An excellent dish that can be enjoyed any time of the year is shrimp. Shrimp is delicious, can be prepared a number of different ways, be an entrée or part of a larger dish, and is quite healthy. While most people prefer to either grill or fry shrimp, these may not be the best ways to cook the shell fish. This is because grilling and frying will either dry the shrimp out or require you to use unhealthy oils that takes away the natural taste and makes the shrimp less healthy. The best way to cook shrimp is to bake shrimp in the oven. This can be done quickly and easily.
The first step in baking shrimp in the oven is to prepare the shrimp for baking. If you live in an area where you get fresh shrimp, this step may require you to peel the shrimp. However, you may be able to skip this step by purchasing either pre-peeled or frozen shrimp. If you are using frozen shrimp, be sure to let them fully thaw out for a couple hours before cooking them. You could speed this process up by putting them under water, but make sure the water is cool so it doesn’t start cooking the shrimp.
Once the shrimp are peeled and thawed, the next step is to apply your seasoning. This part of the process depends largely on your recipe or personal tastes. If you do not have a preference, baked shrimp that is not seasoned is still quite delicious. However, squirting some butter or a citrus juice on the shrimp and seasoning with salt and pepper could add a lot to taste. While you are preparing the shrimp for the oven, you should pre-heat the oven at about 450 degrees farenheight.
After the shrimp have been prepared and the oven is ready, you can now place the shrimp in the oven. You could put the shrimp on ready to eat wooden skewers, but for simplicity a cooking sheet could also be used. Be sure to grease up the cooking sheet and then place the shrimp on the sheet. The shrimp shouldn’t be touching each other, but you do not need to leave too much space in between each one.
After you have put the shrimp in the oven, be sure you monitor the shrimp closely. Depending on how thick each shrimp is, they could be done baking quite quickly. Small shrimp may be done in as little as 6-8 minutes, while larger shrimp may take 10-12. After you take the shrimp out of the oven be sure you allow at least 10 minutes for them to cool prior to consumption.
