Sunday, December 9, 2012

Grilled Shrimp with Whiskey Sauce

After almost 5 years of stubbornness, I am finally replacing the gasket on my Big Green Egg.

replacing gasket on Big Green Egg
Speaking of stubborn, the hardest part is getting the old gasket remains off.

It has worked well with a compromised (i.e. pretty much non-existent) seal but I was going to fix the alignment of the dome top so I figured I might as well fix the seal too.  I got the Egg taken apart and the old gasket off last night.  Today I'll put the new Rutland gasket on using Permatex Copper for adhesive.  

So while my Egg was out of commission, I used Alexis' Egg to grill these quick and tasty shrimp skewers on an absolutely gorgeous Saturday.
Grilled shrimp with whiskey sauce, shrimp skewers


Grilled Shrimp Skewers with Whiskey Sauce

by www.nibblemethis.com
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 10

Ingredients (6 skewers)
  • 36 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1/2 cup Kramer's BBQ sauce
  • 1/4 cup whiskey
  • 1 green onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 2 tsp spice rub
Instructions
  1. Mix the bbq sauce, whiskey, green onion, and garlic together and pour over the shrimp. Allow to marinate for 45 minutes while you preheat the grill.
  2. Remove shrimp from marinade (reserve the marinade) and place on 6 bbq skewers. Season both sides with spice rub. For the spice rub, use your favorite seafood rub (Dizzy Pig Raging River, Old Bay, etc). I made a quick one of 3/4 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp each of pepper, garlic powder, and chili powder.
  3. Bring the reserved marinade to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
  4. On a medium-hot (400f) grill, grill the shrimp 1-2 minutes per side until cooked through. Brush with the marinade during the the last minute.
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marinating shrimp in bowl
Shrimp takes almost no time to marinade.

shrimp skewers big green egg
It also cooks super fast so have everything you will need within arms reach.

Grilled shrimp skewers on Craycort cast iron grate
After glazing, you want to leave them on just long enough to get the glaze to "set" or cook on.

grilled shrimp with whiskey sauce
Garnish with extra green onion if desired.

Kramer's BBQ Sauce
I recently received a set of Kramer's Gourmet Foods wing rubs and BBQ sauce to try out.  

The shrimp aren't the only things I've tired, I've also made a couple of batches of wings, some thin pork chops, and smoked a rack of ribs.  Overall, I was impressed with both the sauce and the rubs.


Alexis and I thought the packaging is catchy.  As you can see, it comes in a glass beer bottle and comes with a cork stopper for once you crack it open.  The labeling is a clean design with simple graphics.  The one downside to the packaging is the 12 oz size is smaller than most and the cost per ounce higher. 

The ingredient list is regular kitchen stuff and free of chemicals that I can't pronounce, that's always a good sign for a bbq sauce.  The sauce has a good consistency, slightly thinner than most, which I like.  You can see the sauce is loaded with the oregano, pepper, and other herbs and spices.  Straight out of the jar, the sauce is sweet with a transition through vinegar and finishes with a spicy kick.

The sauce rocks on grilled wings especially in cahoots with the wing rub.  It hits so many flavor notes it's a symphony.   The boys and I devoured both batches and gave it 100% approval.  


For the ribs, I smoked a rack of pork spare ribs using cherry wood and the rub I used was Draper's AP rub.  I used the Kramer's BBQ sauce as a glaze during the last 20 minutes and then also used drizzled some over the sliced ribs.  
 
BBQ ribs on Craycort cast iron grate

BBQ Ribs plate

I thought it added a lot of heat to the ribs but my son didn't think it was too spicy.  While it was still sweet and spicy, it was just okay on the ribs.  I think it would go better on beef ribs and brisket.  That would make sense, since this sauce has Texas roots.

So just when I thought maybe the sauce is just for chicken and beef, I tried it as a mop on thin grilled pork chops and it was excellent.   It delivered a river of flavor that made the pork chops mouth watering good.   We had guests over and they liked it too.  I think the ribs were maybe an anomaly because the sauce does work on pork too.

We also did a side by side taste test using the three Kramer's wing rubs.  They have three of them, one for every heat tolerance level.

grilled wing taste test

Easy Pickin' - a mild rub with flavor but not a lot of heat.  Lots of visible spices and herbs added texture to the wings.  

Finger Lickin' - my favorite of the three and I would definitely use this regularly.  It has all of the flavor and texture of Easy Pickin' but they turn up the heat and add a little ghost chile.  

What Was I Thinkin' - This one is all about the heat with a heaping dose of the ghost chile.  It has visibly less herbs in it and that shows in the final product.

Kramer's Gourmet Foods started just 2 years ago but they are definitely doing things right with these products.  Like most start ups, you probably won't find them on your store shelves.  You can order online at their website.   UPDATE:  Kramer's has offered a 15% discount.  Just use the code NIBBLE at check out.