I realize I have not blogged in over a week. Can I plead vacation? Christmas crazy? Whatever - so sorry! Have you missed me? Maybe this video and recipe will make up for it . . . New Year’s Shrimp

• Serves 8-12, maybe (depends on what else there is)
• Time to prep: 5 minutes
• Time to cook: 15-20 minutes
• SERVE WITH: Crusty bread to sop up the sauce. Cold beer (or champagne or cold something else) Simple green salad if you must.

Much of this is by “eye.” Scale up or down, depending. What’s not negotiable is the crusty bread to sop up the sauce . . .

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs large shrimp, SHELL ON
• olive oil
• black pepper (fresh ground is best)
• salt (not much)
• Worcestershire sauce (optional)
• Tabasco sauce (optional)
• Garlic powder
• Fresh tarragon
• 2 lemons (1 lemon per pound of shrimp)
• 1.5 sticks butter, maybe more, cut into pieces (6 TBS per pound of shrimp)

The roasting pan must be broiler proof. NO PYREX or plastic!

• In a large roasting pan (not glass) spread the shrimp out in a single layer. Drizzle olive oil on top. Pepper the shrimp until you kind of can’t see the shrimp for the pepper – then add more! Couple of dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Sprinkle salt (not much). Tabasco if you must. Garlic powder evenly sprinkled, but not too much. Chop up an entire bunch of fresh tarragon (remove the stems first, please) and sprinkle it evenly over the shrimp.
• Squeeze the lemons over all.
• Dot the top with butter, as evenly as you can.
• Add more olive oil if you want to.
• Broil for 6-7 minutes a side, checking to make sure it’s not overcooking. Flip the shrimp over half way through the cooking time.
• Serve. This is not a fancy meal. If people are brave, they can eat the shells – if they’re a bit overdone, that’s what I do. Crunchy and delicious!
• Have a lot of paper towels/napkins handy – or be prepared for laundry afterwards.  WORTH EVERY SECOND!!!