6.8.2018
In college I spent the summer after my junior year studying abroad in London. For those few months across the pond I fell in love with the city; riding the tube, afternoon pints, late night kebabs, endless weekend markets and Pimm’s cups all soon became a very welcomed new way of life. In between class, an internship and lots of free time, I found myself frequenting a café near my flat that hosted a killer happy hour and an unassuming lunch menu. I soon fell in love with their Crawdaddy Club, which was simply crawfish, greens, avocado and aioli between two slices of grainy, toasted bread, and ever since have been yearning for that same garlicy, shrimpy, avo creamy flavor combo.
Que this spicy-butter-broiled shrimp revamp which is every bit delicious and nostalgic as that Crawdaddy Club a few summers ago. This bomb dot com club is stacked high with spicy shrimp (duh), avocado, pickle, mixed greens, and held together with a tangy, homemade garlic aioli, which pro tip: compliments basically anything. While this was created with the OG Crawdaddy in mind, there were a few tweaks that were added to give it a little pep, kick, a lil pizzazz. The first being the bread, which was swapped from textured and grainy to fluffy, crisp and chewy. Sourdough I’m looking at you. And while avocado brings delicious creaminess to just about any meal (case in point), it needed to be cut with some crunch, specifically Grillo’s Italian Dill Pickles crunch, but obviously any pickle chips will do. Finished with hefty schmears of garlic aioli and over half a pound of flavor-popping-shrimp per sandwich, this is the perfect nosh to get you through all those summer cravings.
- 2-3 medium cloves garlic, finely grated
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 - 1 tbsp paprika
- 1/2 - 1 tsp old bay
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1 lg egg yolk
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp water
- salt, to taste
- 1 lb raw, peeled shrimp
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
- 1 1/2 tsp old bay
- cracked pepper, to taste
- 1/2 - 1 tsp cayenne
- 1 - 1 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- salt, to taste
- 4 slices sourdough, toasted
- 6-10 pickle chips, Grillo's Pickles - Italian Dill
- 1/2 - 1 avocado, thinly sliced
- mixed greens, to taste
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Whisk egg yolk, garlic and salt in a mixing bowl to combine
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Mix in water, and while mixing constantly, add olive oil drop by drop as mixture emulsifies and thickens (adding oil too quickly will cause the mixture to break and separate)
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Whisk until oil is thoroughly combined, begin adding mayonnaise
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Once mayonnaise is incorporated, add in lemon juice, paprika, cayenne, old bay, and more salt to taste, if needed
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Continue whisking until aioli is thick enough to hold its shape when spooned
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Preheat oven to 525° / broil
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While oven is preheating, wash the shrimp and remove the tails
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Add shrimp to a large mixing bowl and add melted butter, lemon juice, paprika, cayenne, old bay, salt, pepper and combine until all shrimp are evenly coated
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Place shrimp 1-2 inches apart on a cookie sheet and broil on top rack for 2-3 minutes on each side
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While shrimp are cooking, begin toasting the sourdough and preparing the avocado, pickle and mixed greens
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Once shrimp are done and bread is toasted, begin building your club - aioli on both sides of the bread, mixed greens, shrimp, pickle, avocado
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Serve with fries / chips and enjoy!
Inspo for garlic aioli found here – > https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/real-deal-aioli
Inspo for cajun-style shrimp found here – > https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015193-cajun-style-broiled-shrimp
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