spicy shrimp

this is one of paul's favorite recipes. he loves shrimp. i'm putting this under the appetizer category, but it can totally be a main dish, too. it just depends on where you want to serve it. as a main dish, it will serve 2-4 people but as an appetizer, it will serve 10-12.

here's what you need:

*2 lbs of raw, unpeeled shrimp, 21-26 count. (this refers to how many shrimp are in a pound.) you can use larger shrimp, but if you use smaller ones, they get tricky to peel...
*2 lemons (or 3 or 4...)
*1 stick butter (for future note, margarine is a swear word at my house. i almost NEVER use it. if you use margarine in one of my recipes, i might never speak to you again.)
*1/2 cup olive oil (or so...)
*lots of black pepper
*tabasco sauce
*kosher salt (more on this later)
*1/4 to 1/2 cup worchestershire sauce

rinse off the shrimp in a colander. spread on a cookie sheet in a single layer. drizzle the shrimp with the olive oil and then sprinkle generously with black pepper. and then go ahead and shake on some more. it will look like TONS of pepper, but you are going to peel the shrimp before you eat them, so trust me, it will be ok. seriously use a ton.

now let's talk about kosher salt. you really should buy some for cooking. it's very inexpensive and i thought i'd never say this, but there *is* a major difference between kosher salt and regular salt. i use kosher salt ALL OF THE TIME now. real cooks use kosher salt. it rules. sprinkle the shrimp with kosher salt. again, you will be peeling the shrimp, so they will not be overly salty.

roll the lemons on the counter...this releases the juice. cut them in half and squish out the juice all over the shrimp. yummy.

now grab your worchestershire sauce and shake it all over the shrimp. again, the measurement doesn't need to be exact. go for about 1/2 cup. shake tabasco sauce all over the shrimp - as much or as little as you want. i use about 10-20 shakes o' the bottle. depends on how i'm feeling and how my stomach is doing that day.

now take that glorious stick of butter and cut into little pats. if one stick doesn't seem like enough, use more. i've been known to use two. put the butter all over the shrimp. now is a good time to add more salt and pepper if you'd like.

take this pan of shellfish goodness and put it under your broiler for about 10 minutes. you'll know the shrimp are done when they turn pink. IF you overcook them, they will be rubbery, so don't overcook. :)

now here's the fun part. the sauce is AMAZING to dip bread in, so don't throw it away. grab a loaf of crusty french bread and dip away! or...at my house, i make sticky rice and we put the sauce over rice. put down a bunch of newspaper and peel n' eat the shrimp right off the pan. they won't last for long, i promise.

this recipe is not my own - i got it from the pioneer woman. her recipe website is sooo much better than mine, so don't compare me to her, mmmkay? thanks.