This weekend we’re now only two weeks away from Father’s Day and at She Who Must Be Obeyed’s suggestion, we’ll be posting a few weeks of recipes that you (we) dads out there can point to and say ‘I want that for dinner’ at the upcoming famdamnly celebration.
We’ve adapted this Spicy Salt-Roasted Shrimp recipe from one that ran last summer in Garden and Gun, though any seafood restaurant worth their salt (no pun intended) will likely serve a house version in one form or another.
The shell-on shrimp (the recipe calls for head-on as well – your and my grandmothers were right in saying it does add flavor) don’t get too salty despite being cooked in a bed of blisteringly hot rock salt. (Note we have seen a failure when a relative tried to cook shrimp in kosher salt – this only works with genuine rock salt.)
The spices add a wonderful yet subtle array of flavors and the shrimp come out plump, firm and peel easily. With really, really fresh shrimp, somebody at the table is going to rock back, slowly lick their fingers and say something along the lines of “hells bells, I really didn’t imagine shrimp could be this good”.
Add a splash of lemon and your favorite sauce and you’re in business.
And the cherry-on-top bonus – this one’s easy as pie. Hot damn.
3 lb. Rock salt
2 tbsp. whole coriander
3 tbsp. black peppercorns
5 bay leaves (make sure they’re not too old)
4 star anise
12-14 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 head garlic, smashed, loose skin removed
2 jalapeno peppers, stemmed and sliced
2 lemons, quartered2 lb. 20-25 head-on shrimp (in the shell)
Preheat the oven to 475.
Season your salt. Combine the rock salt, coriander, peppercorns, bay leaves, star anise, thyme, garlic, the sliced jalapeno and four lemon quarters in a large bowl; mix well.
Oven time. Pour or spoon half the salt mixture into a large oven-safe dish; pop into the oven for 14 minutes to get good and hot.
Pull the hot dish (carefully!), add the shrimp in a single layer and cover evenly with the remaining salt.
Now back into the oven for 8-10 minutes; pull it when they’re just cooked through (sometimes as early as 7 minutes if the shrimp are on the small side).
Serve. Carefully remove the shrimp from the salt (tongs) and serve immediately (should serve 4) with a lemon quarter. Hot damn.
Enjoy.
