Dine and Dish

Food blog with family recipes

Through My Lens (Recipe: Black Pepper Shrimp)

At the “conference you all are probably tired of hearing about” last weekend, I had the most wonderful opportunity to spend the evening with 25 awesome and well respected food bloggers. It may sound cheesy to some, but that had to have been one of the best parts of the the entire weekend for me. As a food blogger, I often get strange looks from people I know when they first, find out that I blog, and second, find out what I blog about. “You blog about food?? Really??” In this room of women, I did not have to justify what I do, or how strange my hobby might be. We all “got it”. We shared info, recipes, tips, frustrations and funnies that really, only other food bloggers would appreciate.

We met at a well known restaurant in Chicago called “Greek Islands”. As we all sat together chatting, a rustling began to happen in the room. All of a sudden, most of the women stood up, armed with their cameras, and began clicking away like a mass of paparazzi. I, along with other patrons in the restaurant, all looked perplexed…did Brad and Angelina just walk into the restaurant? Maybe it was Oprah? Craning my neck to see what all the excitement was about, I had to let out a chuckle when it all became clear. Coming near our tables were several of Greek Islands finest, armed with – you guessed it – our first course!

Yes, those of us who food blog may be a bit strange to those of you who just don’t get it, but I have never felt more at ease with a group in my life. For those of you who do “get it” and love the art of food blogging and food photography, I have a new event that is taking place over at Culinary Snapshot called “Through My Lens“. Check it out and I hope you’ll participate!

Did I mention that I met Paula Deen at “the conference that you are probably tired of hearing about?” While she was chatting with all of us, she mentioned a recipe from one of her cookbooks called Black Pepper Shrimp. It sounded so good, I had to make it as soon as I got home! I didn’t have any shelled shrimp. I am sure that would make the recipe all the better, but it was great with what I did have.

For a list of the wonderful food bloggers who I met at the Greek Islands dinner, please jump down below the recipe.

Black Pepper Shrimp, from Paula Deen

20 min | 10 min prep

SERVES 6

  1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
  2. Rinse and drain shrimp and place in shallow baking pan.
  3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan.
  4. Add the garlic and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes.
  5. Pour the garlic butter mixture over shrimp and toss to coat.
  6. Sprinkle about half the pepper over shrimp until they are well covered.
  7. Remember–don’t be afraid!
  8. Bake until pink (about 5 minutes).
  9. Turn shrimp over sprinkle with remaining pepper and bake a few minutes longer.


Lydia from The Perfect Pantry, Kalyn from Kalyn’s Kitchen, Elise from Simply Recipes, Kathy from Panini Happy, Kristen from Dine and Dish, Maris from n Good Taste, Cora from Cora Cooks, Deb from Lunch in a Box, Gudrun from Kitchen Gadget Girl, Jennifer from Savor the Thyme, Ree from Pioneer Woman Cooks, Jaden from Steamy Kitchen, Sandie from Inn Cuisine, Alanna from A Veggie Venture, Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy, Kelly from Barbaric Gulp, Stephanie from Iron Stef, Stephanie from A Year of Crockpotting, Anne Marie from This Mama Cooks, Hetal and Anuja from Show Me the Curry, Roni from Green Lite Bites, Jayne from This Week for Dinner, Kim (and Roger) from the Building Blocks Show, and Krista from Londonelicious,

Reader Interactions

Comments

  10. Trysha says

    I love Paula Deen! This shrimp sounds so delicious. The kids will even eat it!
    With 8 tablespoons of butter how could this not be good?

  13. Amanda says

    It’s funny, I got on the internet 12 years ago. I started a website and turned it into something that earned me a living. I met other webmasters like myself and was able to talk to them about things I couldn’t discuss with my offline friends. That same moment that you are talking about above, I know it. Been there. And now that I’m a food blogger I totally understand again! I don’t try explaining anymore to those that don’t get it, I just say I’m an editor. LOL I should have gone to the conference, heck I only live an hour and a half from Chicago! UGH. Next year.

    oh and the shrimp looks amazing!!
    .-= Amanda´s last blog ..Grilled Cube Steak Rollups =-.

  17. Q. says

    Oh! I made almost this exact same recipe last summer. Only difference was the lime juice in the marinade. I think they were called Salt & Pepper shrimp and MAN were they good. Made for really good shrimp tacos. YUM!
    .-= Q.´s last blog ..Nikujaga: This stuff is money =-.

  21. Hélène says

    I can totally relate to that. Most of friends don’t blog and I don’t really talk about it. The ones that like it are my sisters and nieces. My friends don’t share that passion about food as I.

    I have to say that your dish shrimp looks yummy.

  22. Sarah says

    You made it! I have been thinking about that recipe since BlogHer and just haven’t gotten around to putting shrimp on the menu. It looks so good! I love the part about being food papparazzi!
    .-= Sarah´s last blog ..It’s an Aunt! =-.

  23. Gudrun says

    I would love to participate in Culinary Snapshots, but I am pretty sure my photos are nothing worth sending. At this point, there seems to be just enough time to get the photo taken, uploaded and published, and not much left over for making it pretty. Regular reading of your photography blog will surely fix that, right? 😉

    Great to meet you, and thanks for the shrimp recipe – might just go nicely with my baked zucchini squash and tomatoes!
    .-= Gudrun´s last blog ..Zucchini Squash and Tomato Bake (recipe) =-.

  24. samantha jo campen says

    That’s so great you had an awesome time with the other food bloggers. I know what you mean about feeling comfortable in a group of people who ‘got it’ because that’s how I felt at BlogHer. And it was an amazing feeling.

    So nice to meet you! That was another thing I loved about the conference–having more personal conversations with people I had never met. It’s all about connecting!

  25. Deanna says

    I love this photo! The shrimp is just popping off the screen. I need to meet some food bloggers. Your story about everyone snapping photos at dinner reminded me of this past week, while I was on a family vacation and I was taking all these photos of a pie I ordered at a restaurant. Most of my family was either a) embarrassed by my behavior or b)laughing at me. Not that it bothers me but, one of these days, it would be cool to not be the only person taking photos of my food!
    .-= Deanna´s last blog ..Big Sky Country =-.

  27. Claire says

    Mmmm….love me some shrimp, though I would have to take out most of that butter. Paula Deen, I love you, but you just do NOT need all that butter. Some is good, but when you add butter to your hamburger…a bit much. 🙂 That looks delicious…and I’m GLAD that you have had so much to talk about from “that conference. 😉

  28. wynnie says

    as a lover of sea-food i really appreciate this simple but delicious recipe. i’ve made it for myself and for friends many times – it’s always a hit! i use black pepper from kampot which i brought back from my recent holiday in cambodia, i find that its aromatic intensity is a perfect compliment to the shrimp without overwhelming the delicate flavour.
    http://distribution.farmlink-cambodia.com/kadode-products.html

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