Head On Shrimp are my new obsession. They are very hard to find where I live in Michigan but running errands for my parents I found them at the grocery store a mile from their home! I spoke to the fishmonger and she said they had them every Saturday so now when I visit my parents I grab shrimp too!! Sometimes I peel the bodies (leaving the head on of course) and sometimes I just leave them whole and we peel and eat them. Using our hands is a yummy, buttery, shrimpy, delight. When eating head-on shrimp you HAVE to squeeze and suck the head; You do!! The sauce and the soft parts in the head make the most amazing sauce. It’s the whole point of buying head on shrimp. If you don’t want to do that then just buy large wild caught shrimp and it will still be a delicious dish! Make sure you have some crusty bread to sop up the sauce too.
Tools
- 10 inch Saute’ pan
- cutting board
- tongs
- rasp
Ingredients 
- 12 jumbo Head-On Shrimp*
- 2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons of diced shallot or mild onion
- 1 Tablespoon of minced garlic
- 1 Tablespoon of water
- 1 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1 teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning
- 1/2 lemon zest and juice
- 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne
- 1 stick of COLD butter
- 1 teaspoon of olive oil
Recipe
Heat the one teaspoon of olive oil over medium high heat. Add the unpeeled** shrimp, Worcestershire, spices, garlic and 1 tablespoon of water in a heavy 10-inch saute’ pan. Add the zest of 1/2 the lemon and squeeze the juice from the half lemon over the shrimp. Over high heat, cook the shrimp while gently swirling the saute pan, occasionally turning the shrimp. In about two minutes of cooking, the shrimp should start turning pink on both sides, so they are about half done.
Reduce the heat to medium-high and continue cooking as you gradually add the cold pieces of butter to the pan. While stirring the shrimp, swirl the butter pieces until they are incorporated into the pan juices, the sauce turns light brown and creamy as it simmers, and the shrimp are just cooked through. This will take about two minutes total if the shrimp are extra-large and about three minutes if they are colossal. Serve immediately in a bowl and pour the sauce over the top of your shrimp. Serve with crusty bread for sopping up the sauce and lots of napkins for cleaning your hands. Makes two servings.
DELISHTIP 1--Sometimes I like to peel the body from the shrimp and devein them. It just depends on how they look to me. Just be gentle so the head doesn’t separate from the body. If it does just cook it anyway!
