A light and cool shrimp taco dish with a smokey sauce…

Grilled shrimp tacos are definitely on my list of favorite things to make. They are great party fare; light but filling and fun to eat. The recipe below makes use of a chipotle sour cream sauce that is always a winner for its cool smoky flavor.

Side note. Grilled shrimp tacos not for you? Check out Cooking.com’s recipe of the day.

The portion below is good for 2-3 people depending on how you ration your shrimp. To scale it up, just add more shrimp.

Finally, before we get to the fun part… a quick note on the shrimp I used. I much prefer cooking shrimp shell on and dealing with the additional cleanup steps because the taste really is that much better. These guys were actually cooked fully intact (head on) and then shelled before making it into the taco. If you haven’t done this before please give it a try. On the flip side, if you’re cooking for a group and not a fast sheller… save it for when you have some practice.

All the necessary ingredients for shrimp tacos!

Shopping List:

• 1 red onion
• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 head green cabbage (napa here)
• 3-4 limes
• sour cream
• queso fresco
• fresh tortillas
• 6 raw shrimp
• chipotle powder

Prep definitely goes far whenever making tacos, but it’s especially important for shrimp because they have such a small window of being perfectly cooked. Prepare all the ingredients in advance; shred the cabbage, thinly slice the red onion and avocado (make sure to squeeze a lime over the avocado to prevent browning,) half the remaining limes, and crumb or grate the queso fresco. It’s worth making an assembly line or bar with these ingredients. Mix – to taste – chipotle powder and sour cream for color and smokiness. I always let this sit for a while so that the taste is more consistent throughout.

When you have your taco ingredients together, you’ll want to conduct necessary prep on the shrimp. For me this was splitting and deveining them using kitchen shears. I tossed them in olive oil and threw them on the grill for about 2 minutes on each side. It’s my experience that most people overcook shrimp. Invest some time in perfecting the art of shrimp grilling and it will definitely pay off.

The finished product, joined by some hatch chili tortilla chips.

Now you’re ready for assembly. I don’t think there’s much science to the taco assembly here. I went with an avocado base on an oven-warmed fresh tortilla, then cabbage and red onion, then the shrimp chipotle sour cream, and then topped off the shrimp taco with queso fresco and a light squeeze of lime.

I found Central Market’s Hatch Chile tortilla chips to be a solid pairing here. A lightly flavored tortilla chip is the way to go unless you’re going to make a salsa to go with the dish…

On the drink side of things, given the flavors involved, go with a wheat or mexican beer; they’ll work well with the citrus and the shrimp. If you’re a wine lover a sweet white will go quite nicely.

Good luck and as always, let me know what you think.

Getting Started

First of all, choose some tilapia with the right attributes for grilling. About an inch of thickness is a good guideline that makes for easier grilling, for instance.

You will want to prepare the tilapia by applying some oil on both sides, although you should keep the amount fairly light. You can also season both sides of your tilapia with whatever marinade or spices you prefer before putting it on the grill. Some people go with a basic approach and a little salt and pepper, while others prefer more distinctive approaches with cayenne pepper or lemon pepper. The choice is really yours, and as long as you follow these grilling instructions, you should be quite pleased with how it all turns out!

Grilling the Tilapia Properly

The grill should be at about medium heat. You should be conservative with the heat unless you are planning on blackening your tilapia, at which case you can lean towards a medium-high heat level. You will want to maintain a conservative height with the fire when grilling, as well. This is because you really do not want the flames themselves to touch the tilapia.

You should also have used some non-stick cooking spray or oil (olive or vegetable oils both work great) on the area of the grill where you will be placing the tilapia, just to avoid any problems with sticking. This is where a separately raised tray or basket can come in handy, too.

In total, it should take less than ten minutes to properly grill your tilapia. Fish that is placed directly on the grill usually takes closer to five minutes to be done, while fish that is away from the flames or in indirect heat can take the full ten minutes or so. The key here is to check to see if your tilapia is done by looking for whitened meat with clear juices. You can flip the tilapia while you are grilling it, but use a metal spatula rather than a fork, so that you don’t lose any of the juices while flipping.

Tilapia is an excellent choice for any cookout, and as you can see, it can be very simply prepared by even an inexperienced person. As long as you check for signs of your tilapia being done and don’t skimp on the pre-grilling preparation, you should be very pleased with the results at dinner time. Follow these easy guidelines, and enjoy your tilapia hot off the grill!

Great shot of a Maine lobster from Flickr.

Grilling lobster is one of the best ways to impress your friends with your charcoal prowess. We’ll cover each and every step and provide tips along the way to guarantee success.

Most people won’t ever grill a lobster, and that’s a tragedy. I grew up on the coast of New Hampshire; true New England. We were a grilling family. Neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night, nor blizzard… We had lobster once every couple of months. We grilled lobster zero times. Looking back, it was a childhood lost.

Grill a lobster. Done well, the unique flavor is unmatched. This technique adds something that just can’t be matched by any other method, even baking.

Before we begin, here’s what you need to know:

• Never, do not ever, rinse a lobster after splitting it. Bye bye flavor.
• Spiny lobsters are not lobsters. Go Maine. (Unless you’re west coast; then go local)
• Charcoal is the way to go here.

You will need:

• 1 1.5-2.0 lb Maine Live Lobster per person
• 2 sticks of butter. Salted.
• A shell / lobster cracker
• A large pot to boil the lobster in
• Charcoal grill with natural hardwood briquettes

The strategy:

• Purchase good lobster
• Prepare some clarified butter
• Get the grill going
• Parboil that lobster
• Half the lobster, clean it, crack the claws
• Throw it on the grill
• Baste with clarified butter
• Cook until the tail is opaque
• Enjoy an unbeatable crustacean

How to Buy a Lobster

Adding herbs is a great way to add another dimension of flavor.

The optimal lobster for grilling is a 1.5-2lb hard shell Maine lobster. It’s a hearty beast with a great taste and texture and in my (correct) opinion, nothing compares. Like any other seafood, purchase your next meal from a place that sells a good amount of seafood. Choose a lively lobster. If it dies by the time you get home, you will have wasted an incredible amount of money.

Preparing Clarified Butter

Melt 2 sticks of butter in a sauce pan or double boiler. The key is to be gentle. Bring the butter to a boil, and wait for the solids to collect at the bottom. You can carefully pour or baste the clarified/drawn butter off the top.

Get the Grill Going

I only call this part out seprately because it’s very important to me that you’re using good, high quality, natural hardwood charcoal. It burns better, it smells better, and in tastes better. Believe me, you will be able to tell the difference and it will be great.

Parboil the Lobster

Boil sea-salted water. Put the lobster in the water. Cook it for 5 minutes.

Preparing the Lobster for the Grill

Most people do not enjoy splitting a lobster. Using a sharp chef’s knife, cut from the back down through the head, and then finish the split through the tail. Clean out the tamale by scooping/scraping. Under no circumstance should you rinse it out, as you’ll be rinsing away precious and expensive flavor. If you can get a good angle at the vein… now is the time to go for it. Crack the claws with a cracker or split them with a sharp knife.

Shell Meets Grill

Move out to the grill, and place the lobster shell-side down. Some people say to put the lobster on a baking pan, foil, or a pie plate; the theory being that it spreads out the heat evenly. I disagree. Take care to keep the heat even from the start and you’ll get a better flavor from the charcoal, and vapors and smoke from the drippings. Baste with the clarified butter as often as you feel comfortable. When thickest part of the lobster is opaque, it’s ready to enjoy.

In Summary

Grilling lobster is relatively easy to master once you get over the fear of ruining $20-40 of sweet seafood. It’s an art that is under appreciated and by my estimation, the best way to enjoy New England’s red bounty.

[Header image source.]