Recipe: Fried Shrimp & Cocktail Sauce*

I really hate to waste food.  My mom used to remind us of the starving children in Africa, but even as kids we were pretty sure there was no connection between cleaning up our plates and hungry people a world away.  There are, however, very good reasons to use up leftovers.  First and most obvious is to save money.  Second, squeezing two meals out of one lessens food preparation for the family cook, saving time for other things.  Finally, as Mom reminds us, there are starving people, and preserving our resources—including food—shows gratitude for all we have.  So what’s my tip?  Plan for the leftover food the minute you put it away.  Decide when you will eat it—preferably no more than two days later OR date and freeze.  Right now in my fridge is an entire leftover meal we plan to eat tonight which includes Jumbo Fried Shrimp, Oven Roasted Red Potatoes, Cheesy Cauliflower, and Garlic Bread.  This was my Mom’s birthday dinner two days ago, and we totally look forward to finishing it up tonight.  At the end of this post, see instructions for making my own tried and tested recipe for delicious homemade Shrimp and Cocktail Sauce—you may never order shrimp in a restaurant again!

1.  Buy Frozen Raw Shrimp.  These usually come in 1 or 2 lb bags in the seafood freezer case at the store.  I buy them when they are on sale, then freeze until ready to use.  The size is determined by how many shrimp per pound.  You don’t want to buy them any smaller than 20 to 25 per pound for this recipe (these are usually called Jumbo), and the bigger the better (I think the next size they call Colossal).  They bigger the shrimp, the more they usually cost.  If you have the patience to do smaller ones, you usually get more for your money.

2.  To thaw the shrimp, place in a colander under cold running water for about 10 to 15 minutes until thawed OR leave in fridge overnight.  Do not thaw on counter and do not thaw in fridge more than one day before using.

3.  Peel the shrimp, being careful not to break off the tail.  Some shrimp will already be split down the back for easy peeling and some will not.  Either way, they are pretty easy to peel by simply unwinding the shell from the shrimp.

4.  Devein and butterfly each shrimp.  See the dark vein on the underside of the shrimp?

You need to remove this vein, which looks like a dark, thin string. Take a small, sharp paring knife, make a slit, and pull it out. (Or use a handy-dandy tool like this one I got for Christmas last year).  I like to keep a bowl of cold water in front of me to dip my knife in after each one, because it tends to stick to your knife.   

 Continue until all the shrimp are deveined.

Now prepare to make the butterfly cut.  Lay the shrimp against the cutting board with the curved back facing up and the underside facing down.  Make a deep cut down the back, but don’t go all the way through.  You may see another vein at this point—if you do, remove it.   Flatten the shrimp out as if opening a book (you may have to deepen the incision, but don’t go all the way through.

 

Lay the butterflied shrimp out on a cookie sheet and refrigerate while you get the breading ready.

5.  In food processor, grind up a bunch of soda (saltine) crackers and a bunch of cornflakes (or buy pre-ground cornflake crumbs).  Mix these together in equal parts (for example, measure out a cup of each and mix together.  If you need more, do it again, saving the remainder of each for other uses when you are done.)  

6.  Place a couple of cups of flour in a shallow bowl and add some salt and pepper.  I apologize for not being able to tell you how much—just go “shake shake shake” really hard with the shakers a few times, then stir it into the flour (it's probably about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper per 2 cups of flour).  You may need to make more of this if you run out.  

7.  Beat some eggs into a bowl.  To do enough shrimp for six people, it will probably take about three large beaten eggs.  Beat up more if you run out.

8.  So what you have now is three shallow bowls, one with the flour mixture, one with the cracker/cornflake crumb mixture, and one with the egg.  Line these up—first flour, then egg, then crumbs. Take a butterflied shrimp by the tail and press it into the flour mix, coating well on both sides, then dip in egg, then finally in crumb mixture, pressing firmly into the crumbs on both sides, and flattening out the shrimp nicely. Repeat for remaining shrimp. Line these up on a foil lined cookie sheet.  Refrigerate until ready to fry.

 To cook . . .

Heat a deep, heavy bottomed pot of oil to 375 degrees.  This will take at least a bottle of oil.  Place about 8 or 10 shrimp into the pot at once (test one first to make sure the oil is the right temperature).  Cook until golden brown—it doesn’t take long, so make sure the rest of the meal is ready and people are sitting at the table waiting for the hot shrimp. Do not overcook!  Each batch only takes two or three minutes--watch for them to look like this:  

 Drain on paper towels and serve right away with Cocktail Sauce.

Cocktail Sauce

(I created this recipe to taste as close as possible to that served at Maddox.  My dad likes it so much he says the shrimp is just an excuse to eat the sauce.)

1 small round bottle “Homade” brand Chili sauce (12 oz. jar)

1 cup ketchup

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

2 Tablespoons prepared creamed Horseradish Sauce

1 teas. ground mustard

½ teas. salt

¼ teas. pepper

Mix together and refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

*Originally distributed January 2014