Shrimp with Spicy Cocktail Sauce

This is probabley the easiest appetizer and one of the best to make. Shrimp dosn't have much flavor so its important to cook the shrimp in a flavorful broth, that's well seasoned. Its much better to make the sauce from scratch, rather than buy store bought ,which can be tastless. The sauce will keep for months in the fridge and can be used to flavor sauces and as a condiment.

method

1. make the cocktail sauce by combining the ketchup with the horseradish sauce, the hot sauce and lemon juice. Adjust the amounts accordingly to your tastes, refrigerate until needed.
2. Bring a pot of water large enough for the shrimp to simmer on the stove. Add the celery, onion, bay leaf, a few pepper corns, the garlic and a good pinch of salt. Let the pot simmer for about 10 minutes, add more salt if necessary.
3. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Add the shrimp to the pot  and bring back to simmer. When the shrimp float to the surface and curl slightly, they are done. Immediately remove the cooked shrimp with a slotted spoon and immerse in the ice water to stop them from cooking.
4. Prepare the cocktail glasses, spoon some sauce into each glass and hang the shrimp to the rime of the glass. Garnish with lemon slices and celery sticks.

Ingredients   

• 1 lb raw frozen shrimp, deveined, tail on
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 2 celery sticks, chopped
• 2 bay leafs
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• pepper corns
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup horseradish
• hot sauce
• lemon juice
• lemon slices and celery sticks for garnish
• salt

photo credit; media. photobucket.com/image/shrimp/ cocktail/poliateuska