When you think of shrimp recipes do pots and pans and measuring cups and spices pile up in your mental kitchen? There are simple ways to incorporate a shrimp recipe into your weekly menu without taking gourmet-cooking lessons.

Go beyond opening a box and putting it in the microwave. When you try a simple shrimp scampi recipe at home just once, and your family sits in awe, it will be a short step to adding grilled shrimp recipes or a shrimp pasta recipe. A simple grilled shrimp recipe can bring restaurant fare to the suburban kitchen. The main ingredient for shrimp recipes can be easily mastered.

There are a variety of sizes of shrimp including the popcorn or bay shrimp for tacos or salads, small tiger shrimp that can be purchased ready to cook, peel, and serve, medium shrimp which are the favorite for pasta, large shrimp which are the choice for shrimp cocktail, jumbo prawn for grilling, and the colossal tiger shrimp, for when you want to wow your crowd.

Of course, in order to successfully prepare shrimp recipes, it is necessary to know how to buy quality shrimp. Larger shrimp cost more per pound, however, regardless of the size, the shellfish should be firm, moist, smell fresh, and have flesh that is translucent, or semitransparent. If there are any black spots or edges on the shells of the shrimp, and if there is any ammonia aroma, do not purchase them. Calculate 1 pounds of raw, in-the-shell shrimp for every pound of shelled shrimp needed.

It is a delight indeed to obtain fresh shrimp near its source, however, most shrimp today is or has been frozen. As with any frozen food, freezer burn is to be avoided and the product should be solidly and completely frozen. To thaw, place under running cold water or leave in the refrigerator overnight. If the shrimp you purchase is already thawed, the flesh should still be firm and glossy, making any shrimp recipe a visual delight.

To ready the shrimp for the recipe, you will need to peel and devein it, unless it is preprocessed and these steps have been completed for you. The flavor will suffer however if you do purchase deveined and shelled shrimp. To begin preparing the main ingredient of your shrimp recipes, get a sharp paring knife to begin peeling the shell.

Using a small paring knife, make a light slit down the back from the head end to the tail. A black sand vein is frequently present in the center of the back. With the knife tip, you can remove it and then rinse the shrimp in running cold water. At this point, it is easy to cut the shrimp in half by placing the front on a cutting board and then cutting the shrimp lengthwise. Make every effort to keep the prepared shrimp at the same temperature to ensure even results when cooking.

Shrimp recipes call for one of five general ways of preparing the shrimp. Boiling, broiling, sauting, steaming, or baking shrimp give results that are tantalizing, tasty, and full of texture. A large spectrum of flavors and visual appeal is available. The main rule to keep in mind for recipes using fresh shrimp, regardless of the method of preparation, is to never over cook the shrimp. Now go enjoy!

Shrimp is versatile and very tasty. Allan Stearman loves cooking seafood and will tell you how to cook your shrimp salad recipe to perfection. For more advice you should stop by great shrimp recipes dot com.

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