Why do you need a recipe for Shrimp Cocktail anyway? You can just buy one of those big ring things with their neatly arranged shrimps surrounding a bowl of red, kinda spicy sauce, right? Hmmmmm. No thanks – not my idea of tastiness. There is nothing wrong with frozen shrimp actually. It is frozen almost immediately upon being caught and unless you live very close to the ocean, any fresh shrimp you see in your store has every likelihood of actually tasting older than thawed frozen shrimp will. It may have even been frozen, before they thawed it and layed it out all pretty on the ice with the fake parsely separating it from the “fresh” whateverelse is in the fish case that day.
Not long after they got married, Ellyn and Jason lived in a little town in North Carolina called Cape Carteret. On one of our trips to visit them, we went to a fish store that was right on the dock and the guy who sold us our [obscene amount of] shrimp had caught it that morning. That meal was the pinacle of shrimpy deliciousness in my lifetime. But, this can come close to that ideal. The trick is to buy frozen raw shrimp – the E-Z peel kind is, naturally, easier to peel, but if you are going to cook it with the shells on, and peel them afterward, that won’t matter much. I prefer to cook them shells on, because even though they only take a couple minutes to get done, the shells do add to the flavor, in the same way that cooking chicken with the bones in it does.
You can just throw plain old shrimp into boiling water, take them out and cool them when they are done, dunk them in store-bought cocktail sauce and call it a day, of course. But, why not bring a little extra flavor to the whole thing? Use a wide saute pan, so that the shrimp will be able to spread out and cook more evenly. For one pound of shrimp, I used a 12 inch pan and filled it half way with water. To the water, I added 1 bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika, about a tablespoon of 5-pepper blend peppercorns, lightly crushed with a mortar and pestle, and 2 large cloves of garlic, smashed, peeled and coarsely chopped. Bring the water to a boil, and simmer gently for about 3 minutes, to bring the flavors out of the spices. Quickly add the entire pound of mostly thawed shrimp to the water, and turn the heat way up so that it comes back to a simmer faily quickly. Once it is boiling again, it will not take long for the shrimp to cook through. You can tell it is done, when the entire shrimp is opaque and pink. Once they are cooked, dump the whole thing through a strainer, and then spread the shrimp, along with the stuff from the pan, on a pie plate or other large flat dish and chill in the fridge for a couple hours. 
For a quick cocktail sauce, mix ketchup [about 1/2 cup per pound of shrimp], prepared horseradish to taste, a good squeeze of lemon, a squirt of siracha hot sauce and 1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika. Stir and chill.
To serve, you can peel the shrimp and nestle each one in a little pool of sauce on some small vessel. This is the way to do it at a party where people will be walking around with drinks. Or you can let people peel their own, providing each guest with a small piece of lemon and a small dish of sauce – better for a sit down meal, as an appetizer. Frankly, we usually just make a meal of them, sharing the whole pound between the two of us, along with a big fresh salad, and a garlicky vinaigrette. A simple meal – and like many simple things, hard to beat when it comes to satisfaction.
Looking for a yummy snack to enjoy during the big game this weekend? I think these little wonders are just what you’re looking for. So incredibly easy, and – can it be? – a bit on the healthy side, since they use just a small amount of oil to get that nice crispiness in the oven. They would be fun to make with kids, though you may want to have them wear disposable gloves, because of the risks associated with handling raw chicken.
Cut the breasts into chunks – usually, you will get 8 pieces.
Use a fairly shallow dish to marinate the tenders in buttermilk. For these two breasts, I used about 1/2 cup of butterrmilk, 1/2 teaspoon each salt, pepper, garlic powder and smoked paprika. Use what ever seasonings you like, but remember the bread crumbs will be seasoned as well. If you are making a lot of chicken, you can use a ziplock bag for this step, turning the bag a few times over the course of the 24 hours.
Cover the dish and marinate in the refrigerator, up to 24 hours.
Then, season the bread crumbs. [this actually ended up being a bit more than I needed, but I keep the leftovers in the freezer] About a cup of bread crumbs, 1/4 cup coarse cornmeal, and around a teaspoon each salt, granulated garlic powder, onion powder, parsely, oregano, cumin, chipotle chili powder and smoked paprika, and 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper. These ingredients are very flexible – use what you have and enjoy. The chipotle chili powder is pretty spicy compared to a typical grocery store chili powder, so keep in mind the heat tolerance of the people you are feeding. And if you can’t find chipotle chili powder, the regular kind will work; you just won’t have the smokiness and extra little kick.
Mix all of the breading ingredients together with a fork, and have the marinated chicken alongside.
It is a good idea to give the chicken tenders 30 to 60 minutes to get the coating nicely set. Set up your sheet pan by lining it with parchment paper, and setting a rack inside. The rack will allow the coating to set without getting soggy on the botttom.
Take each piece of chicken out of the marinade and shake off the excess, then lay it in the crumbs. Use a spoon to get the crumbs on all surfaces, and gently press them in. Turn over gently and make sure the other side is evenly covered as well. Carefully lay the pieces on the rack. You can actually leave these out of the fridge for up to an hour. They are starting out nice and cold from being marinated and they will be thoroughly cooked. If that idea bothers you, put them in the fridge, though finding room for that size pan may be difficult.
When it’s time to cook, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Carefully take the rack off the sheet pan and pick up the parchment paper so that you can shake off the crumbs which will burn if you leave them. Replace the parchment paper. Drizzle oil on the top of each tender and place that side down on the sheet. Drizzle the tops as well.
Put the pan on the middle rack in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. Use tongs to turn over each tender to brown the other side. In about 6 minutes, check to make sure the pieces are nicely firm and all sides are well browned. If not, return to the oven for another 2 or 3 minutes.
Serve right away, with salsa, guacamole and sour cream for dipping.
And don’t forget to enjoy the game!
