Steamed Shrimp in Beer with Lemon, Garlic, and Butter

This dish only takes ten minutes to throw together—you literally toss all the ingredients into a pot. We like to serve our guests ice-cold bottles of the same kind of beer we used to steam the shrimp.

SERVES: 4

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound large shrimp (fresh or frozen), cleaned, shelled, and deveined
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 dill sprigs or 1 teaspoon dill weed 1 garlic clove, minced
• Juice of ½ lemon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon whole peppercorns
• ⅛ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
• 1 cup beer
• ¼ cup butter, melted (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a large saucepan, combine all the ingredients except the butter, and bring to a boil.
2. Immediately cover the saucepan, remove from heat, and let stand 4 to 6 minutes, or until the shrimp are pink and curl up. Drain and transfer the shrimp to a plate. Discard the bay leaf, dill, and garlic.
3. Serve the shrimp hot with melted butter for dipping, if you like.