Jalapeno Butter Shrimp

Jalapeno Butter Shrimp

As you can tell....I have a slight obsession with shrimp. I could seriously eat it everyday or at least every other day and if I could throw scallops in there, too...well then I'd be in true bliss! So if you see that I post a lot of shrimp recipes....well it's because of this slight obsession...so hopefully you, too have a slight obsession with shrimp, too but if you don't...most of these shrimp recipes can be substituted with chicken. You will just have to adjust your cooking time of course! This recipe is similar to a recipe I made a few months ago with a few changes...so if you like this recipe also try this recipe:

http://checkitoutavesta.blogspot.com/2008/09/cilantro-lime-pepper-shrimp-n-scallops.html

Tonight...I made Jalapeno Butter Shrimp. You get the jalapeno butter by pan frying the chopped jalapeno (and I added a little habanero to mine, too because I like really spicy food) in butter until the pepper almost gets crispy. It was so good that after all the shrimp was gone...I ate the rest of the jalapeno butter by dipping crusty bread in it. Oh my....let's just say it was quite "gasmic!"

Start off by dicing and removing the seeds from 2 jalapenos. I also added 1 habanero to mine.

Saute the peppers in 3 tablespoons butter.

I was lucky enough to get these huge U12s at a decent price at the market. You can use any size shrimp you'd like but a bigger shrimp is better. I've used 26/30s and it turns out great. Again...that number simply means how many shrimp come in a pound. The smaller the number...the larger the shrimp. I use between 1lb and 1 1/2 lbs of shrimp for this recipe.

Make sure your shrimp are peeled (I leave the tail on for looks and it makes it easier to grab them by the tail) and deveined. I like to butterfly them so the sauce gets deep into the shrimp. To butterfly a shrimp it simply means to almost slice open the shrimp so that it opens up like a butterfly or fan but is not completely split open.

Let your peppers fry in the butter. Make sure you turn your heat down once the butter is melted or you will burn your butter. Keep an eye on your pan and stir often. Once you add the shrimp to the pan, they are done when they turn pink.
Sprinkle the shrimp with some salt and pepper as they cook. You can also add a splash of white wine if you'd like. I was also serving these to my son so I left out the wine this time.

Arrange the shrimp on a platter and pour the jalapeno butter on top. Squeeze some fresh lemon or lime juice on top and you've got yourself one heck of a dish!
And don't forget to serve some bread with the shrimp so you can sop up the jalapeno butter. It's too good to waste!!! So sop it up baby...sop it up!