It’s been a few weeks of experimentation with our good old charcoal smoker. Last week, we enjoyed smoked vegan crab cakes for the first time. Tonight: Smoked vegan barbecue shrimp!
But let’s start at the beginning. First, after firing up the smoker and letting it warm up for 25 minutes or so, I placed two acorn-squash halves – each rubbed down with olive oil and wrapped in foil with little cuts to ensure the smoke made it through – face-down on the bottom rack of the smoker to cook for about 90 minutes. Then I went back inside and began to prepare the vegan shrimp (we used Sophie’s Kitchen’s breaded shrimp tonight).
Earlier in the afternoon, I’d removed the shrimp from the freezer and placed the package in the fridge to thaw a bit, so by the time I needed them for dinner each piece came apart in my hand with no trouble. I laid all of the shrimp out in one layer on a plate, grabbed my trusty kitchen brush, and painted on a layer of sweet-and-spicy barbecue sauce to one side. Then I flipped each piece of shrimp over and painted the other. Then: To the smoker they went!
I ended up cooking the shrimp for about 80 minutes or so, but if I had it to do over, I’d cook them for closer to an hour. The barbecue sauce caramelized nicely, but on some of the smaller bits of shrimp the texture got a touch too chewy; a 60-minute cook time would have solved that problem.
All the same, after the set cook time for both shrimp and squash, I removed everything from the smoker, took the peas off the burner atop the stove, and served us up. The acorn squash turned out perfectly soft and smoky – served with a touch of maple syrup and cinnamon, it was almost a dessert! – and the peas were as wonderful as ever. But the shrimp! The barbecue shrimp turned out amazingly well. The barbecue sauce gave each piece a wonderful sweet tang, and the slow-cooking really brought out the shrimpy flavors that Sophie’s Kitchen has mastered. I was initially concerned that the breading wouldn’t hold up on the smoker, but I needn’t have worried; we lost very little between the grates! The texture was only enhanced by the charcoal heat, and the flavors couldn’t be beat.
I know I should be glad that we both loved the dinner enough to leave no leftovers behind. All the same, I’m regretful I won’t have more shrimp to enjoy for lunch tomorrow! Ah, well. We’ll just have to make more.
:)