Monday, August 11, 2008

Stuffed with Love


The Prince came over for dinner last night - there is nothing I love more these days when it comes to food than cooking for him. He chose this recipe the day before, and his wish is my command. He loved it, and leftovers were sent home for his lunch today. The wine we drank was a Channing Daughers Mosaico (2006) which is a great blend of white grapes from a great winnery in the Hamptons. I served the dish with a garlicky rice, but the Prince and I agreed that next time some asparagus sauteed with garlic and lemon would also be a perfect pairing for the shrimp.


*EMERIL LAGASSE'S CRABMEAT STUFFED SHRIMP*

1 pound fresh lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage (It can be expensive, so canned crabmeat worked just as well this time around - I used two cans from Starkist)
2 teaspoons Essence (I used his Bayou Essence found in the supermarket)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1/2 cup minced yellow onions
1/4 cup minced celery
1/4 minced green bell peppers
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon hot sauce (I used Franks)
1 1/2 cups crushed buttery, flaky crackers (Use Ritz!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
20 jumbo shrimp about 2 pounds), shelled, leaving tail and connecting shell segment, deveined, and butterflied lengthwise (The man at the fish counter was kind enough to do this for me - ask if you can, its a time saver if the market can do it for you)
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a large baking dish and set aside.
Place the crabmeat in a large bowl and season with the Essence. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
In a large skillet, melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions, celery, and bell peppers and cook, stirring, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the parsley and the garlic, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool.
Add the cooled vegetables to the crabmeat and toss to combine. Add the mayonnaise, egg, lemon juice, Worcestershire and hot sauce and stir gently with a large wooden spoon. Add 1 cup of the cracker crumbs, the salt, and pepper, and stir gently, being careful not to break up the crabmeat.
Mound about 2 tablespoons of the crabmeat stuffing into each shrimp, press gently to close, and place, stuffed sides up, in the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of the flaky, buttery cracker crumbs over the stuffed shrimp and drizzle with the remaining melted butter. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes.

1 comment:

The Phosgene Kid said...

Take some great food and stuff it with more great food. Can't beat that!! Sounds good, I'll have to try that one. Smoked a rump roast over the weekend and came up with the best roast beef sandwiches I've had in quite awhile.