Greek Style Grilled Shrimp

Greek Style Grilled Shrimp
Shrimp.  Garlic.  Lemon.  All good things.

1 lb raw jumbo shrimp, peeled, deveined, and washed.  (Keep those tails on, though.)

½ c Extra Virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
Juice and zest of 1 large lemon
2 t dried oregano
½ t salt
½ t black pepper

First do this:

Combine oil, garlic, juice, zest and seasonings in a large bowl, stir well to combine.  Add raw shrimp and toss to coat evenly.  Set aside to marinate for about 20 minutes.

Then do this:

Pre-heat your grill to 450°.  Place 5-6 shrimp each on bamboo or metal skewers.  Grill the shrimp over medium high heat, about 2-3 minutes per side. 

If you can’t do that, then do this:

If you don’t have a grill, pre-heat your oven to 450°.  Skewer up the shrimp, place on a sheet pan.  Bake at 450° about 5-6 minutes.

Eat it like this:

Serve these puppies hot, with a side of homemade tzatziki sauce and grilled garlic pita.  Tossed over a Caesar salad would be pretty bomb as well.

If you’re goin’ rogue:

You can cook these on the stovetop, too.  Throw a little olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and sauté about 5-6 minutes. 

Using fresh oregano?  That’s boss.  Don’t forget to double up.

You don’t HAVE to use jumbo shrimp.  If you use smaller shrimp, you may have to shorten the cooking time.  You can use prawns too.  (That’s just a fancy name for shrimp, by the way)

Keep this in mind:

If you’re not a fan of cleaning shrimp, you can ask your fish monger to do it for you. 

If you use bamboo skewers, soak them in water for about 30 minutes prior to threading the shrimp.  Bamboo is wood.  Wood burns over the fire.  Wet wood burns less quickly.

Shrimp is fully cooked when the tails are pink and the flesh is opaque white.  Undercooked shrimp isn’t very pleasant.  On the flip side, shrimp cook pretty fast, so don’t walk away while the crustaceans are a-grillin’.  Overcooked shrimp isn’t very pleasant, either.

Garlic and lemon have a higher sugar content, so too high of heat may cause those shrimps to burn.  Burned garlic is bitter.  Bitter, in this case, is undesired.