"ShrimpCocktail" news and stories

Shrimp Tacos with Avocado-Corn Salsa. Photo: YumSugar

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

Raw corn off the cob can perk up a shrimp cocktail when you make a salsa and throw it in a taco.

Has Wal-Mart ripped off those delicious cookies the Girl Scouts have been selling for years?

Bottarga makes for a fine "poor man's" caviar.

Grilled bruschetta chicken is a fast and easy dish perfect for evenings when time is of the essence.

Rum punch is prime for a technicolor luau.

Julie Powell, of "Julie & Julia" fame, dishes about the movie.

A test of your M&M's know-how to separate myth from fact.

Leftover chicken thighs are prime candidates for Peking-style chicken wraps.

It's easy to pull out a few crackers, chips, or veggies to munch on, but I'm a big fan of fancy no-muss, no-mess snacks that are even tastier. One of my favorite quickies is shrimp cocktail, like the one above.

I keep a bag of cooked shrimp in the freezer, and when I'm feeling peckish, I pull out a handful, and then quickly thaw them in warm water* in a measuring cup. Pull out the shrimp, quickly rinse the cup, pour in a little cocktail sauce, and viola! It's shrimp cocktail with only one thing dirtied in the process, maybe two if you need to spoon out your cocktail sauce.

*Edit: Warning: As Chris pointed out below, warm water can increase bacteria attached to the shrimp after cooking, another reason why cold water baths are usually used. Using cold water, if you choose, shouldn't take much longer for a small amount of shrimp.