He Said (5) - Shrimp Po' Boy With Dried Tomato Aїoli

If you recall my husband and I are having a bit of a contest with each of us using a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens® New Grilling Book to create a meal. In total there will be 12 recipes, 6 of his choosing and 6 of mine. The contest ended August 31 so the first week of September tomorrows post will be the 12th and final recipe. I will post a summary with links to all of the recipes and the first poll where you can vote for the meal you liked best later this week. I will also post a follow-up on some of the things we learned with this fun contest. The rules were all the ingredients must be used but the amounts can be altered.

The fifth contest recipe my husband made was Shrimp Po' Boy With Dried Tomato Aїoli with two minor modifications. Aїoli is a sauce made from garlic and olive oil. An egg is often added for ease of mixing but there are many variations of the sauce. Aїoli is traditionally served with seafood. The recipe called for chopped oil packed dried tomatoes but the garden is overflowing with cherry tomatoes so he used those instead. He also used a Vadelia onion instead of a red onion.

The French loaf of bread was cut in half, brushed with olive oil and grilled along with the shrimp (top right). When the shrimp was cooked the tails were removed. The sauce was spread on the bottom piece of the grilled bread and topped with shrimp (bottom left). The top piece of the bread was place on top then the assembled loaf was wrapped in tinfoil and returned to the grill where it heated through nicely (bottom right).

Shrimp Po' Boy With Dried Tomato Aїoli
source: Meredith Corporation, Better Homes and Garden New Grilling Book, 2005. Pp. 335

1 lb fresh or frozen jumbo shrimp in shells
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp seafood seasoning (eg. Old Bay)
half loaf unsliced French bread
½ c mayonnaise
¼ c chopped dried tomatoes (oil packed), drained [used fresh]
2 tbsp dairy sour cream
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ of a medium red onion, thinly sliced [used Vadelia]
shredded lettuce (optional)

Peel and devein shrimp removing tails. Rinse and pat dry. Place the shrimp in a lidded container. Stir together 1 tbsp of the lemon juice,1 tbsp of the olive oil and the seafood seasoning in a separate bowl. Pour the marinade over the shrimp and put the lid on. Marinate for 1 hour gently shaking container occasionally. Thread the shrimp onto soaked wooden skewers. Halve bread horizontally and lightly brush with remaining olive oil. Grill bread and shrimp on medium 7 to 9 minutes or until shrimp are opaque and bread has well defined grill marks. While the shrimp and bread are grilling combine the remaining ingredients in small bowl. Remove shrimp and bread from grill. Place bread bottom on large tinfoil square. Spread the mayonnaise mixture onto the bread bottom. Top with shrimp and onions. Add the bread top. Form a sealed packet over the sandwich. Return to the grill and grill 12 to 15 minutes or until heated through turning once.

Shrimp Po' Boy With Dried Tomato Aїoli

If you like seafood submarine sandwiches then you are going to love this sandwich! Pictured is the Shrimp Po' Boy With Dried Tomato Aїoli sandwich my husband made. This wonderful tasting sandwich served 3 adults and was served for peaches & cream corn-on-the-cob. The mayonnaise sauce was rich and creamy, just perfect with the shrimp!

This recipe is a definite keeper with a couple of modifications. The lemon juice flavour was a bit pronounced so the next time we make this sandwich we'll cut back on the lemon juice a bit. I also think this sandwich would be even better with crab meat stirred in.