Shrimp Embrochette With a Chipotle Aioli, Great Hors De Oeuvres Recipe

Shrimp Embrochette Hors de Oeuvres

INGREDIENTS (for 3-4 servings):

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 (6 ounce) can crabmeat, drained
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon of fresh minced garlic
½ teaspoon of salt or to taste, you can omit the salt if you prefer but it does help add seasoning to the shrimp.
25 large shrimp , 5 will be deveined and chopped and the other 20 will be peeled, deveined and butter flied.
20 thick slices bacon par cooked which means it is semi cooked but not cooked all the way.
Skewers, or Toothpicks that have been soaked in water to prevent burning when grilling.

PREPARATION:

To par cook your bacon add the bacon pieces to a sheet pan and put them in a 350 - 400 degree oven for about 10- 15 minutes. You will then remove them from the sheet pan and lay them out on a paper towel to remove all of the excess bacon grease.

In a medium bowl, mix together the 5 chopped shrimp, bread crumbs, crabmeat, jalapeno pepper, pepper jack cheese, Cheddar cheese, canola oil and garlic salt. You will mix well and make sure that the shrimp and crab mixture are holding together well due to the fact that it will be stuffed in the shrimp. You do not want your mixture to run out of the bacon wrapped shrimp.

You can cook these on a hot grill, pan sauté, or oven broil these little babies. Your choice but my preference is on a hot grill and that is why I par cook the bacon. I try and remove as much of the bacon fat so the grill will not flame or flare up when cooking on the grill. I like to use Mesquite wood when grilling mine for the added flavor.

You will put your par cooked bacon strips out on a clean work surface. Take a heaping spoonful of the breadcrumb mixture and stuff it into the butter flied shrimp, and wrap with bacon, and repeat until all are wrapped up. You will then secure with two toothpicks or wooden skewers if you like. The wooden skewers need to be soaked in water just as the toothpicks do if you are using them on the grill. It will keep them from burning. If you are going to use the skewers use 2 of them and run them about a ½ inch apart so it will look like you are making a shrimp ladder. If you are using the toothpicks, you will need to make sure to secure the bacon and you can run them parallel or make an x if you like, either will work just fine. You are ready to grill or cook your shrimp Embrochette.

Regardless if you are cooking on the grill, pan or oven watch your shrimp once it starts to become really nice and salmon pink it is done, do not overcook because it will become chewy. If you cook for about 5-8 minutes on each side depending on the heat you are cooking over, and after the bacon crisps up you should remove them from cooking surface and let cool for about 3-5 minutes. There will be carry over cooking and you want to make sure that the inside has caught up to the outside and that it will be cooled down enough not to burn your guest, and then serve.

Chipotle aioli:

Add 1 Cup of Mayo, about 1-2 tablespoons of fresh chopped cilantro, 1-2 teaspoon of chipotle powder- you can add more or less depending on the heat level you desire, 2-3 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice, ½ teaspoon of garlic powder, pinch or two of salt and pepper. Stir and add to a bowl for dipping.

Chef Shelley Pogue, a Cum Laude, Le Cordon Blue graduate and Executive Research and Development Chef, for Vertical Sales and Marketing, San Ramon,

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