Cajun Cedar Smoked Shrimp

I was going to blog about an engagement shoot, but my client called in sick with the flu, so we'll talk about food instead. (I know, I know - this is suppose to be about photography, but I'm also passionate about food.)

Today we made Cajun Cedar Shrimp kissed by fire and licked by smoke. You'll notice something different in the photos of the grill, a plank. Lately I've been experimenting with 'planking', a way of cooking on your BBQ inspired by the Polynesians. They would cook meat on/in planks of wood, sometimes smoked for days in a pit. We're just doing a modern version.

Here we have a plank of cedar that was soaked in water for 2 hours before we set it on the grill. Just drop your meat on the plank and close the lid. This is one of the easiest ways to cook, your food won't burn and it cooks in it's own juices getting a wonderful wood smoke flavor.




You must use non-treated natural wood! Do not try this with the left over scrapes of wood from your deck, 2x4's etc. Treated wood is highly poisonous ! Do not use it! Enough said?

Shrimp cooks incredibly fast on the BBQ, 2 minutes on the plank, one minute or less on the grill just to add color and depth.

For those that want to try, here are the ingredients:

• garlic
• sea salt
• fresh cracked black pepper
• olive oil
• thyme
• basil
• chipotle chile (this is my favorite brand)

Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.