Eli's Barbecued Shrimp

Don’t let the name fool you. This isn’t grilled shrimp with barbecue sauce. New Orleans-style barbecued shrimp means large shrimp roasted in a peppery, garlicky butter bath until they turn pink and swim in a puddle of spiced drippings you’ll want to sop up with crusty bread.

The sauce starts on the stovetop: butter and olive oil melted together with a heavy hand of cracked black pepper, minced garlic, Worcestershire, dried basil, thyme, and Tabasco. That combination hits salty, spicy, and herbal all at once.

Nearly two tablespoons of cracked black pepper sounds aggressive, and it is. That’s what makes this dish. The pepper blooms in the hot butter and coats every shrimp with a sharp, warming bite that lingers.

Toss the shrimp halfway through baking to re-coat them. The second stint in the oven finishes cooking them through and lets the butter sauce reduce slightly into a concentrated glaze.

Chef Tips

• Use large or jumbo shrimp, shell-on if you can. The shells protect the meat from drying out and add flavor to the butter sauce.
• Watch the clock. Shrimp go from perfectly pink to tough and curled in under two minutes. Pull them right when they turn opaque.
• Serve with a loaf of French bread for dunking. The butter sauce at the bottom of the pan is half the point.
• Crack your own peppercorns instead of using pre-ground. The coarser texture and fresher flavor make a real difference here.

Variations

• Lemon butter finish: Squeeze half a lemon over the shrimp right out of the oven for a bright, acidic contrast.
• Beer addition: Splash in a quarter cup of lager with the butter sauce for a looser, more complex liquid.
• Cajun boost: Add a teaspoon of Cajun seasoning to the butter mixture for extra depth and heat.