Shrimp Dip – Shrimp = A Big Bowl of Sour Cream

Shrimp are low in fat and calories… until you throw them in a bowl full of sour cream and mayonnaise. In my mind, shrimp need this kind of help in order to be enjoyed. They just don’t cut it for me unless drenched in something thick and powerful in flavor. I don’t want the natural taste of the shrimp to be overpowered, but merely complimented by something thick enough to stick to a cracker if I turn it upside down.

As long as you’ve got the sour cream and the shrimp, you most likely have something else in the kitchen that’s gonna take your dip to the finish line. Shrimp swim well with pretty much anything. I had to wait an hour the other night for the dumb heteros to get out of the jacuzzi in my apartment courtyard before I ventured in, but shrimp aren’t that picky. They’ll float along with whatever’s around – celery, dill, horseradish, ranch dressing, etc. You’d think that two straight guys in a jacuzzi together would start to feel a little uncomfortable after about twenty minutes OR give in to their forbidden desires, but they just kept chugging their beers and prattling on about how one their buddies was an asshole who was obsessed with “chasing tail.” I was the one who went downstairs and turned the jacuzzi on to heat it up in the first place. They knew THEY didn’t do it, so clearly someone else wanted a soak. They totally jacked my jacuzzi. Here’s how I made the dip

4 ounces cooked shrimp, drained. I got baby shrimp, but the bigger ones would probably have made it better

2/3 cup of sour cream

1/3 cup of mayonnaise

3 tablespoons of chili sauce

2 teaspoons of lemon juice

A teaspoon or minced onion would have helped it along, but I forgot to add it.

The green chili sauce is a favorite of MG’s. He picked it up for me at the Farmer’s Market, and I’m loving it.

Day of the Dead jalapeno sauce rates about a 5 on the hot scale, so it’s great to add to pretty much anything, and MG and I have. He soaked his morning scrambled eggs in it. Day of the Dead has six different kinds of hot sauces – jalapeno, cayenne, chipotle, habanero, scotch bonnet, and serrano hot – I anticipate buying the Day of the Dead Six Pack very soon. But knowing me and things that come in colorful sets, I won’t want to open them because they look so nice together. To this day, if I have one set of crayons, I have to have a matching set that I don’t ever use, just so I can look at the perfectly even tips.

I missed on cracker selection. I got Orobello’s sourdough crackers but they were way too thick and heavy and swallowed up the taste of the dip, so back to the store for Carr’s table water crackers which were perfect in their lightness. The sourdough crackers need to be piled higher with complimentary flavors – prosciutto and cheese with some sun-dried tomato and a little pesto. Or maybe I’ll just chuck them down from my balcony at future jacuzzi-jackers. We’ll see.

Tags: dip, hot sauce, shrimp