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Serves
4 as a main dish or 6 as a starter
Author Notes
During the avocado contest, I thought it might be fun and interesting to marinate shrimp in a true cocktail recipe. I knew I wanted to use gin, grapefruit and mint and was sure there must be a cocktail with those ingredients. As it turns out, it is close to a Bailey cocktail, from Gerald Murphy, a socialite friend of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Picasso among others. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123698213720424525.html Unfortunately, I missed the posting deadline. So here I am. The “cocktail” ingredients make the shrimp tender and flavorful while the spicy mint-avocado dipping sauce serves a dual purpose. While it cools the hot-off-the-grill shrimp down, it also adds a kick of heat from the jalapeño. —gingerroot
Ingredients
- For the Dipping Sauce
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8 ounces avocado, scooped out of large avocado with a spoon (a little more than a cup of fruit)
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4 ounces Japanese cucumber, peeled, halved, seeded and sliced (about 1 cup of cucumber)
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1/2 - 1 jalapeño pepper, stem end trimmed, rough chopped
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1/3 c Greek yogurt mixed with 2 T water
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2 T lime juice
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½ t kosher salt plus more to taste
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½ cup mint, packed
- For the “Cocktail” shrimp
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2 lb 21/25 shrimp with shells, deveined
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2 t cumin
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1 t kosher salt
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½ cup gin
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½ cup grapefruit juice
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1/3 cup mint leaves, torn
Directions
- For the Dipping Sauce
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Combine ingredients, starting with 1/2 of a jalapeño (whether you leave or remove seeds is up to your heat tolerance) in a blender and puree until smooth. Taste for salt and heat and adjust, adding more jalapeño if needed. Transfer mixture to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap (pressing down so plastic is touching the surface of the mixture) and refrigerate until needed.
- For the “Cocktail” shrimp
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Toss shrimp with cumin and salt in a medium bowl. Add gin, grapefruit juice and mint. Stir to combine. Transfer to an airtight container with a lid and marinate in the refrigerator for 20 minutes, shaking occasionally.
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Meanwhile prepare your grill.
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After 20 minutes of marinating, thread shrimp tail through neck on skewers. Grill 3-4 minutes, turning skewers once, until shells are pink and shrimp are opaque.
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Serve with generous amounts of chilled dipping sauce. Enjoy.
My most vivid childhood memories have to do with family and food. As a kid, I had the good fortune of having a mom who always encouraged trying new things, and two grandmothers who invited me into their kitchens at a young age. I enjoy cooking for the joy it brings me - sharing food with loved ones - and as a stress release. I turn to it equally during good times and bad. Now that I have two young children, I try to be conscientious about what we cook and eat. Right about the time I joined food52, I planted my first raised bed garden and joined a CSA; between the two I try to cook as sustainably and organically as I can. Although I'm usually cooking alone, my children are my favorite kitchen companions and I love cooking with them. I hope when they are grown they will look back fondly at our time spent in the kitchen, as they teach their loved ones about food-love.
Best of all, after years on the mainland for college and graduate school, I get to eat and cook and raise my children in my hometown of Honolulu, HI. When I'm not cooking, I am helping others grow their own organic food or teaching schoolchildren about art.
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