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Bacon-Wrapped Gulf Shrimp with Blue Cheese Butter and Port Reduction
Bacon-Wrapped Gulf Shrimp with Blue Cheese Butter and Port Reduction is an incredible shrimp appetizer inspired culinary tour of the Gulf Coast region.
Yield: Serves 8
Prep: 45 minsCook: 30 minsTotal: 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
Port Reduction
- 1 1/2 cups sweet red port wine
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
- 2 medium sprigs fresh rosemary
Blue Cheese Butter
- 4 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1/4 cup blue cheese, crumbled (or use Stilton as used in the original recipe if available)
- 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped very fine
- 1 tablespoon bacon fat
Wrapped Shrimp
- 1 pound thin cut bacon (16 slices per pound or one ounce each slice)
- 2 pounds 16-20 count Gulf shrimp, peeled, deveined and with tail left on
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- In a small sauce pan, place all port reduction ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook down to ½ cup, about 15 minutes. Strain liquid and discard solids. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix softened butter, blue cheese and chopped rosemary. Set aside.
- In a large pan or griddle, cook bacon over medium high heat just until it starts to turn brown and transfer to paper towels to drain. The bacon and shrimp cook at two different times so the bacon needs to be partially cooked first before wrapping raw shrimp. Do not cook the bacon too long or it will not be pliable enough to wrap around raw shrimp.
- Take one tablespoon of bacon fat and add to blue cheese butter and mix thoroughly. Save remaining bacon fat for other recipes.
- Place butter mixture in a small pastry bag with an open round tip (one big enough to accept small pieces of blue cheese without getting clogged). Set aside.
- On a cutting board, cut each strip of bacon in half across the center which will give you 32 pieces. That should also be the count in the two pounds of shrimp. Leftover shrimp if any, use for other recipes.
- Take each half strip of bacon and wrap once around each shrimp and secure with a toothpick coming in from the side so the shrimp will cook flat. Repeat for all 32 pieces.
- Using the same griddle, clean and heat to medium to medium high.
- Add oil and once hot, place all of the bacon wrapped shrimp down onto the pan on their sides. If the pan is too crowded, cook in two batches or cook with two pans at once on two burners.
- Cook for about two minutes or until they start to turn pink. Flip and repeat for other side. Do not overcook. If you are not sure, pull one out to test.
- Shut off burner and with pastry bag, pipe blue cheese butter over each one then immediately remove shrimp to a platter leaving fat and residue in pan.
- Just before serving, drizzle with port reduction or serve port reduction on the side.
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