Chef Sandra Mannaravalappil (The South Charlotte Chef, Charlotte, North Carolina)
Serves 6
When I moved to North Carolina and started working as a personal chef, I tried to incorporate my Italian heritage with Southern ingredients. This recipe seems to satisfy both. Traditionally, when it comes to North Carolina, we all think of the same things—barbecue, pork, coastal shrimp, and grits. In tribute to my Italian heritage, I serve this with grilled polenta cakes.
½ cup barbecue sauce (see recipe for Texas BBQ Sauce on this page)
¼ cup canola oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
½ ounces Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon red chile flake or crushed red pepper flakes
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper or smoked paprika
¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
20 (18–20 count) Red Carolina shrimp, peeled and deveined
½ pound maple-smoked bacon
5–8 bamboo skewers or barbecue stakes
1 roll or log polenta (located in the Italian section)
Blended oil, for grilling (see Chef’s Tips on blended oil, this page)
Combine the first seven ingredients in a blender or food processor (or mix well by hand). Separate the sauce into thirds: one-third for marinating, one-third for basting, and one-third for dipping.
Place the shrimp in a plastic food storage bag, and add one-third of the sauce; let marinate in a refrigerator for 2 hours to overnight. Prepare the skewers by soaking them in water for 2 hours to overnight (to keep from burning on the grill).
If grilling outdoors, prepare a charcoal grill, making sure that it is extremely hot and clean.
If grilling indoors, preheat the broiler.
Cut each slice of bacon in half, and lay in one flat layer on a sheet pan. Place in a broiler and cook the bacon no more than halfway through; it should still be soft and pliable. Remove from the broiler and transfer to another pan lined with paper towel to cool. Once cool enough to handle, wrap the bacon around the shrimp, and place three to four bacon-wrapped shrimp on each skewer, making sure that the bacon ends are securely fastened with the skewer (to keep from unraveling).
Cook the bacon-wrapped shrimp on the hot outdoor grill or on a sheet pan in the broiler until the shrimp begin to turn pink (approximately 2 to 3 minutes). Baste with one-third of the barbecue sauce mixture using a brush until well-coated. Be careful that excess sauce does not fall through the grill grates and begin to smoke and burn. If this occurs, immediately remove the shrimp, and continue cooking on a hot stove-top grill pan. Turn the shrimp, and grill on the other side until the bacon is crisp and the shrimp is firm and fully cooked (approximately 2 to 3 minutes more). Remove from the grill and reserve.
Heat a dry grill pan on your stove top until it begins to smoke. Paint slices of polenta with blended oil using a pastry brush. Carefully lay them flat on the pan. Do not move the polenta around until you achieve nice grill marks (about 3 minutes); then flip with a heat-resistant spatula and repeat.
Place two skewers of the shrimp crisscrossed over the polenta. Drizzle with the final one-third of barbecue sauce to finish.