Lemon Shandy Poached Peel & Eat Shrimp

Serves 4 as an appetizer

I think everybody and their sister has a version of shrimp cocktail of some level. I was trying to come up with a cool way to inject that southern flavor and do justice to such a iconic dish and to not serve the otherwise obligatory bland rubbery shrimp and crappy store-bought cocktail sauce circa the 80’s. The only cardinal rule is to not overcook the shrimp and don’t be lazy and buy already peeled shrimp because you are losing flavor and my personal trust by not cooking them in their shells.

1 oz. liquid crab boil
2 tbl. crab boil powder (I like Zatarain's but Old Bay works as well)
2 lemons, halved
2 ea. bay leaves
1 bu. parsley
1 btl. lemon shandy beer
4 cups water
1 pound u-12 shrimp with the shell on*
fresh lemons for serving
hot sauce for serving

In a large pot add all of the ingredients except the shrimp. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes to infuse all that flavor. Add the shrimp and cook uncovered for exactly 5 minutes until the shrimp are bright pink. Remove the pot from heat and add 1 gallon of ice to the pot immediately in order to stop the cooking process. 4 cubes is not enough, it may seem like overkill but it has to be enough to turn it into ice water almost immediately that way the shrimp can chill in flavor vs. taking them out and putting them in ice water. Once cold remove shrimp from liquid and you are ready to peel get peeling!!! Serve with fresh lemon and my hot sauce cocktail sauce (see page XXX).

*Shrimp come in all sizes and u-12 means you will get under 12 per pound so pretty big. So that means if you buy 21/25’s you will get 21-25 per pound, get it? So the lower the number the higher your ego gets when you are making this for guests.