About Those Shrimp Burgers

Kudos to Southern Living. The shrimp burger lived up to my expectations, however the recipe requires a great deal of prep work. I cooked these for Ty, LJ and Marcus last Wednesday. The group arrived hungry. I offered up an apology and kept everyone snacking while I peeled shrimp, crumbled crackers and tried to hide the fact that the burgers had to sit for an hour and a half before they hit the grill.

I think it's overwhelming to try to do it all at once, especially while you're hosting friends. So, I recommend making the patties the night before and letting them sit for 24 hours before you grill them. It will also help the patties settle down and stick together, something we had a minor problem with.

So, here's what you need:

1 1/4 pounds unpeeled, medium-size raw shrimp (31 to 40 count)
vegetable cooking spray
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
3 tablespoons finely chopped celery
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 1/4 cups crushed cornbread crackers (about 1 sleeve or 24 crackers)
4 Kaiser rolls
4 Bibb lettuce leaves


And here's what you do:

1. Peel shrimp, devein and cut each shrimp into thirds.

2. Line a pan with aluminum foil and coat with cooking spray.

3. Stir together egg, mayo, lemon juice, salt and red pepper until blended. Stir in celery, green onion and parsley. Fold in shrimp and cracker crumbs. Shape into (4-inch wide, 1-inch thick) patties. Place patties on prepared pan. Cover and chill for 1 to 24 hours. Transfer to freezer and freeze 30 minutes.

4. Coat cooking grate with cooking spray. Preheat grill to med-high heat. Grill burgers, covered with grill lid, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn and grill 4 to 5 minutes until shrimp turn pink and burgers are cooked through and lightly crisp.

5. Grill buns and serve with sweet 'n' spicy tarter sauce and lettuce.

After all that, this is what you end up with (pardon the photo quality):


They looked pretty good and tasted equally delicious. You'll also have to pardon the absence of a few things in this picture. This is a photo of LJ's burger, meaning it lacks everything but meat and bread. And really, the superstar secret ingredient is the sweet 'n' spicy tarter sauce that's so easy to make. It doesn't taste like tarter sauce at all — which is a good thing in my book.

Here's what you need:

1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons horseradish
1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Stir it all together and chill 30 minutes to 24 hours before serving.

It was one of the best meals I've made in a while. However, that could be because it was about 8:30 before we sat down to eat. That's my philosophy: When trying out a new recipe starve your guests for an acceptable period of time and just about anything will taste good.