Saturday, January 31, 2009

Attack of the shrimp!

For those unfamiliar with shrimp sizing and pricing, they are usually sold by the pound, and fall into classes determined by how many shrimp (without heads) of a certain size it takes to make a pound. The fewer shrimp per pound, the larger they are; the larger they are, the more expensive they are. Here is a chart of the size grading system:

Extra Colossal under 10
Colossal 10/15
Extra jumbo 16/20
Jumbo 21/25
Extra large 26/30
Large 31/35
Medium large 36/42
Medium 43/50
Small 51/60
Extra small 61/70
Tiny Over 70

Most of the shrimp we use for cooking or grilling falls into the range from Large to Jumbo. Above that, they get too pricey.

Unbeknown to me, my father had an excellent score through the husband of a friend. I was at his place earlier today, and he whipped a bag of shrimp out of the freezer and told me it was a present.

He had acquired some U-10 shrimp, and split them so we each had a bag of about 2 lbs. These things are monstrous - about an ounce and a half apiece! Here are a few of them, laid out next to a $20 bill for comparison:
I'm still in a whir when it comes to figuring out what will be the best way to prepare them. I just wanted to toss the pic up here to get your minds rolling and mouths drooling!
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1 comment:

  1. IrishFebruary 5, 2009 at 10:49 AM

    Hi there Cowgirl. Need a seafood recipe, huh? This is probably my favorite way to eat shrimp. They served these as little appetizers on little skewers at a beach bar in Antigua. Fresh ingredients and a wood fire make these soooo good. All that's missing is the steel drums and the pina coladas!

    St. John's Shrimp

    24 extra large shrimp, peeled and deveined.
    1 1/2" thick ham slice, cut into 24 pieces.
    1 fresh pineapple, cored and cut into 6 thick rings.
    1/4 cup honey.
    1 to 2 Tsp hot pepper flakes.
    1/2 stick melted butter.
    16 bamboo skewers.

    Soak bamboo skewers in a wine bottle full of warm water. Stir hot pepper flakes into honey and heat until hot in the microwave. Let stand. Grill pineapple rings until just browned, not soft. Let cool a bit and cut rings into quarters. Alternately thread 3 pieces each of shrimp, pineapple chunks and ham pieces onto double skewers (two skewers makes each kabob more stable). Brush kabobs with melted butter and grill over medium heat until the shrimp just turn pink, about 4 minutes. Brush again with butter and turn over. Grill 4 more minutes until just pink. Remove to a platter and drizzle with hot pepper honey.

    Makes 8 kabobs.

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