Pellet Smoker Cooking: Grilled Cajun Shrimp over Rice and Fried Green Tomatoes

Jul 05 2015

We had another great day for being outside! It has been great for 4 days now without rain! I took the time to clean my Weber Spirit. I scraped the inside down and changed the foil drip pan. I spent plenty of time having a cold one and listening to music. Our son and grandson came down for a while and we all set outside. The grandson watered some of the flowers and hauled some small limbs to the back of my pick up for me.

I had shrimp thawing for some shrimp skewers and some green tomatoes I bought for fried green tomatoes. I did some Zatarain’s yellow rice for a side I did in my rice cooker.

I have bought my shrimp from Kroger’s since they have good frozen wild caught gulf shrimp. They have it raw with shell on or raw cleaned and deveined. It seems they have changed their packaging to reflect the high price. I used to get it in one pound bags but now the raw shrimp comes in 10 oz. bags for about the cost the one pounders used to be. I think they have even changed the size grading. The large I bought looked more like what medium used to be.

I sliced up the green tomatoes, one was a little bit ripe but I like them that way. I had three slices from each one that I breaded and got in the fridge for a couple of hours to set up. I dipped them in flour with some corn meal added and Penzey’s sandwich sprinkle, then in a beaten egg and then in some Panko bread crumbs.

I had 10 oz. of large (medium) shrimp I rinsed and threaded half each on some presoaked wooden skewers. I use two skewers for each; it makes them a lot easier to turn when grilling. I sprinkled on a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil then seasoned with some Penzey’s Cajun seasoning. They went in the fridge for an hour before grilling.

I have been using Zatarain’s rice mixes for sides; they are seasoned well and I can do them in my rice cooker so they are done and on warm hold to serve hot with the meal. I used their yellow New Orleans style for this meal.

I got my Weber Spirit heating up to med. low heat about 350 to 400 deg. for the shrimp. I covered the bottom of my 12 inch Lodge CS skillet with olive oil and added two tablespoons of butter. I heated it up on my gas burner set on medium. I added the battered green tomatoes for about 3 to 4 minutes per side. When they were about done I added the shrimp skewers to the gas grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side.

I plated up the shrimp skewers over the yellow rice and had the fried green tomatoes on the side. The wife and I both loved this meal.

Note: You can see that I slightly overcooked, a little burnt, the green tomatoes on one side, I did better on the other side. I used and old trick my wife used to do when she burnt one side of meat; she served it burnt side down!

For the tomatoes