I love summer! Last night was beautiful outside! I had already fed the girls their supper. I was not really in the mood for a full dinner, so I decided to pull a bag of shrimp out of the freezer. I always keep a bag of shrimp in the freezer. I think they are just as good as the “fresh” shrimp in most markets and they take minutes to thaw!
Last week when I was at the market the bunches of lemongrass were calling my name. It has been sitting in my fridge. I thought it was time to use it, along with the cilantro, parsley and scallions, which were also calling my name at the market. Many years ago, one of our chef’s at Cremaldi’s showed me how to use lemongrass. It is so versatile! To use it you have to trim most of the top off and the stem at the bottom. Then you have to remove the tough outer leaves. I was showed to smash it with a meat mallet to loosen the fibers and then chop it. When I add it to something like curry then I don’t smash it. I slice it into very thin, thin, rounds (like a scallion). For this recipe it really needs to be finely chopped so you don’t choke on it or get little fibers stuck to the back of your throat or in between your teeth!!! That is NOT A GOOD THING! It is almost as bad as not getting your parsley clean enough and crunching on pieces of sand! Oh, speaking of crunching on sand…lemongrass is fantastic in steamed mussels!!!
I mixed the shrimp into my herb concoction and let them sit for an hour. I tossed them onto the grill and Voilà! Dinner! I poured a gin and tonic and went out to the backyard. Summer is the best!
Here is the recipe…
Lemongrass Cilantro Grilled Shrimp
1lb. 26/30 count raw shrimp
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1 clove finely chopped fresh garlic
4 tablespoons finely chopped scallions
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped lemongrass
lots of fresh coarsely ground black pepper
salt to taste
1. Trim shrimp by removing shell. Leave tail on. Make slit down back side of shrimp and
remove vein.
2. Mix cilantro, parsley, lemongrass, garlic, scallions, olive oil, salt and pepper together in
bowl. Reserve a small amount of mixture for drizzling after shrimp are cooked. Add shrimp to the rest and let sit for at least one hour.
3. Grill shrimp for a couple of minutes on each side. Do not overcook! As soon as the
shrimp turn from gray to pink they are DONE! Serve with a little drizzle of reserved marinade and a wedge of lemon!
Gen’s Notes
1. If you want a little heat you can add crushed red pepper flakes or a little fresh chopped
jalapeño pepper
2. I didn’t feel like soaking my skewers so I grilled the shrimp and then put them on the
skewers. Actually I only skewered the ones for the picture. We ate the others right out of
bowl! If I had company I would probably skewer them.
3. Make sure you taste your mixture and adjust the salt. I used a lot of course ground
pepper (2 tablespoons)
Genevieve Cremaldi 