Quick and Easy Grilled Shrimp Cocktail!

 Came across these wild caught 15ct gulf shrimp and decided to do me up a grilled shrimp cocktail for my first cook of 2012. 

Two things I have found that really add  nice flavor to shrimp when grilling are 1) a brine and 2) leaving the shells on.

First, you got to remove the mud vein. My mother-in-law had once made paella forgetting to remove the mud veins from the shrimp. As great of a cook as she is, I couldn't eat it. Here, I simply cut a slit down its back and with a small paring knife pulled the vein out. Simple.

Next, I trimmed up them little legs. Did this solely for presentation as the wife don't like lookn' at em.

Made a simple brine. In this case, I used sugar, salt and lemon juice and after all the shrimp had been cleaned, I brined them for 1 hour in the fridge.

Grilled over medium direct 4 minutes a side.

And while still warm, tossed them in EVOO infused with lemon zest and garlic. Oh, and I snipped off some chives in there too for added color, texture and taste.

Served em up with a homemade cocktail sauce consisting mainly of catsup, freshly ground horseradish (lots of it), lemon juice, a dab of Siracha and worchestire.

Easy peasy and absolutely delicious. Not sure why anyone would buy those no taste, pre-cooked jumbos at Jewel or Dominick's when  in less than 1 hour you can have fresh, juicy, plump shrimp. These were really good eats! The only thing missing was a Beefeater and garlic stuffed olives.