Chef Paul’s "Cookin' with Passion" Tip of the Week
Grilling Tips #3
We all love shrimp on the grill. Let’s talk about how we can cook shrimp on the grill, and how we buy shrimp. When you look at all those ads from the stores, and you look at jumbo this and colossal this... what you really want to look for is the number after that. A U15 a U21, 21-25. What do those numbers mean? They mean how many shrimp there are per pound. so when we look at a 21-25, they’re saying that there are 21 to 25 shrimp in that pack per pound. So whether they use the term jumbo, or colossal, or giant, whatever they use – look for the number. That will assure you of the size you’re going to get.
What are we going to do with this shrimp once we have it? We’re going to peel and de-vein the shrimp. We want to put it in a bowl. We want to take a light oil – not a heavy oil – a light oil. Put some chopped tarragon in there. You might have some of that growing in your garden. A little red pepper flakes. And don’t be afraid to season. Everyone gets a little bit too sensitive about seasoning. Don’t be afraid to over season things, especially on the grill because no matter how well your grates are, a lot of that seasoning is going to stick to the grates of the grill, so don’t be afraid to over season when you’re grilling.
Shrimp is not the only thing great on the grill. Let’s talk about lobsters. You can get some frozen lobsters in the store very reasonable. These lobsters are what they call North American lobsters or baby lobsters or cold water lobsters. And they’re coming from off the coast of Maine and they’re running anywhere from 2 oz to 6-8 oz. You can purchase these rather inexpensively. Peel that lobster back, split it with a knife on the back side of it and peel that shell away from the lobster – ¾ of the length of the lobster, and then split that lobster almost in half – not all the way. Brush that with a little bit of oil. Put a little bit of kosher salt and pepper on that and put it right on top of the grill. As it’s halfway done grilling, pull that lobster off and, if you want, sprinkle just a little bit of sugar on there, and then put the lobster back on the grill. That lobster will actually start to caramelize on the outside – get a little bit of a crust on it. What a great taste that is. It works great on a salad or it works great with some freshly done vegetables.
Here’s another idea you can try. Take some zucchini, split it lengthwise, put a piece of aluminum foil down and split your zucchini. Pack some butter in there and put about 1 tablespoon of butter to one regular size zucchini. Put salt and pepper in there and seal it up tight so the seam is on the top. Pop it on the top of your grill while you’re cooking your lobsters. Let that sit in there for about 5 or 6 minutes. Pull that off. It is absolutely wonderful. Just delicious. The sweeetness of the butter and the sweetness of the zucchini are just delightful.