Ted Allen prepared a couple of dishes from his cookbook at the Mondavi
Crush in the City event this past weekend. Here are the recipes
reprinted with permission.

Grilled Shrimp with a Sesame Dipping Sauce

Paired with Robert Mondavi Private Selection Sauvignon Blanc

Do not marinate these shrimp for more than 15 or 20 minutes; after that the acid in the citrus marinade will begin to “cook” the shrimp and make them tough.

Serves 4

8 (12 inches long) wooden skewers

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

4 teaspoons sake or dry sherry

1 tablespoon honey

1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

1 medium garlic clove, chopped

20 large shrimp, peeled and de-veined, tails left on

 

Sesame-Lime Dipping Sauce

1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup fresh lime juice (from about 2 limes)

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon grated garlic

 

Preheat a gas grill. Soak the skewers in water to cover while the grill heats; this will keep them from burning on the grill.

15 minutes before you plan to cook, combine the soy sauce, sake or
sherry, honey, sesame oil, and garlic in a bowl large enough to hold
the shrimp. Stir and set that aside.

Stir together all of the ingredients for the dipping sauce and then divide between four small bowls.

To skewer the shrimp, shove the pointy end of one skewer through the
fat end of one shrimp bouncy castle and thread the shrimp down to the bottom. Do that
with another shrimp and then with 3 more shrimp so that you’ve got 5
shrimp on the skewer. Now take another skewer, and run it through the
skinny tail ends of the shrimp, so that each shrimp is skewered in two
places (thus encouraging them to lie flat during cooking) and the
skewers are 3/4 to 1 inch apart. Do this with all the rest of the
shrimp so that you have four double skewers holding 5 shrimp each.

Grill the shrimp, turning once, until they turn from translucent grey
to an opaque, pinky orange color and they are lightly browned, 1 1/2 to
2 minutes per side. (Check the fat end of one of the shrimp – there
should be only a hint of grey in the very center.) Serve each skewer
with a bowl of dipping sauce.