Grilled Buffalo Shrimp and Avocado Sandwiches with Blue Cheese Sauce

The fact that Matt grew up in a rural English village and I grew up in New York City means that, every so often, we have absolutely no idea what the other person is talking about.

For example, here’s an exchange that may (or may not) have occurred recently (it did not, but work with me here).

Emily: Less hit the bodega for a ’40 and stoop it till we mad toasted. You know you down, don’t front.

Matt: What’cha talking abaht, yer daft bint? Put yer knickers on and make me a cup of tea.

Then there was the time I convinced Matt that in New York City, it’s very common for dogs to wear prescription glasses. “Really?” he said, and then I laughed until I got a cramp.

Then he tried to convince me that in Scotland, there are huge, orange cows with hipster haircuts that look exactly like the mayor of London, Boris Johnson. No way, buddy. Like I’m going to believe that.

So you can imagine the fun I had trying to describe what ‘buffalo sauce’ is. I’m not sure how we’re still married.

Anyway, on to our sangwich. Let me start by saying that I would be quite happy if buffalo sauce & blue cheese dip were on pretty much everything I ate for the rest of the summer. These are the kind of bright, zingy flavors I just go crazy for.

Add to that perfectly grilled shrimp, creamy avocado and crisp lettuce and you’ve got yourself a seriously delicious sammich.

You could absolutely make this with chicken but I love grilled seafood in the summer and I could not pass these up. I also love grilling shrimp because A) they take only a couple of minutes and 2) they don’t stick!

If you’re doing them on a grill that has widely-spaced  grates and you’re afraid they’ll fall through, just stick a skewers through them. We did ours inside on a Lodge grill pan because our grill sucks and also it was raining.

• Be careful not to overcook the shrimp or they’ll get rubbery. They take only a couple of minutes per side.
• Don’t like shrimp? Use chicken! I would go with thighs but breasts would work too.
• The blue cheese dip would be fantastic with potato chips and crudités. It can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.
• Buffalo sauce is basically an emulsion of vinegary hot sauce and butter so I wouldn’t recommend substituting olive oil. I’ve read that coconut oil works as a substitute but I’ve never tried it.
• I really like Frank’s Original RedHot for buffalo sauce because it’s very tart and not too spicy but use whatever you like best.

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Grilled Buffalo Shrimp and Avocado Sandwiches with Blue Cheese Sauce

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time25 minutes mins

Servings: 4 Sandwiches

Author: Emily Clifton - Nerds with Knives

Ingredients

• For the Blue Cheese Dip:
• 1/2 cup sour cream 118 ml
• 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbled (plus a bit more for garnish) (118 ml)
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise 59 ml
• 1 small clove garlic minced or grated
• 2 tablespoons chives chopped
• 1 tablespoon buttermilk or milk 15 grams
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice about 1/2 lemon
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• For the Buffalo Shrimp:
• 1 pound medium or large raw shrimp peeled and deveined (454 grams)
• 1 teaspoon olive or canola oil
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled to room temperature (103 grams)
• 1/2 cup hot sauce recommended: Franks (118ml)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• For the Sandwiches:
• 1 baguette or four hero rolls
• 1 large ripe avocado pitted and peeled
• Lettuce or arugula

Instructions

• Make the Dip: In a medium bowl, add the sour cream. mayonnaise, garlic, buttermilk and lemon juice and stir well until smooth and fully combined. Stir in the crumbled blue cheese and mix, leaving it fairly chunky. Add the chives and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Make the Shrimp: In mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, hot sauce and salt. Place the shrimp in a medium size bowl and toss with the oil and 2-3 tablespoons of the buffalo sauce. Toss the shrimp to make sure they get coated all over. Set aside. Reserve the remaining sauce).
• Preheat the grill or grill pan over high heat. Oil grates and then grill shrimp in a single layer for about 2 minutes per side or until shrimp curl up, turn pink and are just opaque. Be careful not to overcook them. When they’re done, move them to a bowl and toss them with a few more tablespoons of the remaining buffalo sauce (save some sauce to drizzle on the sandwich).
• Make the Sandwich: Cut the baguette into four equal sections and then split each in half lengthwise. Either broil or toast the baguettes in the oven (or place them on the grill just until they get a little brown), about 1-2 minutes. Spread some blue cheese dip on the bottom of each baguette. Layer on the lettuce, avocado, shrimp and a drizzle of the reserved buffalo sauce. Top with an extra crumble of blue cheese and another drizzle of blue cheese sauce.

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