I’ve got a thing for the shrimp entrees at two very different restaurants – a very hip restaurant in Manhattan called Cervo’s, and a not-so-fancy seafood restaurant here in Los Angeles called the Boiling Crab. Both dishes feature shrimp smothered in lots of garlic and butter, with very different cooking methods. This recipe is the love child of those two dishes. The shrimp is cooked on the stove-top, by far the better way to cook shrimp than the boil method, which renders out all its juices. Then it’s dosed in a sauce made of butter, lots of garlic, butter, pepper, paprika, and Old Bay seasoning a la the Boiling Crab’s infamous “The Whole Shabang” sauce. Serve with a cold beer and corn on the cob, and get ready for some finger-licking good shrimp.

Ingredients:

• 7 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 lb of shrimp, patted dry (defrosted if frozen, shells on)
• 1 tbsp Old Bay seasoning (available in the spice section of grocery store)
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 tsp Louisiana hot sauce (my favorite brand is Crystal hot sauce)
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp smoked or regular paprika

Recipe:

1. Combine paprika, pepper, red pepper flakes, and Old Bay seasoning in a small bowl.

2. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and spices, and saute the garlic mixture a few minutes, constantlly stirring. Add the hot sauce and sugar and stir again to combine. Take off the heat, and strain the garlic mixture over a small colander to release the butter sauce into a separate bowl. Set garlic mixture aside, and return the butter sauce to the pan. (*You can also remove the garlic mixture with a slotted spoon if you have one and skip having to transfer the butter back to the pan).

3. Add shrimp to the pan and cook 3 minutes, stirring midway to turn the shrimp over. Take the shrimp off the heat (shrimp can easily overcook). Add the garlic mixture to the pan and stir to combine. Transfer to a serving platter and enjoy.