Buttery Grilled Shrimp, Grape Tomatoes and Polenta Cakes

I am going to try and compartmentalize the making of this dish as I was writing notes down on a piece of paper as I was creating this dish.  I saw something similar on Foodnetwork.com and decided to give this a try.

#1: Marinate your shrimp in 2 TBSP Joe's Stuff Seasoning (or any seasoning blend that has salt, pepper, garlic, paprika) and 2 TBSP olive oil. Let sit for at least 20 minutes or up to 2 hours.

#2: Skewer 20 grape tomatoes (5 each skewer) drizzle with salt and pepper and leave to the side.

#3: Use Polenta in the tube or package so it is already nicely packed in a roll shape. Carefully slice into 1.2 inch discs and place in a single layer on a large plate or pan. You should yield about 9-10 discs from one tube of polenta. (Trader Joes has a great Polenta in a tube. It is in the pasta section). Drizzle polenta with olive oil making sure to coat both sides and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

#4: Skewer the shrimp, about 5 shrimp per skewer. Reserve

#5: Make your butter. Use 1 stick of softened butter and combine 2 cloves of minced garlic, a few dashes of hot sauce, zest of 1/2 a lemon, 12 tsp italian seasoning. Reserve and keep at room temperature.

#6: In a small container, chop about 1/4 cup of parsley and zest the other half of lemon. Reserve for garnish.

#7: Take everything out to the grill. Make sure your grill is hot to about 300 degrees before putting anything on.  Put the tomatoes on first.  Let those cook for about 10 minutes before putting the polenta cakes on the grill.  Very important, leave the polenta cakes alone for at least minutes. If you try to turn them too soon, you will break them in pieces.  Right after you get the polenta cakes set, put the shrimp on the grill.  The polenta cakes and shrimp take about 5 minutes per side.  Everything should be done all at the same time.

#8:  Serve by putting the polenta cakes on the bottom of the plate. Then slide a few tomatoes off the skewers and scatter them.  Put 2 skewers of shrimp across the plate (or slide them off the skewer as well).  Lastly, garnish with the parsley mixture and a few dabs of your compound butter.  The faster you get the food plated and the butter on, the better it will melt over everything and be delicious!.

This dish and all of the components are great.  But it is even better if you take a bite with all 3 components at the same time.  Flavor!

Wine pairing for this is from my favorite winery on the east coast:
Kon-to-Kos-tal
2015
Field Blend - Riesling, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc
From the North Fork of Long Island
This is a crisp white wine which balances the richness of the butter and polenta in this dish! Yum.



I made this indoors yesterday and it was fabulous - maybe even better than the original recipe! 
3/4 pint of grape tomatoes
olive oil
1/5 pounds of shrimp
Joes Stuff Seasoning (or any combination seasoning with garlic, paprika, pepper, salt)
2 TBSP parsley
1 TBSP italian seasoning
1 stick of butter, softened
2 tsp garlic, minced
4 dashes of Tabasco
1 lemon, zested (1/2 the zest in one small bowl and half in another)
salt and pepper
Zatarain's Yellow Rice - prepared according to package directions

Directions:
1. Prepare the rice. Marinate the shrimp by putting about 2 TBSP joes Stuff seasoning and 2 TBSP olive oil in a bowl with the shrimp. Toss and refrigerate while you get everything else set.
2. Chop the parsley and combine in a small bowl with 1/2 of the lemon zest. This will be for garnish.
3. Make your compound butter by combining the butter, italian seasoning, Tabasco, garlic. Mix together and reserve on the counter so it is soft.
4. Using a parge saute pan, heat 1 TBSP olive oil over medium heat. Add in the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Shimmy the pan every minutes or so to move the tomatoes around. They should start to make noise and bust.  Tomatoes will take about 5 minutes.
5. While the tomatoes are cooking, pull your shrimp out and dab them with a paper towel just to get some of the oil off. I just dumped them on a paper towel and then threw them in the pan.
6. Try to make an even layer of shrimp and leave them alone for 2-3 minutes so you get a nice sear. Season with another sprinkle of pepper and then flip. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.
7. Divide the rice among 2 plates and then just simply slide the shrimp and tomatoes onto the plates.
8. Top with parsley and lemon zest mixture and dabs of the compound butter. 

Enjoy!