The Not So Secret "Secret" Pickled Shrimp Recipe...The recipe Everyone Will Want From You!

All of us living here in Eastern North Carolina know, for sure, the best shrimp, anywhere, come right out of the Pamlico Sound!  We've found all kinds of ways to prepare these delicious sea creatures.  Years ago, a neighbor of my mom and dad's (Joe) brought over, what he called, pickled shrimp.  It was amazing and was devoured quickly.  This was back when we got shrimp for fifty cents a pound off of the shrimp boats.  My mother, Edna, would purchase fifty pounds at the time and freeze them.  One year Edna decided she had to make Joe's pickled shrimp and asked for the recipe.  Come to find out, this recipe was a huge secret, given to Joe by someone who had worked for his wife's family.  But Joe, loving mom's ham biscuits, relented and gave her the "secret" recipe.  Now, after more than 30 years, the pickled shrimp recipe is not a secret any more.  I will say that I have never seen this recipe in all of my reading recipes... on line, in magazines and in cook books.  If you like shrimp and really want to impress, this is a must.  It will last for a couple of weeks in the frig, and the red onions are especially good at the end.  You can double, even triple, this recipe and you will have none left!

2# Shrimp
1 lemon
Bay leaves (for boiling shrimp and making layers)
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
Small bottle of capers (optional)
2 8 oz. bottles of Catalina dressing
2 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
hot sauce (to taste)

1. Clean shrimp, removing vein, and tail.  The best gadget I've used to do this is a red plastic deveiner.  It takes off the shell, vein, and tail in one step.  It's available at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/chefgadget-Shrimp-Deveiner-and-Cleaner/dp/B003MB08JC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1323530735&sr=8-2
2. Put a gallon of water in a large pot with 3 bay leaves and a lemon, halved.  After the water begins to boil add the shrimp.  As soon as the water returns to a boil dump the shrimp into a colander and cool immediately with cold water.  Set aside.
3. In a bowl combine Catalina dressing, Worcestershire Sauce, lemon juice, olive oil and hot sauce.  Do a taste test....sometimes I add more lemon juice.
4. In a 2 quart container (not metallic) make layers of shrimp, red onion slices, 1/2 tsp. capers, and 4-6 bay leaves.  When layers are complete, pour sauce over all. 
5.  Hide in your refrigerator over night.