The Sunday Roast

Tag: David Guas

  • New Orleans-style BBQ shrimp

    New Orleans-style BBQ shrimp

    The buttery sauce with that tang from the Worcestershire and freshness from the rosemary pair perfectly with the tender shrimp. Then that salty bread adds the perfect crunch and rounds out an ideal BBQ meal.

    Top tips from me:
    1) First and foremost, the most important thing is getting the freshest shrimp possible. David stresses that getting shrimp where the head may be slightly detached, or they may stink a bit, or they may be slimy can entirely ruin the dish. Even if the seller has the shrimp on ice, you should check that the shrimp is fresh before purchasing. I got mine from Captain White’s Seafood City at the Wharf’s Municipal Fish Market since they had a head-on option that looked/smelled/felt fresh to me. Check those stalls out for similar options!
    2) Definitely mentally prepare yourself if you’ve never cleaned shrimp before. Here is the step-by-step guide I used that helped me figure out what I needed to do, since it was my first time. 
    3) Use surgical or latex gloves for when you’re cleaning the shrimp! You’re welcome to go at it bare-handed, but I felt more confident getting all the shell off and getting the vein out with the gloves keeping my hands clean.
    4) When peeling, be careful not to pull too much near the head or squeeze it, since we want to keep it on. Use a paring knife to slice only about a centimeter into the shrimp’s “back” and get that vein out. Pull gently so the whole thing comes out, and feel free to use that paring knife to help with the peeling. I cut the antennae off and peeled the legs as well to make the shrimp a bit cleaner to cook and eat.
    5) I, for some reason, was not expecting the shrimp to slide around once placed on the skewers but they do, so just be weary of that when it comes to transferring them to a pan or the grill.
    6) Use fresh minced garlic in the sauce for the strongest flavor.
    7) Close the grill lid immediately after setting the shrimp and bread on the grill to keep the heat at a fairly consistent temperature. Set a timer when cooking the shrimp to make sure you don’t over cook them. Just toast the bread to however crispy you would like it.
    8) This sauce honestly goes on anything! It’s delicious, and I’d definitely drench your shrimp in it.

    Time:
    Overall, this took me about an hour and a half start to finish, keeping in mind that I did stop to take photos. Prepping the shrimp does take about 20-30 minutes, and the sauce may take a minute to make, but the shrimp cooks quickly. I halved this recipe and it served about 4 but David says his measurements serve 6. It likely depends on what size shrimp you get.

    Ingredients
    6 (12-inch) wooden skewers — 2 lb. unpeeled, raw Gulf shrimp — ¼ cup olive oil, divided — 10 tbsp. butter, divided — 1 tsp. whole black peppercorns — 2 bay leaves — 3 tbsp. minced garlic cloves — 2 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary — ½ cup Worcestershire sauce — ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper — 1 French bread baguette, sliced — 4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil — table salt

    Instructions:

    1. Soak skewers in warm water 20 to 30 min. Peel shrimp, keeping heads and tails on. Reserve the shells in a bowl, throw out the veins and any antennae.

    2. Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil and 2 tbsp. butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Add

    the shells, peppercorns and bay leaves. Cook 3 min. or until shells change color. Add 2 cups water, increase heat and simmer 10 to 12 min.

    3. Remove the stock from heat and pour through a fine wire-mesh strainer into a bowl. Discard solids, and reserve stock.

    4. Light charcoal grill or preheat gas grill to 350-400 degrees (medium-high). Meanwhile, thread shrimp on skewers — about three per skewer.

    5. Heat remaining 2 tbsp. olive oil in pan over medium-high heat for 1

    min. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium, then add rosemary and cook for 2 min. Add Worcestershire sauce, ground pepper and 1 cup reserved shrimp stock. Increase heat and simmer until reduced by half.

    6. Brush some of sauce over the shrimp, reserving remaining sauce.

    7. Place skewers on cooking grate and grill about 2 min. on each side.

    8. Slice bread about 1 inch thick and brush with extra virgin olive oil, then season with salt. Grill until toasted.

    9. Reheat remaining sauce over medium-high heat and whisk in remaining 8 tbsp. butter, 2 tbsp. at a time.

    10. Place 1 skewer of shrimp on each serving plate, top with sauce and serve with bread. Enjoy!

  • BBQ to kick off the summer 🦐

    BBQ to kick off the summer 🦐

    Soak up the sun with a recipe from a New Orleans native-owned Louisiana style joint in the May edition.

    Welcome back to The Sunday Roast! Thank you to all of you who filled out my audience survey. I got some really valuable feedback and I’m grateful. I used a random name generator to pick Rhianna Kern as the lucky winner of the $20 Compass Coffee gift card, which I sent over after. I know she’s excited to get some delicious coffee and I’m excited to see what she gets! I’ll be keeping the survey open for about another month to hopefully get some more responses, but for now, the raffle is closed. 

    This month: Back in March, I had foolishly reached out to a Louisiana hotspot just before Mardi Gras to ask if they would have time to be featured. Obviously, they were too busy, but we decided to reconnect for a May feature and now here we are! I’m thankful they took the time to circle back and work with me on this month’s edition. I’ve been to this local mainstay a couple times, usually in March around Mardi Gras, and their pastries and cocktails are unbelievable. The recipe they chose to feature, however, is a bit more suited for the nice weather outside and any grill you may have access to fire up. 

    A note on receiving emails: Make sure to add my sending address to your address book to avoid the newsletter regularly ending up in spam. I found this helpful article to walk you through adding me as a contact in Gmail that will hopefully help.

    Meet David.

    Photo courtesy of David

    When Chef David Guas thinks back to his earliest memory of cooking, he thinks about grilling burgers with his father and grandfather. David comes from a family of Cuban descent that took grilling very seriously, so being handed the tongs was a rite of passage. Choosing a recipe that utilized the grill for The Sunday Roast was only natural! What he’s really known for, however, is specifically his master of Louisiana cooking. He cherishes the memories of cooking with his Aunt Boo and learning the fundamentals of a homestyle cooking he’s known for years later, from the roux to the Holy Trinity (celery, onion and bell pepper), which may seem simple, but according to David, they require much patience, finesse and technique. 

    He soon began his career as a professional cook as a pastry chef at the Windsor Court Hotel in New Orleans under the wing of Jeff Tunks, the executive chef at the time. Jeff then helped begin Passion Food Hospitality in D.C. in 1998, and took David along for the ride. He helped opened several restaurants with the group and began a solo career with his first cookbook, DamGoodSweets: Desserts to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth New Orleans Style. Then, in 2010, Guas made the leap to open a place of his own, his New Orleans-style eatery, Bayou Bakery, Coffee Bar & Eatery. Both of those major milestones were inspired after Hurricane Katrina erased many of the neighborhoods David had grown up in. When the devastating event brought back memories of his childhood, David’s career shifted to focusing on preserving and recording those memories, most of which revolved around food.

    Recipes and traditions from home are what inspire David every day to celebrate the uniqueness of New Orleans. Operating the only New Orleans native-owned Louisiana eatery allows David to share the cuisine that defines his home state and the South, but while using local produce and products from Virginia. NoVa is now what David calls home, so the eatery anchors him to his roots while showing off what his new home has to offer. And now he wants to offer that to others with not only good food but a community gathering place with a sense of belonging.

    Discover David’s Instagram.

    Discover the bakery’s instagram.

    The story behind his recipe.

    Spooning that buttery sauce aaaaall over everything.

    It’s only fitting that David shares a recipe packed with flavors that emit nostalgia and the sense of home. His restaurant speaks to his original home, New Orleans, so that transplants like him can feel right at home.

    His menu is a selection of delectable southern sweets and savory eats including pralines, beignets, muffelettas, gumbo, chicory coffee and Abita beer. David brings not only the flavors of New Orleans to the DMV but the spirit of the city, too. Many people know the pockets of neighborhoods that have reached celebrity status, like the French Quarter, but David wants to show off something local, that radiates New Orleans’ charm, in the forgotten corners of the city.

    But don’t worry, David still celebrates one of the more famous exports of the city: Mardi Gras. The holiday is typically all about celebrating and gathering with people,

    but since this year was different and people could not really gather for the holiday, Bayou Bakery put a twist on its annual extravaganza. Just as they continue to do during the pandemic with loads of to-go options, the eatery’s “krewe” brought the “pardi straight to your door,” as David puts it. The box included a murder mystery game, beads, masks, doubloons, a boa,

    hurricane mix and a DIY decorating kit.

    What the iconic Arlington mainstay is up to is always an important update, but onto the recipe now.

    This recipe comes from another one of David’s cookbooks, Grill Nation: 200 Surefire Recipes, Tips, and Techniques to Grill Like a Pro.

    David says the original story behind this recipe started with Chef Pascal Manale of the famous century-old restaurant, Pascal’s Manale. The story goes something like this: a customer came into Bayou Bakery after a trip to Chicago and described the most incredible shrimp dish he had ever tasted.

    So David got to work and sautéed some shrimp in garlic, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper and a lot of butter. But, while the man told him it was
    nothing like the dish in Chicago, this dish is special to David. The smell and taste of this recipe instantly brings him back to his childhood in Aunt Boo’s kitchen in Abbeville, so he’s hoping to share that nostalgia with you.

    Fire up the grill and get ready for that sunny weather with some shrimps on the barbie.

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