As seafood goes, shrimp have very mild flavor. It’s there, but it needs to be coaxed out and complimented. Some recipes are delicious in overpowering the taste of shrimp – like the heavy garlic in scampi for example. But stoking is about bringing out the best from all kinds of food through seasoning by the smoke and the steam.
Multi Flavored Planks are about experimenting and finding your own favorites, but a great starting point for this recipe is the combination of cedar and maple. If you like shrimp, you’ll love this preparation.
Campfire Planked Shrimp
Author: 50 Campfires
Cuisine: Seafood
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of 26-30 size shrimp – deveined, but shells intact
- 2 packages cedar/maple Kelly Craig Blended Oven Planks
- olive oil
- ¼ cup chives, roughly chopped
- 1 Tbsp. fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- For brine:
- 3 quarts fresh water
- ¾ cups kosher salt
- 1 lemon – halved
- 3 Tbsp. sugar
- Fresh sprigs of thyme or your other favorite herbs
- For basting sauce:
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp. brown sugar
- 1 tsp. unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tsp. low-sodium soy sauce
- ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp. sea salt
Instructions
- Mix brine in a large bowl. Stir until salt and sugar is completely dissolved.
- Immerse raw shrimp (thawed if previously frozen) in brine.
- Squeeze in and add lemon halves and herbs.
- Stir gently to mix.
- Cover and place in refrigerator for 1-2 hours.
- Soak planks submerged in water or white wine for 1 hour.
- If you’re cooking on a campfire, start preparing coal bed at least an hour before cooking time, or half hour if you will be cooking on charcoal grill. You need a bed of glowing coals about 3-4 inches deep, large enough to support the planks entirely. Fan excess ash from coals with a piece of cardboard.
- Drain shrimp and discard the brine.
- Lay out shrimp on paper towels and pat dry.
- Combine basting sauce ingredients in large bowl and mix well.
- Add shrimp, and gently toss to coat.
- Remove planks from soaking and pat cooking side dry with paper towels.
- Drizzle olive oil on cooking side and wipe across surface with folded paper towel.
- Arrange shrimp in tight rows down the length of each plank. They should curl against each other.
- Place the planks directly on the coal bed with some coals on the exposed corners of plank.
- Close cover on grill or tent planks with aluminum foil on campfire coals.
- Cook for 6 minutes or until shrimp are pink. DO NOT OVERCOOK or shrimp will turn rubbery.
- For dramatic presentation, use tongs to remove planks from coals and lay them on heat proof tray or surface, making certain they are complete extinguished.
- Squeeze on fresh lemon juice and sprinkle with chives.
PRO TIP: The perfect tools for making these delicious shrimp recipe are the Kelly Craig Grill Planks. For even more flavor combinations, soak the plank in your favorite, nonflammable liquid – wine and beer work great and you can cut them with as much water as you want. Used on the grill or the grate above the campfire, you can get several uses from each plank if you rinse and freeze it between uses. BUY NOW!
