The goal was to produce a southwest spiced shrimp with a passable southwest dipping sauce. I succeed on the shrimp, but missed on the sauce, well for my spouse anyhow. I actually though the sauce was passable but perhaps that was just the margarita saying it was OK.
After defrosting the shrimp (which were already split up the back and de-veined) they were brined in salt and sugar for 30 minutes, drained an patted dry. While the shrimp were brining I prepared the grilling mix in a small pan – just oil, garlic and spices heated and then cooled.
Once the shrimp were finished brining, I preheated the grill. The shrimp were then tossed with the oil-spice mixture in a bowl and then skewered.
Once the grill was hot, I set the temperature to medium high, oiled the grate, put the shrimp on and closed the lid for about 2-3 minutes, just enough to start the charring on one side. Flip them over and repeat.
After another 2 minutes, off they came. I had made the sauce earlier (more on that later) so all that was left to do was refresh the margarita glass, remove the shrimp and dig in.
That sauce.. Well after looking at my base recipe again I decided it would be too chunk to go effectively with shrimp. What I wanted was more of a smooth sauce so I opted to take the base recipe and just puree it in the food processor. It smoothed it out but even after adding salt it just didn’t have enough of whatever it was I was looking for. I added a bit more tequila (really not that much) and a bit more salt and lime and a dash of chili powder and felt is was OK. I’ve had worse salsa. I though it was fine but my wife, who’s not a tequila fan didn’t like it one bit. I don’t know what she was expecting but evidently not that. She did like the shrimp however.
Left Overs
Given the sauce status I didn’t save it. However I had some left over shrimp. Saturday morning I diced them really fine and used them as filling for an omelet. Sunday I added what was left to a green salad along with some left over stir fry from earlier in the week. A hit of lime juice was all it needed. No dressing other than the shrimp and oyster sauce from the stir-fry. Tasty!
