Flavored butters—whether this one or a variation of it—are handy to have around. A little bit goes a long way to add flavor to quick dinners. Just slice the butter and use it to top broiled seafood or pan-seared chicken breast. If you need to speed things up a little, spoon the cooked garlic-shallot mixture into a small bowl, set that into a larger bowl of ice, and stir until it is completely chilled.
When you are buying shrimp, the easiest way to determine the size is by using restaurant terminology. For example, “U-10” stands for “under 10,” which means there are ten or fewer shrimp in a pound. “U-15” means fewer than 15 per pound; “21/25” means there are between twenty-one and twenty-five per pound, “16/20” between sixteen and twenty a pound, and so on. Retail terminology such as “large,” “jumbo,” or “medium” can be misleading.
