Monday, July 12, 2010

Grilled Shrimp with Preserved Lemon Aioli – Sometimes I Prefer Not to Skewer

Hello from steamy western New York! I just celebrated my 47th birthday with the family yesterday, and we had one of my favorite childhood meals; scalloped potatoes and ham. While that's not a classic hot-weather meal, this grilled shrimp with cured lemon aioli certainly is.

You'll notice a glaring lack of ingredients in this video recipe. Thanks to the intensely flavored cured lemons, the aioli sauce needs little
more than some fresh tarragon to reach its full potential. Having said that, you are well within your rights to toss in some garlic or hot pepper if you're in the mood.

The shrimp prep is just as minimalist. A little oil, smoked paprika, and salt is all that's needed to coax out the shellfish's natural sweetness.

By the way, as I mention in the video, when I grill a relatively small amount of shrimp, I skip the skewering step. It only takes a couple minutes to grill shrimp over hot coals, and I can easily turn them one by one.

Skewers do make for a nice presentation, and for a large group it makes the turning much faster, but when I'm just doing enough for the two of us, I have no trouble keeping up. Whether you skewer or not, I hope you give this super-easy seafood recipe a try. Enjoy!




Ingredients:
1 pound shrimp
2 teaspoon olive oil (not extra virgin)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
For the aioli:
1/2 cup mayo
1 1/2 tablespoon minced cured lemons
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon

27 comments:

Ivan said...

You've just infected the dip! Nice going, buddy.

http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2010/01/double-dip-of-social-discourse.html

Anonymous said...

thank you chef... I love cured lemon, I am very happy to learn new ways of using it. I usually add it to my canned tuna salad. Its awesome...

jeffv said...

I know you're a Seinfeld fan Chef John...

"Ya dipped the shrimp...ya took a bite.......and you dipped again!"

"Sooo??"

"That's like putting your whole mouth in the dip!"

Next time just stick to one dip,

Jeff

Chef John said...

Trust me, my wife doesn't mind ;-)

David said...

Chef John, is that a new knife?

Chef John said...

Yes! their from here http://www.newwestknifeworks.com/

Chris Fry said...

no garlic in the aioli?

Anonymous said...

Is it really aioli when there's no garlic in it?

Steve said...

Chef, jeffv, et al:

Mythbusters did a segment, rerun just last night (7/11/2010) on the Seinfeld "double dip" bit and showed that there was very little bacterial "infection" of the dip by "double dipping". In fact, when they did the first cut at the experiment, the dip itself, before even being touched, had as many critters in it as after dipping.

http://mythbustersresults.com/banana-slip-double-dip

For the germophobes, I suspect that you'd pick up as much in terms of bacteria from people just breathing in the general region of the dip bowl as you would from double dipping.

As Adam Savage pointed out, what's your immune system for, anyhow?

Chef John said...

No it's technically not, you are correct. These days "aioli" is what we call any flavored mayo, which sounds better than "flavored mayo" ;-)

Chef John said...

Attention commenter who keeps calling me "jeff john"... I can only publish your comments if they are not idiotic.

Chef John said...

I mentioned in the post to add some if you want. Sometimes, believe it or not, I don't want the taste of garlic. :-)

Asian Malaysian said...

Happy belated birthday, dude! Keep living the dream!

Anonymous said...

Hey I really like the look of them lemons, but I don't eat meat. So I have a request: a vegetarian cured lemon recipe.

I thought I'd get that in before you ran out - you seem to be going through those lemons pretty fast.

Jessica said...

Love the double dipping dispute, but really love these shrimp! Tasty...and the aioli dip...even better! Thanks

jessyburke88@gmail.com

cedar chest said...

Shrimps are very common in our place and there are lots of kinds of style of serving it. But that style is very unusual for me.

Brett said...

Those shrimp look delicious! I love how simple they look to make.

Basia said...

The printed ingredient list specifies that the olive oil NOT be extra virgin, but why not?

Benjamin Frear said...

Nice recipe! I do love how shrimp are so easy to make. Even I can look like a pro when cooking them.

Chef John said...

evoo has a low smoke point so not the best for the grill, also more expensive so why waste it on something where you arent going to taste the real flavor

Anonymous said...

Hi chef, i'm from france and i give you the challenge to make real aioli........!!

Chef John said...

thanks, but we've already done real aioli, as well as discussed in depth what is and isn't aioli.

May M said...

Vegetarian food please, we really need recipes from a chef. I'm adapting most of your recipes but it seems you forgot about us :D

Blessings, great work always.

Anonymous said...

Dear chef, did you make or buy the Mayo you used in your dip? What brand of Mayo do you use? Please tell, Thank you!

Chef John said...

i used hellmanns (or Best Foods our west, same product)

Danny M said...

Could we add some minced Garlic to the shrimp?

Chef John said...

Yes, but only if you like garlic.