TODAY'S MID-WEEK MIXER IS A NAOMI'S BBQ SHRIMP, A SOMEWHAT ALTERED VERSION OF THE PAULA DEEN ORIGINAL

Naomi Blackburn has done it again, with a BBQ Shrimp receipe that is tasty and fun for backyard parties, tailgate picnics or of course, to spice up your book club meeting with a taste of the South. For more of Naomi's fabulous recipes, follow her at  http://thepubandgrubforum.blogspot.com

This dish is so versatile that I have served it not only for CHICAGO BEARS sofa tailgating celebrations, but it converts easily to a main dish when partnered with a white or brown rice. I have shown examples of both. Paula recommends serving it with corn bread, but to be honest, I serve it with French bread to soak up the unbelievably flavored butter sauce. My mouth just waters whenever I think of this shrimp.

I have altered the recipe slightly. First, the recipe calls for 12 shrimp heads still attached. I consider myself open to trying new things, but, nah, I am not that adventurous. Second, one of the things that drove me crazy about the original recipe was that it was a tad bit too salty for my family and I. We tend to be really sensitive to that. I found by substituting out some salted butter for unsalted butter, it cut down on that taste of being over-salted. The other thing that I did was some of the ingredients in the sauce so there would be plenty to soak up with the bread.

Now, one final note…in regards to shrimp, I suppose you can use raw shrimp that have been had their shells removed. I ALWAYS recommend against that due to how sensitive these guys are to heat and how they can go from delectable to rubber with the snap of a finger. It is worth it to make them finger food. Just serve with plenty of napkins or Wetnaps and a bowl for the discarded shells!

I have put my ingredients first with Paula's original ingredients in parenthesis in blue.

So, here we go:

Ingredients:

2 lbs medium raw, shell on, deveined shrimp (12 jumbo raw heads/tails on shrimp)
4 T. BUTTER, salted (8 T. salted BUTTER)
4 T. BUTTER, unsalted (Omit if you are following Paula's path)
4 T. Cajun seasoning (such as Zatarrains) (2 t. Cajun Seasoning)
1 c. Lager ( I use Leinie's Classic Amber) (1/2 c. Lager)
1/3 c. Lemon juice (juice of 1/2 lemon)
1 t. Worcestershire sauce (1/2 t.)
1 T. FRESH thyme (2t.)
Fresh parsley for garnish (mine never stay around long for that formality)

Directions:

1) Place shrimp on a cookie sheet and sprinkle generously with the Cajun seasoning.
2) Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan and when melted, add the shrimp.

3) Allow the shrimp to cook thoroughly. They turn from a grayish color to a really pretty opaque and salmon color when cooked
4) Add the remaining ingredients and I give it about another 3 minute cooking time with the lid on.