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Justin, my new son-in-law, teaches ESL and is fascinated with Mexican cooking. The highlight of his day is watching youtube videos of traditional recipes and translating them into English. His experiences trying to replicate the meals have been interesting to watch. The last dish he made required Habanero peppers, which he diced and steamed. By the time he was finished, everyone in the house was choking and wiping watery eyes. I suggested the next time he tried cooking Habanero recipes maybe he could substitute hot sauce. This idea was met with enthusiasm by everyone in the house, except Justin, who wondered how we could cook traditional Mexican dishes with peppers.
During a shopping trip to Publix the next week, I found El Yucateco Sauces, available in Red Habanero Sauce, Green Habanero Sauce, and XXXtra Hot Kutbil-ik Sauce. I pointed them out to Justin and we agreed to try some of the sauce in a recipe we had both been craving, Camarones Brioche. We had sampled this dish in a traditional Mexican restaurant, served with an out of this world polenta, and wanted to try our hand recreating it at home. I purchased all three available types, although I was pretty sure XXXtra Hot Kutbil-ik Sauce would probably prove to be a little “too hot” for most family members.
Have I mentioned I look for short cuts in cooking whenever I can? The recipe I had called for Tequila, which I didn’t have, so I left it out. If you have a bottle and want to use it, add three teaspoons. The recipe also called for a number of fresh herbs. I dutifully ran out to my herb garden to pick them, only to discover several of them, like my cilantro, had gone to seed. A substitution was called for once again, because I didn’t want to make another trip to the store. This time I added a tablespoon of Southwest Chipotle seasoning and 3 tablespoons of El Yucateco Red Habenero sauce. My recipe might not be truly authentic, but it was a hit with my family. I did notice they drank a lot of liquid during the meal, so I might adjust the amount of hot sauce when I make this recipe again.
This recipe takes a little bit of advanced preparation because the shrimp has to be cooked on presoaked wooden skewers. I didn’t soak one of my skewers in water long enough and the end caught on fire. I heard plenty of griping from my son, the grill tech, over that little detail!
Here’s a couple of tips I learned while preparing this recipe I wish I had known before I started. The shrimp were supposed to be sliced on the end and filled with cheese and peppers. I discovered it was easier to place the slice of bacon on a cutting board and place the cheese on top of the bacon. Then, I wrapped the bacon around the shrimp.
The polenta we made was delicious but way too spicy for most members of the family. Adjust the recipe to your heat preference, especially for children.
Here’s what you need to make it:
For the Shrimp Skewers:
24 medium shrimp
1 pound (16 ounces) bacon
1 cup shredded cheese (use a stronger flavor like cheddar)
1 tablespoon Southwest Chipotle seasoning
4 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons El Yucateco Red Habanero Sauce (or to taste)
For the Polenta
1 (16 ounce) package Polenta (I found it in the produce section)
3 Tablespoon El Yucateco Red Habanero Sauce (or to taste)
1 cup (8 ounces) heavy cream
1 cup (8 ounces) shredded cheese
To make the shrimp skewers:
Cut bacon slices in half. place one to two teaspoons of cheese on each piece of bacon. Place a piece of shrimp on top of the cheese. Wrap the bacon around the shrimp and thread onto a wooden skewer. I placed five shrimp per skewer, but I should have used six to make one serving. Mix the melted butter, the seasoning and the hot sauce together and brush onto the shrimp. Place the skewers onto the grill for approximately 10 minutes or until done.
To make the Polenta:
Crumble the polenta into small pieces and place in a medium skillet. Add cream, cheese and hot sauce. Cook, stirring constantly, for eight minutes or until cheese is melted and mixture is thick and bubbly. To get rid of all the chunks in my polenta, I placed it in the blender for 20 seconds.
I’ll be passing this recipe along to my son-in-law. He can make it for me the next time I come over for dinner! What are your favorite hot sauce recipes?
Camarones and polenta sounds like a great combination. I must try these soon. Thanks! #client
Oh my hubby would absolutely LOVE this recipe!! Me and the kids are allergic to shrimp, but we all love the El Yucateco red hot sauce.
I don’t do seafood, but my husband would LOVE this (especially since it’s spicy)! I’ll have to keep this recipe for him!
Good tip on soaking the skewers. No way I’d want one on fire, and I would be the one to skip soaking if I was in a hurry (correction, I would have been).
I am not a fan of anything too spicy, so I’m not sure I could handle most habanero recipes! I do think bacon and shrimp would go well together though.
Oh yum! How fun and easy, this is a great recipe! Will have to try.
I just bought these myself! I can’t wait to try them this week!
I am not a fan of spicy food – but I do like shrimp. I think my husband would like the spicy sauce.
Holy cow! This looks amazing! I have never heard of this dish before but know I would love it.
This looks like something my family may enjoy trying, I know it looks like something I would like to eat! Yummy!
The shrimp looks delicious and that would go over big in our house…but we are not too into Hot. We need mild, LOL.
Those shrimp skewers look so good. I could definitely see my family gobbling up those. And, as for sauce, the hotter the better!!
We love Mexican. My Hubs loves it very hot and spicy. I like it with just a touch of spice.
This is so different than our traditional (bland) meals. I love extra spice. My husband doesn’t always go for it.
YUMM.. this looks delicious and so different… I love Polenta and I bet the Hot sauce will kick it up a notch.. the shrimp on the grill look amazing.. YUMMM..thanks for sharing, need to pin for my weekly menu
I love shrimp and this sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing such a great recipe!
I’ve never heard of this dish before. My Hubs would love the spiciness of it all!
Shrimp wrapped in bacon? Winner winner, seafood dinner! That’s going on my “to make” list. I can almost taste that smokey bacon and tender shrimp. Mmmm. Delicious.
I’ve never had polenta but it is on my list of must try items. Thanks for sharing.
I’m not a fan of polenta but the shrimp skewers look delicious!
I can’t handle spicy, but my husband absolutely loves it. I’ll have to let him try this.
This looks yummy, we’ve been in a grilling rut lately with the same old things, I’ll have to try these for dinner tomorrow night.
actually,I don’t like hot sauce at all but my husband does. he loves when I makes spicy enchiladas
Grilled shrimp, yummy yummy. I have been seeing more recipes with polenta. I am so behind in the times.
This looks AWESOME and it’s spicy which is even better since I love hot foods. I love polenta as long as its made properly.
Oh, my! That looks so good. I would have totally set the entire back yard on fire with this one, but my Hubs might be able to pull it off.
Oh my! These sure look like they would taste good! They look pretty easy to make too. I don’t do shrimp, but hubby sure does!
Oh my husband would be over the moon if I made this. Thanks for sharing I will be pinning this to have for when I have all the stuff required! Looks so good!
These would go over BIG in my house. I am thinking they would be awesome for a little game day snack once football season finally starts 🙂
Hubby would love these – me I will need a non hot version. My hubby loves anything hot and spicy – I think his favorite is chili – the hotter the better for him.