Snake Bite Shrimp Sandwiches

Warning – this sandwich is not for the faint of heart.  It’s hot, it’s spicy, it’s delicious, it’s bold, and it’s beautiful!

This scorcher comes from the fabulous new book by Guy Fieri – Cookin’ It, Livin’ It, Lovin’ It.  If you’re a cookbook lover, food lover, tattoo art lover, this is for you.  Tons of grilling, tailgating, comfort food, stories, photos and amazing food.

My only complaint with this recipe is the instructions were a little hard to follow and I feel a few steps were left out.  So I took some liberties to help out any would-be makers.

Shocker, I changed the wine to beer and adjusted the spices.  I used Woody Creek White from Flying Dog, but I think any nice Witbier is a great balance for the heat in the spice mixture.

There is a great little cheat in your spice aisle, called garlic spread.  It’s perfect for spreading on your Ciabatta rolls before toasting or grilling them.

Ingredients:

1/4 lb bacon, sliced into 1/2” pieces

4 tbl unsalted butter

1 large yellow onion, diced (1 1/2 cups)

4 cloves of garlic (minced)

3/4 c beer

1 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes

1/4 c chicken stock (low sodium)

2 tbl Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tbl cayenne pepper

1 tbl cumin

1 tbl powdered garlic

1 tbl dried basil

1 tbl oregano

1/2 tbl black pepper

1 tbl paprika

2 tbl thyme

1 t cinnamon

1 t salt

1 tbl olive oil

1 c green onions, sliced thin

1 c heavy cream

1 handful of cilantro, chopped

2 lbs jumbo shrimp, U-15 (shells removed, cleaned, deveined, butter-flied)

8 Ciabatta Rolls (split, spread with garlic butter and grilled)

Directions:

In a large sauté pan, over medium high heat, cook bacon until just crisp. Remove from pan and set aside.  Drain some of the bacon drippings, and in the same pan, over medium high heat, add 1 tablespoon butter, and onions.  Sauté for approximately 5 – 7 minutes or until just starting to caramelize, add garlic and sauté for 2 minutes more.

Deglaze pan with beer, stir to remove any bits from bottom. Add in diced tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce and 1/4 cup chicken stock. Let thicken by simmering for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While sauce is simmering, combine spices in a large bowl.  Coat shrimp in spice mixture.

In a separate sauté pan, heat olive oil and 2 Tablespoons of butter, over medium heat, add shrimp (reserving any extra spice mix), cooking for about 90 seconds each side, remove and set aside.

In same pan, raise the heat to medium-high and deglaze with small amount of beer, add green onions, reserving 2-3 Tablespoons for garnish, any remaining spice mix and reduce by one-third.  Add in cream, reduce heat and let reduce by one-third again.

Spread the rolls with garlic butter and grill or toast them.

When tomato sauce has reduced, add in shrimp, bacon, stir in cream mixture and add cilantro.  Simmer for 3-4 minutes to finish shrimp, then add remaining butter.  Pile it high on your toasted Ciabatta and garnish with remaining green onions.