New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp (or BBQ Shrimp, if you prefer)

Wow, I just started this blog today, and I've already got my first request: New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp (or, BBQ shrimp, for you peeps who like abbreviations, LOL, TTYL, BRB).  This is one of my all-time favorite shrimp dishes.  My Aunt Betty made the BEST barbecue shrimp I've ever had, and Deanie's Restaurant in Bucktown (Metairie, Louisiana) came a close second UNTIL the last time I ate there - maybe 2 years ago - and found that they must've changed the recipe for their BBQ shrimp.  And bought smaller cast-iron pans to serve them in.  And got chinchy* with the bread.  And the bread is IMPORTANT, y'all.  Gotta sop up that sauce in the bottom of the pan!

Doesn't that just make your mouth water?

The thing about barbecue shrimp (ahem, BBQ shrimp) is that you have to start with head-on shrimp. It is a MUST.  I had no idea, until my friend Myra (who owns a seafood business with her hubby Denny, you should get your shrimp there: Dennis' Seafood in Metairie, Louisiana) told me about that. And it made all the difference in the world in my own recipe - which is so close to my Aunt Betty's recipe that I would never be able to tell the difference.  I hate to tell you WHY you need the heads**, though.  Just trust me on it.  Go ahead and prep your shrimp by snipping off the pointy little spear on the front of their heads and snip out their eyes while you're at it.  You don't want all those little black beady eyes watching you while you eat their bodies.

I got this feelin' that somebody's watchin' me ...

So here you go:

New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp (BBQ Shrimp)

Ingredients:

7-8 lbs. large shrimp

2 sticks butter

1 cup olive oil

1/2 cup chili sauce

1/4 cup Worcestershire

2 lemons, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp. minced parsley

2 tsp. paprika

2 tsp. oregano

3 tsp. red cayenne pepper

1 tsp. Tabasco

2 tbsp. liquid smoke

salt & pepper to taste

Wash shrimp, prep shrimp, and spread out in a shallow pan.  Combine all of the ingredients above in a saucepan over low heat.  Let simmer for 10 minutes, then pour over the shrimp.  Mix well and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.  Baste and turn the shrimp in the fridge every 30 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and bake the shrimp for 30 minutes, turning them at least every 10 minutes. Watch closely -- don't let them overcook, pull them earlier if they're done (they're pink when done).

Serve with chunks of french bread*** to sop up that unbelievably good sauce.  And when all the shrimp are gone, save the leftover sauce and serve it the next night over pasta!

The awesome Vic & Nat'ly Leidenheimer cartoon.  Delicious french bread!

*I've recently discovered that only my New Orleans-area peeps will have heard of "chinchy" before. Chinchy is used to describe someone who is stingy. I don't know how chinchy (or "chincy" as my hubby says) came about, but that's the only word I ever used, until I moved to Texas and got weird looks for it.  

**Okay, okay -- you need to cook the shrimp with the heads on, because during the marinating and cooking process, the fat from the heads leaks out into the sauce making it thicker and rich and delicious.  Get over it, you'll be glad you did.

***Sadly, only my New Orleans-area friends will be able to get the "right" french bread.  Because everywhere else it is sold turns out to be some kind of imposter masquerading as french bread.  If you've never had real french bread, you're probably fine eating whatever passes for it wherever you are.  OR, you could make your own.  I'll post my recipe for it one of these days, somebody remind me of that, okay?