Ever wonder how to make shrimp cocktail? I found some really fancy recipes online, especially Alton Browns. But we just wanted to make the simple kind .. you know boiled shrimp.

I had no idea how to boil shrimp .. well I know you could stick it in a pot of water .. but for how long, and are you supposed to add stuff .. like seasoning? Searching through the internet came up with a bunch of recipes for ‘shrimp boils’ .. louisiana style, with Old Bay Seasoning. I hate Old Bay Seasoning. Anyways I finally found a forum that said to dump them in boiling water for 3-5 min, then stick in an ice bath .. perfectly simple.

First I cleaned and de-shelled the shrimp. Usually I’d use my deveiner/shelling poker tool .. but I wanted to keep the tail shell on here .. so I held them down (see pic below) and used my serrated knife to cut the shell. The serrated knife was sooooo much easier then my super sharp paring knife that kept slipping

Then I plopped them into boiling water, I added some salt .. because .. well they’re salt water shrimp, and everything tastes better salty right? Well I was willing to risk it (I wasn’t going to eat them anyway)

After 3 min they were all opaque and pink

So into the ice bath they went

And then I just put them on a martini glass with store bought cocktail sauce in it.. beautiful huh?

On top of that .. I picked up a pound of medium sized shrimp while at the fish market and decided to finally give Pioneer Woman’s Penne a la Betsy a try. And it was damn good