Shrimp Victoria Redux

Whahoo! Finally finished up the 20th serving of gumbo z'herbes! Someone please remind me that its probably a good idea to not cook dishes serving 10 back-to-back, especially when I'm the only one eating said dishes. I imagine its a whole lot easier eating 10 servings of greens than 10 servings of Shrimp Victoria. I'm pretty sure that getting through that much Victoria would make me feel pretty ill. And fat. Really, really fat.

I really like Shrimp Victoria as it stands, but I did want to try to lighten it up a bit, just to see if I could make it somewhat less old-fashioned. The obvious place to start was with the bechamel sauce. Instead of a stick of butter and 1/2 cup of flour that the original recipe called for, I replaced that with 1 Tbs. of butter and 1 Tbs. of flour. I'm not sure, however, how successful that was.

However, one successful change was the addition of more shrimp, onions and mushrooms--I pretty much doubled the amounts of the original. There was more than enough sauce for the additional veg, and besides, it just looks a lot less white that way. Anyway, the revised recipe follows:

Shrimp Victoria
Brennan's

8 oz. mushrooms, sliced in half
1 Tbs. butter
1 sprig fresh thyme
24 medium-sized shrimp in shells
3 cups cold water
cayenne to taste
1 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. flour
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne
4 green onions, chopped
2 Tbs. butter
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup cream sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tbs. chopped parsley
Pinch of thyme

1. Wash and dry mushrooms. Slice in half or quarters if large. Melt 1 Tbs. of butter in a small skillet, when butter begins to foam, add mushrooms, thyme, salt and cayenne, and saute until the mushrooms begin to slightly color, about 5 minutes. Remove mushrooms and set aside.

2. Add 3 cups of cold water, shrimp, salt and cayenne to a sauce pan. Over a medium-high heat simmer shrimp for 4 minutes, or until shrimp just begin to turn pale pink. Turn off heat and allow to sit in the water 1 minute. Then drain and peel the shrimp. They should be slightly under-cooked.

3. In a skillet melt 1 Tbs. butter over a medium-low heat. Add 1 Tbs. flour and blend. Don't allow the flour to color. Add milk, salt and cayenne, stirring constantly for 4 or 5 minutes, until sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat.

4. In a large skillet over medium heat melt 2 Tbs. butter. When butter foams, add green onions and saute for 3 minutes. Add wine and cook for 1 minute. Blend in bechamel, then add mushrooms, sour cream and finally shrimp. Cook, stirring carefully so as not to break up the shrimp, for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in chopped parsley and thyme. Serve over rice.
Serves 2



The result is significantly lighter, but is it better? Hmmm....not so sure. I'm going to try this one more time with a bechamel that's somewhere between the lighter one and the original. I missed the intensity of the first bechamel, but that's nearly 2 sticks of butter, a stick per serving, and even butter-holic that I am shudders just a little at that.

I am going to wait a couple of days, though, before attempting this again. I like the dish okay, but unlike gumbo, its not the sort of thing I feel I can eat everyday!

I think next up on the agenda is an appetizer, Shrimp Madeleine, from one of my favorite restaurants growing up, The Caribbean Room at the Pontchartrain Hotel. This one seems relatively healthful, with only a modicum of butter.

Shrimp Madeleine
Pontchartrain
1 dozen raw shrimp, peeled and cleaned
1/2 stick butter
1 Tbs. chopped green onions
1 Tbs. chopped celery
1 Tbs. chopped bell pepper
1 Tbs. chopped parsley
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Saute all ingredients except the shrimp for 3-4 minutes. Add shrimp and cook 5-6 minutes. Serves 2

This one looks a little too easy. Should I be worried?