 This post is all about giving the red plastic shrimp peeler and deveiner its due. If you have been peeling and deveining shrimp since you were knee high to a grass hopper, like myself, then there is a good chance you have used a red shrimp peeler. It's a classic!
That's because it rules all other methods. It's the best, at least in our opinion, at removing shrimp shells and de-veining them at the same time. Just so we are clear, the Shrimp Peeler Helper is an accessory to the plastic peeler and it makes it even quicker and easier to prepare shrimp. The peeler is the star. The classic red shrimp knife, as some people call it, hasn't changed much in 3 or 4 decades. That's all changing now, more people are cleaning their own fresh caught and/or bought shrimp. The masses are moving toward organic, fresh, free range, and never frozen foods across the board. Because of this new found interest, the plastic peelers are starting to come in different colors, shapes, and sizes. You no longer have to choose red. They come in clear, green, black, turquoise, and even metal. Our favorite is still red. It's a classic! Thank you for reading, Denison
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 So here's the deal, our research and taste test tell us we just can't say which one is the best. That's because of two factors. The first is, it varies wildly on peoples tastes, and second is because cocktail sauce is pretty simple. That said, we still have you covered. The standard ingredients that make up cocktail sauce is ketchup (most people say Heinz), horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and hot sauce. That's it, give or take. A typical base recipe is as follows: 1/2 cup ketchup 2 tbsp horseradish 1 tbsp lemon juice dash of hot sauce Directions are to add ingredients into small bowl and mix them together. Add hot sauce to taste. It's pretty basic and there seems to be two camps on the issue. One camp says make it yourself, it's cheap, easy, and you can make it how you like it best. The other camp says buy it in the bottle, it's cheap, easy, and you can get it with a classic or spicy favor. I, myself, have been know to buy cocktail sauce in the bottle and "doctor it up" to give it more heat and favor. Experimentation is key. It's so easy to make a few different favor and/or heat options in little ramekins or dipping bowls to try, especially if you are having people over with different tastes.
One thing we found is Heinz Cocktail Sauce is a classic and Crosse & Blackwell is close behind. Crosse & Blackwell even has a Zesty Shrimp Sauce that's quiet tasty. Note: we are not getting paid by either one!
If you are just starting out in the cocktail sauce world, we suggest you start with Heinz, Then try C&B Zesty, after that, get creative and venture out on your own. Thank you, Denison  love shrimp. I don't want to going into a Bubba Gump shrimp rant here, but I love shrimp. Fresh shrimp, the ones you have to peel or pay to have peeled, not the pre-peeled frozen ones. Oh no.
I've peeled more than my fair share, not sure how fair it is, but anyway. One day I'm standing there peeling and deveining, deveining and peeling a couple pounds of large 21-25 count shrimp, thinking, there has GOT to be a better way. I've try many different methods and tools over the years and it has been my experience the classic red peeler is the "best" way to go. I was just feed up with having the shrimp not peel completely, or get stuck on the peeler, then you have to adjust the peeler in the hand or set it down and use both hands to get the job done. That's when it hit me, if the peeler was mounted somehow and I didn't have to hold it, I could use two hands to peel and de-vein the shrimp like a champ. The first thing I did, after I ate dinner of course, was go online and do some research. Nothing close to my idea. So I thought about the design and how it would function. I made some drawings, then headed out to the garage. My first three ideas/prototypes were completely different from the production model. Its a long process of trial and error. Finally I had a simple, yet functional prototype that was ready for production. The Shrimp Peeler Helper is made here in the USA out of plant based plastics in our little home workshop. Thank you for your interest in the Shrimp Peeler Helper, Denison  Are you ready to try the easiest, quickest, and best grilled shrimp recipe? Because this one is for keeps. Prepare yourself for Grilled Cajun Garlic Shrimp.
Total preparation and cook time is between 20 and 25 minutes, using the Shrimp Peeler Helper of course, and the ingredients are simple and healthy to boot. There is nothing like grilled, buttery, garlic shrimp with a hint of a Cajun kick. Serve with a side salad and some roasted or grilled veggies for a complete meal. This recipe will feed 4 to 6 people so why not have a summer dinner party this weekend? You probably have most of the ingredients on hand, which helps balance out the cost of the shrimp. We love going to our local seafood market or Whole Foods Market and getting fresh shrimp, lobster, crab, and fish to use in our dishes. Here is the list of ingredients you will need: 2 lbs of large shrimp 21-25 count 8 Tbsp of salted butter 4 cloves of garlic 1 Tbsp of Cajun Spice or Old Bay 1 Tbsp of lemon juice 12 medium skewers Before you start combining the ingredients for the marinade, fire up the grill and place the skewers in a pan of water to let them soak. This helps keep them from burning up while on the grill. The grill needs to get to about 400 degrees before putting the shrimp on. It's now time to start the tasty, tasty marinade. In a small sauce pan combine the butter, garlic, lemon juice, and Cajun spice/Old Bay and bring it to a simmer, stirring occasionally and then remove it from heat. While you're waiting for the marinade to simmer and then cool down, you can begin peeling and deveining the shrimp. You can leave the tail on or off, It's your call. Now you can start assembling the shrimp on the skewers. Use about 4 shrimp per skewer and place them on a serving platter or pan once completed. Divide the garlic butter marinade into two different dishes or bowls. Brush half of the marinade onto the shrimp making sure to coat both sides, then throw them into the refrigerator for a couple of minutes to let the butter firm up on the shrimp. The other half of the marinade can be brushed on after they come off the grill, or used as a dipping sauce. Note, you can spice up the marinade with a few shakes of your favorite hot sauce like Cholula or Sriracha hot sauce. It's getting close to dinner time! You are now ready to throw the shrimp skewers on the grill. I can hear the sizzle now! Cook for 2 minutes on each side with the lid down. Be careful not to over cook them. Take them off the grill and serve with little cups of the marinade dip or brush on the remaining marinade, and dig in! This is great summer meal, because it is light, healthy...except for the butter :), and very tasty. Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. Thank you, Denison  Summer is finally upon us. While I love sitting by a warn, crackling fire in the winter time, I have the best memories of summer as both a kid and an adult. This post is all about remembering the amazing times we've had in the past, and our plans to make new amazing memories in the future. As a kid the best parts about summer was running through the sprinkler and having a popsicle while we dripped dried in the summer breeze. One of my favorite song lyrics is from the Barenaked Ladies song "Pinch Me". "It's the perfect time of day to throw all your cares away put the sprinkler on the lawn and run through with my gym shorts on. Take a drink right from the hose and change into some drier clothes climb the stairs up to my room sleep away the afternoon." Summer naps were the best. You would wake up refreshed and ready to go again. I remember my two best friends and I would climb trees, build forts, ride our bikes for what seemed like forever, and put the sprinkler underneath the trampoline. Yeah it does sound like a bad idea, probably because it is! Every summer my family would load up and we would go camping for a week somewhere by the water. Lakes, rivers, beaches, a mud puddle in the backyard, etc. Those were some of the best times. It was like getting back to nature and resting your soul.  I loved all the cookouts our family and friends would have especially on the Fourth of July. I have fond memories of going on fishing trips or going shrimping in the middle of the night with my dad, then bringing back what we had caught and having a big fish fry with family, friends, and neighbors. And still today some of the best times to be had are at good old fashioned cookouts with friends and family, although now it's mostly around summer birthdays and the Fourth of July due to time restraints. This is one of the reasons I love our yearly beach trips, it's like a week long cookout. We have been going to the beach with my wife's family for several years now. They rent a house on the beach and we, sixteen of us some years, stay for a week. We relax, eat, have a few drinks, and play in the water, sand, and sun. We fry or boil shrimp for lunch and grill out every night. In my opinion the best get togethers serve steak tacos or fried shrimp. Just saying. Another one of my favorite song lyrics is from the Aaron Lewis song "Endless Summer". It takes me to the sand and sea even when I can't be there in person. There's just something about the ocean that recharges you and cleanses your soul like a childhood nap.  "...breeze is warm and the moon is bright
This endless summer Boogie boards and diggin' holes Sand castles and fishin' poles What a way to save my soul This endless summer Just another day in paradise, another story I can tell These are the moments we can share Come on let me take you there." So summer is upon us and it's time to put together plans for a cookout or dinner party. Invite over family and friends and have a fish or shrimp fry. Let the kids run through the sprinkler while you sit back, relax, socialize, and reminisce about childhood memories. While everyone is round plan a camping trip or trip to the beach. Hope you have yourself a wonderful time this summer making new memories to add to your cherished collection. Thank you, Denison  Love fresh shrimp? Us too! Having a dinner party or get together soon where you want to prepare a bunch of shrimp? We have a few tips and tricks, along with the recipes you'll need. Fresh shrimp are the best, however, preparing them can be a total pain. Our first tip is to upgrade to the Shrimp Peeler Helper to peel and devein all your shrimp like a champ. It's like having a third hand to hold the classic, time tested, red, plastic peeler/de-veniner for you. This gives you better control and greatly speeds up the process. Now that we are done with the sales pitch we can get to tip number two. Trying to figure out how many shrimp you will need per person can be tricky.  If you are following a delicious shrimp recipe it's usually already worked out for you, because most recipes will tell you how many people it will feed. However, if you are boiling, steaming, or frying shrimp the amount needed will be unique to you and your guest.
The good news is you don't have to go it alone, the butcher, fish monger, or seafood market will be able to guide you in the right direction. A good rule of thumb is between a 1/4 of a pound to a 1/2 pound per person. If you are serving shrimp tacos, one of my favorites, you just calculate the average number of shrimp per taco that you'd like, then multiple that by the number of tacos per guest. While we like them anyway they come, one of our favorite ways to have shrimp is fried. Whether you like them lightly battered or with a thicker crust, you can't go wrong with deep fried scrimps. That being said, you may want to take them to another level and if that is the case, we have rounded up over 60 (and growing) fresh shrimp recipes from across Pinterest and the internet to share with you. There are some very talented people creating some very yummy shrimp dishes out there and we are trying to pin them all! Follow our shrimp recipes board on Pinterest. Thank you for reading. We hope all of your shrimp dreams come true! Happy shrimping, Denison  Our cookbook is on Pinterest and it is mostly written by other talented people. In fact it's not even our board! But we collaborate on it with RunnyBird. Together, we collect or pin all the delicious recipes we like and want to try. That's the beauty of Pinterest! You can make your own cookbook from thousands, maybe millions, of other people's recipes. Its like an old fashioned recipe swap down at the church.
The board currently has over 440 different shrimp courses, entrees, and recipes pinned on our Pinterest Shrimp Recipe Board. You should check it out! From fried, boiled, casseroles, pasta dishes, to low country boil, grilled, and stir fried these meals are sure to get your taste buds watering. If you are feeling in the mood, follow us to stay connected to our latest finds. And be sure to make cleaning all those shrimp easier with the Shrimp Peeler Helper! Thank you, Denison |
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