I admit it. I had it. Hey, it happens to everyone once in a while, and this was about as bad a case as I’ve had in years. I’m talking full-blown, head-scratching, racking-the-brain, writer’s block.
For days, I tried to come up with a good recipe that I hadn’t done before with absolutely no luck. Steve K. wasn’t around to have a beer with, which is how I got inspired for many past recipes, so finally, I started looking through the hard copies of old articles for ideas and realized there are a ton of them not on my computer. I have no idea where they could have gone, but fortunately, I’ve kept hard copies of most articles except for some gaps when I was laid up after surgeries when I couldn’t leave the house. One of these days, I’ll have to compare my list with what The Weekly has in their records and see if I can find what I’m missing.
Anyway, one of the articles that I was sure I had done but wasn’t in my computer was stuffed filet of sole. Since I was right and did write this one before, even though it was in September 2005 and definitely a great recipe, I’m not doing it again today. It did get me thinking of an appetizer we had at the Lobster Trap on Nantucket that is worth giving you.
At the Trap, this appetizer was deep fried, but as long as you use indirect heat, it is better grilled. You can cook these in the oven if you want, but since its summer, grilling adds the most flavor. You can add any other seafood you like to the stuffing by just following the same procedure for what is included here. And, if you happen to have left over stuffing, it is really good in omelets for breakfast or stuff another piece of fish.
Grilled Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Shrimp
10 U-13 to 15 shrimp, peeled & deveined (that is the size and means there are 13-15 in a pound)
10 slices bacon
1 red onion medium, diced
1 stick butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 C chardonnay or other white wine
6 sea scallops, cut into about 8-10 pieces each
6-8 shrimp size 16-20s, chopped medium
6 oz. scrod
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1 t Tabasco or other hot sauce
1-2 lemons
1 sleeve Ritz crackers
Salt and pepper to taste
10 toothpicks soaked in water
Sauté the onion and garlic in half a stick of butter until they start to soften. Add the scrod, a little wine and a squeeze of lemon, and cook until the fish barely starts to flake when lightly touched. Remove from the pan to a bowl that is sitting in another bowl with ice water to stop the cooking.
Sauté the shrimp pieces in half the remaining butter, some wine and small squeeze of lemon until just done or they are white and not translucent. Place in the bowl with the scrod. Repeat this process with the scallop pieces.
Pour most of the liquid into a separate bowl to use to thin out the stuffing later, if needed. Season with the Worcestershire and hot sauce to taste, and crush and gently add some Ritz crackers until your stuffing is fairly thick. Make a slit along the inside curl of the shrimp not quite all the way through. Generously pack with stuffing to fill the shrimps curl, wrap tight with a piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Pre-heat one side of the grill to medium and place the shrimp on the other side. Close the lid and let cook for about 10 minutes. Flip and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes until bacon is crisp and golden, the shrimp is done and the stuffing hot in the middle.
