Rosemary Skewered Shrimp

I took these little guys to my friends Alisha and Molly's dinner party. I served them with my Creamy Herb Dip. They were easy, tasty and very pretty! There were ten people at the party, so I only put one shrimp per rosemary stem. If you're cooking for more people, or have less rosemary to work with, add two or three shrimp per stalk.



Rosemary Skewers

You'll need a lot of thick rosemary steams. Clean and dry them. Then trim them, if needed.

Firmly hold the top of a rosemary stem between your fingers. Use your other hand to grab the bottom of the herb. Slid your fingers down away from the tip of the rosemary, removing the needle like leaves. You want to clear a space large enough for your shrimp to fit on it.

Set the skewers aside.

Chop the rosemary that you remove from the stalk and use it in the marinade, stalk, and dip.

Marinade

24 Shrimp - peeled and deveined (reserve the heads and shells)
1/5 cup Evoo
1 T Soy Sauce (I used gluten free)
Lemon Juice from 1/2 a lemon (reserve the squeezed lemon)
3 cloves Garlic - crushed and peeled
Black and White Pepper
Cayenne
Smoked Paprika
Thyme
Rosemary
Chives
Sugar
splash of White Balsamic Vinegar
splash of Water

Mix everything together in a bowl. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.



Stock

4 cups Water
Shrimp Heads and Shells
Onion - a chunk (skin on)
Celery - diced
Garlic - crushed and peeled
Chives
Herbs
CRP
Black Pepper Corns
reserved squeezed Lemon

Boil the water and add all of the ingredients to it. Boil uncovered until it's reduced by half.

If you don't want to make a stock, although it's very easy and tasty, you can use a store bought one or just use water with lemon and herbs to steam the shrimp in.



Cooking

Cover the stock.

Drain the shrimp and leave it in the strainer.

Once the stock is boiling rapidly and steam has developed under the lid, open it. Place the strainer with your shrimp in it over the pot recover it. Make sure the shrimp are not touching the liquid. You can also use a double boiler to cook the shrimp.



Steam for two minutes.



Uncover and stir.




Recover and cook just until all of the shrimp are pink, about two more minutes.



Remove the shrimp, place them on a plate and let them cool down for a couple of minutes.

Skewering

Use a large toothpick (party pick) to make a hole through the shrimp. I went through the large top part and then straight down through the smaller tail end of the shrimp. (If you have smaller shrimp, make one hole through the top and then curl the tail around the rosemary stem.)

Remove the toothpick. Slide the cleared end of your rosemary stalk through the holes left by your toothpick so that the top of the shrimp are next to the leaves of the herb.



Repeat until all of the shrimp are skewered.

Serve with Creamy Herb Dip.