Shrimp is one of my favorite foods! I keep a large bag of jumbo shrimp in my freezer. It takes very little time to make a quick meal of shrimp pasta or grill shrimp for a salad or shrimp cocktail.
Several years ago I went out to eat…right now I can’t remember where…and I was served the most delicious Mexican shrimp cocktail! It was one of those things that tasted so good you just couldn’t get it off your mind and couldn’t wait until you could eat it again.
I love eating something different, trying to define the ingredients, and coming up with a similar recipe at home. So after a few days…I decided to try to make the same shrimp recipe. It was spicy with a touch of sweet, cool and chunky with onion, tomatoes, and avocado. This is what I came up with…
First to marinate your shrimp…add olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Mix together with your shrimp and let marinate at least one hour in the refrigerator. Grill just until shrimp lose their transparency and turn pink. You can put them on skewers and grill outside or use a grill pan or skillet inside. Remove from pan and chill.
Then zest and juice the orange, lemon, and lime.
I chop my onions and tomatoes in larger pieces and I seeded my jalapeno and sliced it thin…it was very hot! But if you have a mild jalapeno you can use the seeds. Then I roughly chop my cilantro and grate my garlic.
Mix together the chili sauce, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce. Add the juice and zest of the citrus fruit, onion, tomatoes, avocados, cilantro, garlic, and jalapenos. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix until vegetables are well coated and chill for at least 2 hours to allow flavors to develop. You can adjust the horseradish and jalapenos according to your taste. I like mine hot and spicy!
I like to moisten a glass rim with water and dip in a combination of Kosher salt and cayenne pepper then chill the glasses in the freezer until frosty. The glasses are very pretty garnished with a slice of lime.
The chili sauce mixture is so good with chips, tacos, or with fajitas and flour tortillas should you have any left over.
Hope you like this …I made it for our…well…my…JR won’t eat shrimp or seafood… holiday weekend with fajitas and homemade flour tortillas that I will post later this week!
Have fun in your kitchen!
Leah
Mexican Shrimp Cocktail
Cocktail de Camarones
1 pound jumbo shrimp peeled and deveined
¼ cup olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Juice of 1 lemon
1 bottle Heinz chili sauce
¼ cup fresh horseradish
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
Juice and grated zest of 1 lime
Juice and grated zest of 1 orange
1 small white or red onion chopped
2 medium tomatoes chopped
2 avocadoes chopped
½ cup cilantro chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
3 jalapeno peppers chopped
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Shrimp:
Mix shrimp with olive oil, juice of 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon kosher salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Marinate for at least 1 hour. Place on skewers and grill outside or place in grill pan or skillet and grill inside. Grill over medium high heat just until shrimp starts to turn pink and opaque then turn and grill. It only takes a few minutes. Be sure not to overcook as it makes the shrimp chewy and tough.
Sauce:
In large bowl mix chili sauce, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce and mix well. Add the lemon, lime, and orange juice and zest and mix. Add chopped onions, tomatoes, avocados, cilantro, garlic, peppers, and shrimp. Mix until all vegetables and shrimp are well coated. Add kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours to let flavors develop.
