Stuffed Shrimp 01

SEASONING MIX 1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

3/4 teaspoon dry mustard

3/4 teaspoon dried basil

3/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

3/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (or less, to 1/8 tsp)

1 teaspoon dried chile powder (your preference)

12 large shrimp, peeled (except tails, if desired) --

deveined/butterflied -- *see note below 1 teaspoon olive oil (or canola...your preference)

1/4 cup bread crumbs (up to 1/3 cup)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, in all (+ 2 tsp) -- room temp is best

2/3 cup onions -- chopped

1/3 cup bell pepper (I used red..use what ya like) -- chopped

1/3 cup celery -- chopped

1/3 cup carrot -- grated

2 each serrano chiles (or to taste) -- chopped

1 teaspoon fresh garlic (less if not a garlic fan) --

mashed/mince d 1 each fresh hot Italian sausage, cooked -- *see note below

1 cup seafood stock (from SAVED shrimp shells)

vegetable oil/cooking spray/whatever SAUCE (*see below) 1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup tomato puree OR

1/2 cup red pepper coulis

(if you're the industrious sort...)

NOTE 1: I used some 21/25 tiger shrimp for this. I would NOT recommend using any smaller sized shrimp. Would have preferred to use 16/20-sized shrimp, but alas, 'twernt none to be had.

NOTE 2: used a fresh hot/spicy Italian sausage (well, freshly-made at the grocery) to which I took out of the casing and pre-cooked in a saute pan until well done. Crumble it up as it cooks as finely as possible. Keep both the fat and the sausage in a container, refrigerated, until ready for use. Amout of cooked sausage used in the recipe was approximately 1/2 cup.

Peel the shrimp, except for the tail end (if desired; I peeled the entire shrimp). Make shrimp stock from the shells and any vegetable trimmings you accumulate as you mise/prep the recipe.

Devein and butterfly the shrimp. Place in a small non-metalic bowl and reserve .

Preheat oven to 400-degrees F.

Combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl. Mix together well.

Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of the seasoning mix onto the butterflied shrimp. Pour the olive oil over the shrimp. Rub in gently with your hands until shrimp are well seasoned/coated.

Melt half the butter in a saute pan over high heat. Once butter melts and is hot (do NOT allow butter to brown), add the onions, bell pepper, celery, carrots, and chiles along with 2 teaspoons of the seasoning mix. Saute, stirring occasionally, for about 1 minute; reduce heat to medium-high and continue sauteeing vegetables for another 3 minutes. Add the garlic and the pre-cooked sausage; stir in well. Saute for 5 minutes. Mixture will begin to dry out and stick. This is good. Do not worry.

Add 1/3 cup of the shrimp stock to the saute pan and stir, scraping the bottom of the skillet well. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for approximately 8 minutes. Again, mixture will begin to dry out which is just groovy.

Reduce heat to medium. Add another 1/3 cup of the shrimp stock and the remaining butter to the pan. Stir well. Add the remaining seasoning mix; stir well. Allow to cook for approximately 5 (+) minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove pan from heat. Stir in breadcrumbs and mix well.

Set aside 1 tablespoon of the stuffing mixture for the sauce.

Grease a baking sheet with your preferred means of lubrication. Place the butterflied shrimp with cut/butterflied side facing UP on the baking sheet. Make certain the shrimp are laying as flat as possible as they tend to curl when baked and thus knock off their stuffing. Mound approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons of the stuffing mixture on top of each shrimp. Bake until browned for about 10 minutes.

SAUCE:

NOTE: the sauce I attempted did not work as desired. Twas a tomato/adobo based sauce to which I added cheese and screwed it up. The following brief sauce should work fine. And no sauce works just as well although not as nice of a presentation. A good hot sauce would work as well.

Puree one large, ripe, home grown tomato. Pour puree into a saute pan and heat until it just boils. You may need to add a bit of water, or stock (veg/shrimp/veal/chicken) if you have such on hand. Add the heavy cream and allow to reduce to sauce consistancy. Season as desired.