in the Desert Southwest where our summers are extremely hot. As you can tell from the Autumn Countdown widget on my sidebar, I am anxious for cooler weather to get here. That being said, I have to tell you that the other nine months of the year the weather is absolutely gorgeous here. That means that we use our grill virtually year round. We enjoy our share of grilled burgers, hot dogs, and steaks.......but there are so many other possibilities. Today I'm sharing quick and easy shrimp on the barbie.......some of you will pick up on that reference to the Crocodile Dundee movies from the eighties with Paul Hogan..... he was Australia's spokesman and the phrase "shrimp on the barbie" became the catch phrase for Australia's tourism adds for quite a while.

My husband is usually the one who does the grilling around here and is an all around great chef in his own right, so today this post is with much assistance from him. There are quite a few ways you can go with this dish, so just pick whichever one you want to try first. Or do several at a time.......these literally take only minutes and with the addition of your favorite sides you'll be having dinner in no time at all.

Shrimp on the Barbie

20 or so medium to large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Wooden skewers

Any of the spices and sauces shown below

First of all, and be sure not to skip this part, soak the skewers in water for about 15 minutes. (obviously this is to keep the skewers from catching on fire.....a great tip no matter what you're grilling ) . Lace the shrimp onto the skewers so that they kind of "spoon" each other. Three or four shrimp will easily fit on a skewer.....be sure to put them toward the top of the skewer and leave a little handle for yourself at the bottom. Brush liberally with any of the spice mixtures, then place on a medium heated grill .Grill 3 minutes on first side, turn them over, brush liberally with mixture again and grill for another 3 minutes. Don't overcook! Test for doneness by breaking one shrimp open; if the inside is completely opaque and no longer translucent, it's done. Grilling time may vary slightly depending on the size of the shrimp, but you want your shrimp to be tender, white, and flaky, not rubbery.

Here are some of the various mixtures to use on your shrimp:

1) 1/4 cup melted butter, juice of 1 lemon or lime, salt

2) 1/4 cup melted butter, finely chopped cilantro, juice of 1 lime, salt

3) 1/4 cup melted butter, 1/2 cup hot sauce (we like Cholula hot sauce),salt

4) 1/4 cup melted butter with favorite Cajun Seasoning, salt

5) Shrimp Seasoning to shake on after you've brushed shrimp with melted butter: 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, dash allspice, 1/2 teaspoon minced parsley.Mix ingredients and put in shaker.

6) 1/4 cup of melted butter, lemon pepper

7) 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 large clove of garlic, crushed, salt, juice of 1 lemon or lime

Finally, here are some sauces to "go with". The bottled Heinz Cocktail sauce is really very good and these other recipes are easy to whip up for some delicious dipping!

Remoulade Sauce

(from the Outback Steakhouse)

3/4 cup mayonaise, 5 teaspoons stone ground mustard, 4 teaspoons milk, 2 teaspoons minced celery, 2 teaspoons minced green pepper, 2 teaspoons sauerkraut, 1 teaspoon white vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper, minced fresh parsley

Make the remoulade sauce by mixing the ingredients together in a small bowl. Cover and chill this sauce until you are ready to use it.

Garlic Butter for Dipping

1/2 cup butter, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon), 1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, 1 large garlic clove, crushed, salt

In a small saucepan, melt butter. Add remaining ingredients; heat for 1 minute. Serve with shrimp or other seafood.

The smoke from the grill really brings out the flavor in the shrimp so you may just want to simply brush them lightly with melted butter or olive oil and give them a dash of salt before putting them on the grill. They'll taste delicious no matter how you decide to prepare them.

Enjoy!