Old Bay Shrimp Cocktail

Photo by Katie Kay

With this being crawfish season, I'm doing everything in my power to consume as much cajun spice and crab boil seasoning as possible.  You have not lived until you've tried "Slap Ya Mama" in your Cheerios.   For realz.

But tonight I stopped at HEB on my way home to pick up something light and easy.  Not crawfish.  Extra Large Jumbo Shrimp were less than $7 per lb, so I picked up a pound to eat all by my little lonesome.  I debated doing some scampi, lemon shrimp, shrimp gumbo, shrimp kabobs, (I can never resist this path) but I decided to do a classic shrimp cocktail.  I peeled and de-tailed them all and put them in a pot of water just covering the shrimp.
Then I opened my spice cabinet.  I have quite the selection, and I debated several options before choosing  Old Bay Seasoning.  Do people north of the Mason-Dixon line ever use Old Bay? Maybe in Chesapeake Bay.  But in my head, they never do.  It's totally a Southern thing.
I poured enough Old Bay into my water to make it murky, then sprinkled a little bit of Adams Reserve House Seasoning.  Then I turned the heat on high and let the water warm for about 5 minutes.  It had barely started to simmer when the shrimp turned white.  I turned off the heat, put the shrimp in a smaller bowl, and covered them with enough of the seasoned broth to cover the shrimp.  Then I put them in the fridge for an hour to chill and soak.
I drained the broth and served them up with half a lemon squeezed over them, and a side of Extra Spicy Cocktail sauce.  The shrimp were so flavorful without the cocktail sauce, but the extra spicy cocktail sauce really added a kick that my tastebuds thanked me for.
Check out the spice granules in the leg region of this bad boy:

Photo by Katie Kay

Old Bay Shrimp Cocktail
1 lb jumbo shrimp, raw and peeled 2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning 1 teaspoon Adams Reserve House seasoning Extra Spicy Cocktail Sauce
Add first 3 ingredients to a saucepan and turn heat on high.  Warm water for about 5 minutes or until shrimp are no longer translucent.  Turn off heat and put shrimp in a small bowl.  Cover with broth from pan and refrigerate until cold, or at least 1 hour.
Drain and serve with lemon and cocktail sauce.