simple shrimp

I recently hosted a fabulous cocktail party at my apartment.  I wanted to serve cocktail shrimp, but not the basic cocktail shrimp; I wanted a more flavorful, interesting version.  This is a roasted cocktail shrimp with homemade cocktail sauce.  It was one of my favorite hors d'oeuvres at the party, and it was so simple to make!  Here is the recipe:

For the shrimp:
- 2 pounds (12-15) shrimp
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce:
- 1/2 cup chili sauce
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
- 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel and de-vein the shrimp, leaving the tails on.  Place them on a sheet pain with the olive oil, salt, and pepper, and spread them in one layer.  Roast for 8 to 10 minutes, just until pink and firm and cooked through.  Set aside to cool.

To make the sauce, combine all the ingredients and serve as a dip with the shrimp.

table setting: the cheat sheet

With the holidays coming, I thought it would be a good idea to talk a little about place settings.  This diagram below shows the traditional place setting.  Whether or not your place setting will have all of the pieces shown below, or you're going to have a more simplified version, this is a guideline for where to put everything.

A – Napkin
B – Dinner Plate
C – Soup Bowl on Plate
D – Bread and Butter Plate with Butter Knife
E – Water Glass
F – White Wine
G – Red Wine
H – Fish Fork
I – Dinner Fork
J – Salad Fork
K – Dinner Knife
L – Fish Knife
M – Soup Spoon
N – Dessert Spoon and Fork

Note: It is often recommended that the salad fork (J) is placed to the left of the dinner fork (I). However, in this formal setting the dinner fork is placed before the salad fork because it is suggested that the guest waits for the main meal before helping him/herself to the salad.