Spoonful II
Patrick Day
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La Belle Cuisine - More Seafood Recipes

Fine Cuisine with Art Infusion

"To cook is to create. And to create well...is an act of integrity, and faith."

Shrimp and Asparagus Santiago

"If you don't love life you can't enjoy an oyster; there is a shock of freshness
to it and intimations of the ages of man, some piercing intuition of the sea and
all its weeds and breezes.  [They] shiver you for a split second."
~ Eleanor Clark

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Friday, November 10, 2006

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Don't forget the candlelight!

1/2 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup bottled clam juice [or fish or seafood stock]
1 small onion, peeled and halved
6 whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
3 sprigs parsley
2 pounds shrimp, shelled and deveined
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons flour
White pepper
Salt
1 cup milk, scalded
1 1/2 cups grated Gruyère
2 pounds asparagus, trimmed, peeled

In a large saucepan combine the wine, clam juice [or stock], onion, cloves, thyme and parsley and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the shrimp and cook them, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes, or until pink and just firm. Transfer shrimp with a slotted spoon to a plate and strain cooking liquid through a fine sieve into a measuring cup, reserving cooking liquid and discarding solids.

In a saucepan heat 3 tablespoons butter over moderately high heat, stir in flour and cook the roux over low heat, stirring, 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and add scalded milk and 3/4 cup of the reserved cooking liquid in a stream, whisking vigorously until the mixture is thick and smooth. Add white pepper and salt to taste. Simmer sauce 10 – 15 minutes, or until it reaches the desired consistency. Remove pan from heat and whisk in 1 cup Gruyère. Stir shrimp into cheese sauce and keep mixture warm, covered.

In a large skillet of boiling salted water cook the asparagus 3 – 5 minutes, or until stalks are tender but not limp. Drain in a colander. Refresh the asparagus under cold water and drain it well.

In the center of a flameproof platter spoon the shrimp mixture, arrange the asparagus decoratively at each end, and dot it with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup Gruyère over the shrimp mixture and put the platter under a preheated broiler about 3 inches from the heat for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until cheese is lightly browned.  Makes 4 servings.