Fans of the holiday season are in for a real treat today! Frequent readers will probably know that we have been highlighting a few of our favorite seasonal dishes here on our blog for awhile now and today’s post is no exception. At Mighty Flame Propane Cylinder Exchange, we absolutely love the attention to detail that people put into just about everything this time of year. From decorations to dinners, there is just no shortage of fun to be had during the holiday season!
In our last post we shared a recipe for grilled cornbread that makes for the perfect thing to enjoy for breakfast on a weekend. Of course you could also use it as a side dish for your famous chili! How you enjoy it is completely up to you. We’ve been captivated lately by the idea of coming up with recipes that aren’t necessarily the main focus of a meal, but are instead interesting companions to the main dish. That’s why in today’s blog we would like to share a recipe that we think would make the perfect appetizer for your next holiday get together.
Grilled Shrimp Scampi
At this time of year, many people like to throw or attend holiday potluck dinners. Perhaps you’ll be getting together at a friend’s house and she has asked you to bring a little something. Maybe your office is holding a holiday party and you prefer not to show up empty handed. You might even simply be looking for a little something special that you can do to make an evening meal at home just a little bit more special for your family.
Our recipe for grilled shrimp scampi is the perfect thing because it’s easy to make and it is pretty much guaranteed that anyone who tries it will be absolutely delighted by it. You could also choose to serve it over some hot noodles and make a bit of extra sauce and consider it your main course. At the end of the day, the choice is entirely up to you, but one thing is for certain–everyone will be talking about how good this shrimp scampi is!
Let’s Get Started
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 1 pound of shrimp
- Salted butter
- Olive oil
- Minced garlic
- ½ cup white wine
- Red pepper flakes
- Parsley
- Salt and pepper
Eight simple ingredients are all you need to make one of the biggest hits of this holiday season. If you’ve never made shrimp scampi before, don’t worry–this recipe is simple to follow and you can tailor it to suit your own tastes. You might notice that in many instances we have left off exact amounts of ingredients to use. This was done intentionally to allow you to change anything to your liking. Use a bit of common sense and you’ll be just fine! The end result is sure to be some of the most delicious food you’ve had all year.
Fire Up Your Grill
To get started, preheat your grill to medium-high. Prepare a few skewers–we suggest using metal ones rather than disposable wooden skewers. You can find metal skewers at your local grocery store. Skewer your shrimp and then brush each side with a bit of olive oil so they don’t stick to your grill grates. Next, season each side with red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste.
Grill for a couple of minutes on each side or until your shrimp is done, then remove them from your grill and put them in a bowl.
Head Inside
Next, melt some butter–two tablespoons or so should do the trick–in a large skillet on your stove. Add a dash of olive oil, then saute your garlic for a moment or two. Next, add about half a cup of the white wine of your choice. If you’re an aficionado, don’t hesitate to utilize a wine that you have a particular affection for. If not, feel free to take advantage of the cooking white wine you can find at your local grocery store. Either way, you’re going to end up with something that is amazingly delicious.
Allow the wine to cook out a little bit. If this is your first time cooking with wine, don’t panic. The whole process will likely only take three or four minutes to reduce to the level you’re looking for. To finish up, toss your shrimp into the skillet and warm everything through once more. Remove everything from heat and serve immediately, garnishing with parsley on top to add a pop of color and a wonderful flavor.
A Few Suggestions
You could also add a bit of lemon juice at the very end to brighten things up a little bit. If you’re feeling adventurous, you could even zest the lemon as well and add that to your dish. As we mentioned above, this shrimp scampi could be served as an appetizer if you prefer by adding a toothpick to each shrimp. To achieve a result that’s fancy, you could serve two shrimps with a bit of sauce in a ramekin. Put your ramekin on a plate with some nice crusty bread and people have a go-to appetizer with everything they need all in one place.
If you’d rather make a meal, you can make a bit more sauce and serve it over your favorite noodles. Linguine is, of course, the classic choice, but it would work equally well with penne, rigatoni, or fettuccine noodles. At the end of the day, the choice is yours!
Stay Tuned For More
At Mighty Flame Propane Cylinder Exchange, we love sharing holiday recipes with our readers and we’re sure this particular recipe will not disappoint! Grilling the shrimp just adds an awesome level of complexity to an already classy dish.
Need to find a propane tank exchange location near you? Visit one of our locations to make sure you’re all ready to go and then keep your eyes on this space because we’ll continue to bring our readers holiday recipes that allow them to take advantage of their grills! Until next time.
