Grilled Shrimp and Peaches #recipe for a Crowd @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: I know I've mentioned my supper club on this blog here in the past--we are six couples who try to get together 3 to 5 times a year for dinner and chatter. The hostess (and host) are responsible for the main course and the table setting, and each of the other couples brings a dish. The hostess can assign certain recipes or leave it open-ended. For various reasons, this year got away from us so we wanted to throw together an easy summer supper. We ended up with a mixed grill, potato salad, salad, grilled vegetables, and a lemon and orange-glazed angel food cake from 4 and 20 Blackbirds bakery in Guilford CT for dessert. Everyone loved our shrimp and the peaches so I'll share those recipes with you!

Ingredients for the the shrimp

Three large shrimp per person (33 for my event), shelled and deveined

1/2 cup good olive oil
One large lemon
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 to 2 large cloves of garlic, chopped

 

Mix the ingredients, olive oil to brown sugar, and taste to see if you need more lemon. Stir in the chopped garlic. Let the shrimp sit in the marinade in a glass dish for 2 to 4 hours, stirring from time to time. Meanwhile, soak bamboo skewers in water. I had the 8 inch kind, which fits three large shrimp.



 


Thread three shrimp crossways onto each skewer so they will lie flat on the grill. Grill on medium high heat for three minutes each side. The brown sugar should result in a nice glaze. 

 


For the peaches: Pit six peaches and slice them lengthwise. (We all agreed there was no need to peel them!) Brush the peach flesh with lemon juice and then a bit of olive oil. Sprinkle with fresh rosemary. Grill for 6-8 minutes in a grill pan, flipping once.

 




I served the shrimp with grilled sausages and grilled peach halves--A very very mixed grill!

Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mysteries. Are you all caught up? This easy dinner will leave you plenty of time to read... and then for all the latest news, follow Lucy on:

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Easiest Antipasto Ever #recipe @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: You may have heard me say that my husband and I belong to a supper club with five other couples. Every 6 to 8 weeks, we make a date to get together for dinner. The hosts provide the main dish (meat, fish, chicken, etc) and the others provide some designated part of the dinner. It's a good way to ensure we all see each other, without burdening anyone with too much entertaining. We had a dinner recently in the middle of a very busy stretch for me. My hub and I were designated the appetizer crew and I had big plans to marinate a lot of vegetables and make some wonderful dips, too.

As can happen, I simply didn't have time to cook. I considered a platter of cheese and crackers--boring! Instead I went to one of my favorite farm shops and the farmer's market, and here's what I came up with. 

Isn't it pretty? I'm going to list the ingredients for you, but the point is, there are a million ways to make this and none of them are wrong!

Ingredients

1 pint fresh figs
4 to 5 carrots
Kalamata or other olives
Parmesan cheese
Stick of good salami 
Purchased dip (Mine was a pesto/feta dip from the farmer's market)
crackers

Wash the figs and cut them in half lengthwise. Peel the carrots and cut them into sticks. Slice the cheese and meat into bite-sized pieces. That's it! Arrange everything on a pretty plate and serve with a basket of your favorite crackers.

Just for fun, here are a few of the other recipes I've made for supper club:

Grilled skewers of shrimp and sausage with grits
David Lebovitz's French Onion and Olive flatbread
Pomegranate, Olive, and Walnut salad
Pimento cheese, two ways

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Grilled Spicy Shrimp and Sausage with Cheese Grits Casserole @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: Supposing you have a big crowd coming for dinner, as I did, and you're desperate to serve something different? This recipe could be the answer for your labor day cookout! The idea came from one of our favorite restaurants in Key West, called Santiago's Bodega. They serve tapas, including one of our favorites--shrimp and chorizo sausage on skewers.

I decided I would like to try to do a copycat recipe for our Supper club dinner. This recipe makes enough for 10 people. I served it with a cheese grits casserole on the side. We also had a cucumber salad and marinated green beans to round out the dinner.

Ingredients

36 large shrimp, shelled and deveined

One bunch cilantro washed with stems removed

Six cloves garlic, or to taste

1/2 cup good olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Four andouille sausage links


To make the shrimp: in your food processor, whir the garlic and cilantro until finely chopped. Add the olive oil and salt and mix thoroughly.








 
Place the clean shrimp in a glass bowl and pour the marinade over top. Let this sit in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours.

 




Cut the sausage into 1 inch chunks, and string the sausage on the skewers alternating shrimp and sausage. (Although, the next time I might cook the sausage separately, as it needs a little more time on the grill than the shrimp.) 





Grill on medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes until the shrimp are pink and the edges of the sausage beginning to brown. You may either serve an individual diner one skewer or, as I did, scrape the shrimp and sausage into one big serving dish and let your guests fight over the pieces.

 
For the the grits casserole:

2 cups of dried corn grits

6 cups chicken broth

One 8 ounce bar of cheddar cheese, shredded

Half a stick of butter

Three eggs

To make the grits, bring the broth to a boil, slide the grits into the pan, and bring them to a second boil. Simmer the grits until thick, about 10 minutes. Stand back as you stir because they will pop and can burn the chef. 

When the grits are thick, whip the three eggs together and add some of the hot grits to the eggs, stirring well. Next, stir the egg mixture into the grits, also stir in two thirds of the grated cheese and the half stick butter. 

Dump all of this into an oiled pan and scatter the remaining cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes until bubbly.

Cook's note: even though we did not have a southerner in attendance, the grits were very popular.



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Lucy Burdette’s Supper Club Scalloped Potatoes

My mother used to make scalloped potatoes when I was growing up and we adored them. I don't think there was a formal recipe, but she would layer sliced raw potatoes, sliced onions and green peppers, and shredded cheddar. Then she’d sprinkle some flour on the vegetables and cut a few pieces of butter up and drop those in before building the next layer. When the pan was filled, she carefully poured in milk until it just reached the top of the potatoes. Then it was popped into the oven, delicious!

A few years back my friend Ann made some scalloped potatoes for Easter—she’s a wonderful cook, like many of my friends (lucky me!) These weren’t low calorie, everyday potatoes, they were a little bit fancy. Something you can serve company with a baked ham or a grilled tenderloin or even a meatloaf. So when our Supper Club met last month and it was my turn to bring a starchy side dish, I tried to replicate those. I tell you people were swooning over them! In fact it makes me hungry just to look at the picture I took!

Ingredients

¼ c. butter

3-4 large leeks, cleaned and chopped, white and light green parts only

2 cups whipping cream

3 minced garlic cloves

4 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and sliced

2 cups grated white cheddar

1/3 c. grated Parmesan

First of all, make sure the leeks are well washed. Nothing ruins a dish quicker than a gritty mouthful of sand. (To digress a little, we’ve noticed that the leeks we grow in our garden aren’t as sandy as the ones from the market.) Sauté the chopped leeks over low heat in the melted butter, cover and cook until soft (8 or so minutes.)

Oil a 9 by 13 pan well with olive oil. Mix the chopped garlic into the cream. Layer half of the potatoes into the pan, top with half of the leeks, add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle half of the cheese over this layer, then carefully pour in half of the cream. Repeat these layers and grate the Parmesan over the top. Bake in a preheated oven (375) for about an hour and fifteen minutes. Check about 45 minutes in—if the top is quite brown but the potatoes aren't soft, cover it with foil for the rest of the time. Let stand another fifteen minutes to set up before serving. You'll want to put a cookie sheet under your pan in case they drip.

I know you'll get rave reviews for those potatoes. And I hope you'll also rave about the Key West food critic mysteries:). An Appetite for Murder is in stores right now. Watch out for DEATH IN FOUR COURSES, coming in September. I'd love to have you follow me on Twitter, or like my Facebook page (as silly as that sounds!), or sign up to get occasional email news on my website.