Cajun Cooking: BBQ Shrimp

Last weekend, I took my first cooking class through Living Social. I had signed up for the class with two friends a few months ago and I was looking forward to some hands-on instruction. I had taken another class at Living Social before on pumpkin and bourbon, but it was more educational than instructional. In both instances I came out with some good tips and recipes. I'll share two of them on the blog in this post and another post this weekend, and the other two I'm going to hold on to for a later date. Because I guarantee I'll make them on my own time again.

The instruction was good and energetic and the kitchen was hot. As it should be, in my opinion, if you're trying to emulate the South. I was very lucky to have a friend who lived in DC for awhile who would regularly cook Southern dishes. While I can never begin to compete with her mad kitchen skillz and appreciation for butter, I can at least learn a bit more about what makes her food, and Southern food as a whole, so awesome.

Fortunately they had Abita beer on hand to help keep us cool. I'm a huge fan of their strawberry variety, but I'd settle for the amber in a pinch.

We learned to make four dishes during the class. Tonight I'll share the recipe for BBQ shrimp, and this weekend, the Bananas Foster recipe. So stay tuned. :)

BBQ Shrimp (serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp rosemary
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/8 tsp paprika
• 2 TB butter, melted
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/8 cup beer, room temperature
• 1/4 TB Worcestershire sauce
• 8-12 shrimp shrimp-peeled and deveined
• Salt to taste

Directions:

In a small bowl, stir together the garlic powder, onion powder, basil, thyme, rosemary, cayenne pepper and paprika. Set aside. 

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the shrimp and cook for a couple of minutes. Season with the spice mixture and continue to cook and stir for a few minutes. Pour in the beer and Worcestershire sauce; simmer until shrimp is cooked through, about 1 more minute. 

Taste and season with salt before serving.