"Jammin" Spicy Jerk Shirmp

Every time I pay a visit to Bahama Breeze, I find myself consistently selecting the same thing from the menu, the Fire Roasted Jerk Shrimp.  I just can't get enough of the caribbean spices as they frolic around with my taste buds.  One day, out of the blue, I asked myself if I could locate the recipe online. Sure enough, there it was in black and white on various websites including Bahama Breeze's menu site.  

I tried their recipe once and, while it was pretty tasty, it just wasn't as amazing as I wanted it to be.  I decided to try again a second time with a few tweaks and the results were delicious.  Would you mind if I shared the recipe with you?

Let me start off by apologizing to you for not having the correct measurements. I'm one of those people who prepares stuff based on sight and taste.  I rarely measure anything.  With that said, here's what you'll need to prepare this dish:

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1| Shrimp

2| Thyme

3| Tomato

4| Jerk Seasoning Paste (spicy or mild depending on taste)

5| Red and/or White Onion

6| Jalapeno pepper (or bell pepper if you prefer a milder version)

7| Scallions

8| All Spice Seasoning (optional)

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Start by peeling and deveining the shrimp.  Next finely chop up the onions, tomato, jalapeno, and scallions

In a skillet, melt some butter and add chopped up ingredients.  Saute for a few minutes.  Determine the amount of time you saute the onions/peppers based on whether you want those ingredients to have a distinctive taste in the sauce.  Next add raw shrimp to a baking dish and pour sauteed ingredients and butter on top of the shrimp.

Sprinkle All Spice Seasoning on top of the shrimp mixture and add a 1/2-1 tablespoon of Jerk Seasoning paste. Mix everything together well making sure the shrimp with well covered and evenly coated.  Pour in a little water or cooking stock to the mix to create sauce.  If preferred, add a pinch of flour to thicken sauce.  Finish off with a few sprigs of fresh thyme.  Tear off a few thyme leaves and mix with the sauce.

 

Place baking dish in the oven of 450 degrees uncovered until shrimp is fully cooked.   

At Bahama breeze, this dish is served as an appetizer with bread.  I like to enjoy with basmati rice and some yummy fried plantains.  Recently, I've begun sprinkling my fried plantains with cajun seasoning while they're cooking. This gives it a really nice flavor. 

This is probably one of the easiest dishes to make.  The only prep is cutting some veggies and the rest takes only a few minutes.  My version is a dupe of the original recipe which calls for beer and doesn't include the tomatoes or onions.  To be honest with you, I like the second version just a bit better than when I attempted to follow the recipe word for word.  Try it and let me know what you think.