Grilled Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

I wanted to make something a bit more special one evening and as usual, wanted it to be quick. I was in the mood for some grilled shrimp. I decided to gather what I had around the house before I stepped out to the store. I have learned that if you use what you already have in your cabinets and fridge, then it forces you to become more creative and not wasting food already purchased.
In this case, I had shrimp and bacon, what a great combination. All I needed now was a good plan, a salad, some grilled garlic bread, and wine. I knew I had some homemade BBQ sauce, which happens to be a bit more spicy, tangy, and perfect for the shrimp.
First, let us talk about shrimp and their different sizes. All of the numbers associated with shrimp may seem very confusing to you, but it's pretty simple.  Shrimp have a number in accordance to their size. For example, if you buy 16/20 shrimp, that means that you can expect 16 to 20 shrimp per pound. If you are buying 21/25 or 40/50 then that is the approximate number of shrimp in a pound. For this recipe, I happen to be using 21/25 sized shrimp. These are a good medium size shrimp. Since we are going to wrap our bacon around the shrimp, this would be the smallest size that I would recommend.
The first thing I did was peel and de-vein the shrimp, (you can buy your shrimp already peeled and de-veined from the store). Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Cut the bacon strips in half, partially cook the bacon in the microwave about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, layer the bacon between several layers of paper towels on a microwave safe plate covered with several layers of paper towels on top and cook on high until it begins to melt and still pliable. Wrap each piece of bacon around one shrimp.
Skewer each shrimp onto a metal skewer, (if using bamboo wooden skewers make sure they have been soaked in water for 20 -30 minutes, they will burn if not moistened). Make sure your grill is pre-heated to medium-high. Your shrimp are only going to take about 5 minutes until the shrimp are opaque. Cook the bacon wrapped shrimp about 2 1/2 minutes per side. I also basted the shrimp when almost done with my BBQ sauce.
I removed my cooked shrimp from the grill and used my BBQ Sauce for dipping. I also made some garlic Bread and served that with my shrimp, a salad and a glass of white wine. The flavor of the grilled bacon combined with the shrimp was fantastic. I hope you get a chance to try bacon wrapped shrimp. Enjoy!

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