peel-and-eat garlic shrimp

prep time: 20 minutes (not including time to make the bread and garlic confit) cook time: 5 minutes • yield: 8 servings

I grew up in the middle of Wisconsin. Not the best place for seafood, as you can imagine! So I thought I didn’t like shrimp, crab, or lobster. But then I had the opportunity to visit Monterey, California, with Craig on one of his work trips. He encouraged me to try “good shrimp.” I don’t know if it was the beautiful view, the ambiance, or his company, but it was the best-tasting dish I ever had. I will never forget my first tasty bite of garlicky shrimp on the coast of California!

Leaving the shells on protects the shrimp from drying out. To make this dish even easier to prepare, you can purchase extra jumbo shrimp already butterflied and deveined at your local seafood market.

2 pounds extra jumbo shrimp (with shells on), deveined and butterflied (see note)

1 cup chilled lard

4 cloves Garlic Confit ( see here ) or raw garlic, peeled

Juice of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or other herb of choice

8 slices Keto Bread ( see here ), toasted in Paleo fat in a skillet, for serving

1. Place an oven rack in the top position and preheat the broiler to high.

2. Arrange the shrimp in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet.

3. Place the cold lard, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and thyme in the bowl of a food processor; pulse until very smooth. Crumble the cold fat over the shrimp.

4. Bake the shrimp for 5 minutes, or until opaque.

5. Place the pan with the shrimp in the middle of the table. Peel and eat the shrimp, then dip the bread into the sauce in the bottom of the pan.

6. Store extras in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, place in a lightly greased skillet over medium heat and sauté until warmed.

note: To butterfly shrimp, hold a shrimp with the back side exposed and slice gently from the head to the tail. If a black vein appears, remove that.