We had the pleasure of going to a BBQ at with friends this past Memorial Day. It was pot luck and I brought "leftovers" from a brunch party the day before. The hostess prepared a BBQ chicken and calico corn on the cob. Other guests brought home grown salad greens, pilaf rice and dips of various types.
I did a quick cook shrimp fajita and Christine, my pastry chef wife, made a delicious poppy seed cake with lemon curd and buttercream. We capped off the day with Bocce Ball and putting pennies on the train tracked to be smashed, courtesy of Amtrak.
Memorial Day BBQ
I like to use the local shrimp when they are available. The Santa Barbara Spot Prawn in now a rarity in these parts but the ridgeback shrimp are an incidental catch that regularly turn up at the Farmers Market or the Santa Barbara Fish Market by the breakwater. The spot prawns were over fished in the 1980s and harvesting restrictions mean we rarely see them in their namesake town. The Monterey Bay Aquarium suggests using pink shrimp from Oregon, the spot prawn, American farmed shrimp or wild caught shrimp as the best sustainable choices. Whichever shrimp you use, use care not to over cook them as they get tough and dry.
Tastefully yours®
Chef Michael Hutchings
