I used to do a lot of fishing trips down to Grand Isle, LA, for specks. Tremendous spot, they have it all there. You could also catch your own shrimp by wading out with one of those little throw nets. Or, usually we waited til the last day before leaving and made a trip to the shrimp processor and filled a couple big coolers with them straight from the boats as they arrived. $3 a pound I think.

Anyway, I was wondering what everybody here likes to do with their shrimp.

And one thing I never really understood, what's the deal with the chlorine flavor you sometimes get? One Cajun told me it's the vein. But, it seems like I've removed those and at times have still noticed that taste.

Whereabouts are ya from Shack?

Hard to mess up a shrimp as far as I'm concerned, unless you overcook them. I like mine fried, grilled, in an etouffee, in gumbo, or just about any other way you can think of to fix them. I also love to have my shrimp belly deep in a real nice redfish, flound, or speck.

I don't know about a chlorine taste in shrimp, but I do know that among the less ethical vendors, they spray the shrimp down with clorox to keep them looking and smelling fresh longer. That shouldn't be much of an issue when they are coming strait from the boat though, unless they've been out a while to fill up the boxes. If I were to even think I smelled that smell, I'd pass on the shrimp, and the impending stomach issues.

the one thing I love when I'm down south is shrimp burgers. You just get a dumb look when you ask for one in Montana.

I believe that iodine flavor comes from a type of seaweed. It will affect the flavor of some ot the fish also. I don't know if it's when it blooms or what because it isn't a constant thing.

W. Tenn here.

I call it a chlorine taste, but maybe iodine is a good description too. Some have it, some don't. It seems to me most of them I brought back from Grand Isle weren't like that. Ones that I deveined from the store that did smell that way, weren't any better afterward. I use that long plastic thingee to devein with, but only the large vein. The smaller one you can't get to easily.

My favorite way to eat them is in shrimp cocktail. Several really fresh large ones properly boiled and chilled with the right sauce. I like for a restaurant to leave that small portion of shell on the tail end; then I can see if all the tail meat pulls out intact, which I consider as the proof of freshness (kind of like a waiter letting you smell the wine bottle cork). Making the sauce is a big deal with me, whether it's for shrimp or oysters on the half (another real treat).

A chilled shrimp cocktail goes real nice with the right drink, my idea of which is an old time NOLA classic, the Sazarac.

Some shrimpers, even today, long after it's use has been banned, use sulfur dioxide, and probably some others I don't know the names of, to keep the shrimp shells from turning black after they are caught. That should not be a problem in Grand Isle, where most of the shrimpers in the summertime are making short trips. I think the iodine flavor is mostly from shrimp that are just starting to go bad.

Besides good boiled shrimp.....the following is one of my favorite shrimp recipes......as well as having the benefit of being extremely quick and easy to prepare.......

Shrimp Boiled in Butter

5 #s shrimp
1 # margarine or butter
3 med onions quartered
3 tsp. salt
2 tbsp Zatarain's liquid crab boil

Put all of above in pot big enough to hold it.
Turn on medium heat or a bit less. Mix well, that is stir, especially at first until the shrimp helps liquify the mixture. Takes about 15 minutes or less, depending on heat. DO NOT OVERCOOK, when the shrimp turn nice and pink, sample and stop if the largest ones are cooked. If you're cooking for just two, I'd cut the recipe in half or less.

Serve in a bowl, with french bread to dip in the sauce.....

You can make it spicier by adding a bit more crab boil or some cayenne, same with salt, but be judicious, easy to put too much in, and you can't take it out.

I originally got this recipe many years back from Frank Davis' "Seafood Notebook", a great book on cooking fish and shrimp, etc. Highly recommended cookbook. In the original version he had 3 TBSP salt instead of 3 TSP, made it too salty IMO.

I call it a smell of ammonia and it usually means a dodgy prawn or shrimp...... you get the same smell when calamari and often other fish is going the same way.

As soon as I get a whiff of that, I put the whole lot in the rubbish bin.

thanks to all for some great ideas! i usually jsut saute shrimp in some butter and/or olive oil with a little garlic, then spash with white wine and mix with alfredo sauce for fetuccine. will ahve to try some of this the next time we have some shrimp.

wetdog - there's a place in havre (rod's drive inn) that sells shrimp burgers, if i remember correctly. i am not sure if it the same thing you are talking about, but i will give one a try and report on it.

Scampi alla Griglia - this one is a keeper for sure, and about as simple as can be.

here's what you need:

Scampi alla Griglia
Broiled Shrimp with Garlic Butter

To serve 6:

2 lbs. large fresh shrimp in their shells or defrosted frozen shrimp
8 Tbsp. (1 quarter-pound stick) of butter
1/2 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup finely-chopped shallots or scallions
1 Tbsp. finely-chopped garlic
1 tsp. salt
Freshly-ground black pepper
4 Tbsp. finely-chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
Lemon quarters

here's how to prepare it:

http://foodsoftheworld.activeb...riglia_topic846.html

and here's how great it looks when even an amateur such as myself makes it.

so many ways to cook shrimp, but never over cooked. about the only way you can ruin a shrimp. late season shrimp (white shrimp) tend to have a stronger iodine taste as the salt content in the water goes up, but you can not smell this. you should never smell a cleaner type smell. if you get a chance to buy right off the dock or boat, stick to the smaller boats, they dont travel as far or stay out as long. when the shrimp get strong,(iodine) its time to eat oysters.


Larry

The Scampi alla Griglia looks so good, and I am full from supper.

May have to try that one!!

louis - it was so ridiculously easy, i thought i was doing something wrong until i tasted it - very good!

My wife makes killer Shrimp Gumbo. We live 20 minutes from Kemah, Texas near Galveston. Get shrimp right off the boats. Doesn't get fresher than that. Also eats a'hell of alot of boiled shrimp.

Although I think everything you folks have said about the so called chlorine taste is right there is another possibility. Most people wouldnt notice it because they have never had fresh shrimp right off the boat or out of the pot. I find this to especially be true for cold water shrimp in Alaska versus the shrimp from the boats in Louisiana. That is the shrimp are rinsed with chlorinated city water. At times they are frozen this way as well. to my taste it makes a big difference. We always just rinse with sea water. Unless you are pulling the shrimp and eating them fairly quick it may not be that big of an issue. I would expect what everyone else has said to be the more likely cause in most cases but it could be a combination of all the above.

You can also get large shrimp, butterfly them. Put a sliver of jalepeno in them and wrap w/ a small piece of bacon held together w/ a toothpick. Use whatever seasoning you like if any at all. Grill. Becareful not to grill them too long. They are great.

a word of warning on the iodine taste in shrimp. there are areas in the atlantic from which the shrimp do indeed contain a derivative of iodine, which some people are highly allergic to. If you are one of these people who think you are allergic to shrimp, it is very possible that you ate these shrimp. A quick case of the hives is a usual occurance

Bubba: Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it.

Definitions --
Scampi is scampi !
Shrimp is gamberetti !
Those are two different things and scampi is the one with claws. I have no idea what 'shrimp scampi' is !

In any case shrimp makes an excellent addition to risotto.