Oven Roasted Shrimp with Ginger-Lime Sauce

I'm not a big sports fan. You can enjoy your football, baseball, hockey, basketball to your heart's desire. But there is one sport that gets my blood flowing...Formula One racing.

Here you have the world's greatest manufacturers like Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Lotus creating technological, state-of-the-art racing cars and running them on the fastest tracks in the world. This season, which is now two races old, is especially fascinating as there are six top drivers that are all of comparable skill. The only difference is the cars underneath them.

Let me give you a baseball analogy. For every baseball game they play, there are six Babe Ruth's on the field. There are no Lou Gehrigs or Mickey Mantles out there....there are six Babe Ruth's on the field for every game! That's what is going on in Formula One these days. Six Babe Ruth's climb in their car and battle head-to-head for two hours! Let me introduce them to you.

Fernando Alonso is one the most popular divers in Formula One. He is a Spaniard that drives for Ferrari. He is probably the most skilled of all of the drivers, but Ferrari has not been able to equal the power output of Mercedes. He brings home an estimated $60 million a year, though just $27.4 million is his salary from Ferrari. He is a two-time world champion.

Alonso's teammate at Ferrari is the Finn Kimi Raikkonen. He's known as the "Ice Man" as he never shows even a glimpse of emotion. He is the worst interview in the business as all of his responses are monosyllabic. He, too, is a former world champion and a man of little patience. Last year during a race, his race director was giving him instructions over the radio and Kimi's reply was classic Kimi: "Shut up. I know what I am doing."

Sebastian Vettel hails from Germany and is the reigning World Champion. In fact, he's won the last 4 World Championships in a row. He had the best car in the business until this year, when the series switched to turbocharged six cylinder engines. He is disliked by the fans of F1 for it is never enough for him to just win, he prefers to humiliate his opponents and teammate as well.

England's Lewis Hamilton is another former world champion that is not high on the fan's list. He is a whiney, petty human being who did everything in his power to screw Fernando Alonso over when they were teammates at McLaren. Everything is always someone else's fault. Lewis makes the same $27.4 million that Alonso does and is engaged to the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls. He drives for Mercedes.

Nico Rosberg is Lewis Hamilton's teammate at Mercedes. While this German driver has not won a world championship yet, he is currently the points leader in this year's championship. He is a brilliant driver and excels at getting the most out of his car without beating it up. He won the first race and finished on the podium in the last race.

Our sixth Babe Ruth is England's Jenson Button. He, too, is a former world champion and currently drives for the McLaren team. He is a fan favorite and a consummate gentleman. He is particularly skilled at saving his tires, which lets him stay on the track longer without having to pit. He gets paid $21.93 million dollars a year for that particular skill.

So this Sunday, these six Babe Ruth's will climb in their cars and have at it for 2 hours in The Grand Prix of Bahrain. It's great fun to watch them plus the other 16 drivers in the series. Now what does this have to do with this shrimp recipe? Well, you see, Jenson Button is a ginger.

Ingredients

1 ounce olive oil

1 teaspoon lime zest

1 ounce fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

1½ pounds large (31-35 count) shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400º.
2. Whisk together all ingredients except for shrimp until combined.
3. Toss shrimp in mixture until coated. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and bake for 6 minutes until shrimp are done. Remove and serve.

Wine pairing: New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc