Shrimp Remoulade

One thing I miss about living this far from salt water is getting cheaply priced seafood. You can get seafood here, sure, but you're going to pay for it in a mighty way.

There is a "gourmet" grocery store here called Central Market. The closest I can liken it to is Calandro's on steroids. There is an extensive beer and wine department, meat department w/ freshly-made in-house sausages, boneless whole chickens, all manner of veal, duck, capons, beef, lamb, you name it. They have a cheese department with signage that reads like a bus tour through Europe. There is a great bulk department, produce of every shape, color, organic or not, pre-hulled, pre-husked, and pre-sliced or not. There is also a grocery aisle, with attendants called "Foodies" who know exactly where Spanish olive oil is, who can explain the nuances of difference between 6 brands of Major Grey's chutney,, and who never get a blank stare on their face and go "huh?" when you ask for soba noodles. They walk you right to it. Samples abound at this store, which may help explain the high prices. The bakery and full-service deli sell breads, smoked meats, and dry fish I'd only heard about. This place is a wonder of epicureanism, and I go there as often as I dare.

That said, Central Market also has a fabulous seafood department, with all sorts of fish and seafood sold. Looking for baby octopus for a salad? Look no further, they've got 'em. Need planks of squid to cut into calamari fries? Yep, they're there. How about a whole salmon, half a blue-fin tuna (with the fin), or lovely iridescent rainbow trout? Yep, right there on ice. They do not sell Chinese crawfish tail meat, but rather carry fresh, not frozen, Louisiana crawfish tail meat for $25.99/lb. I'll leave price to your imagination for crab and lobster meat. But we hit Central Market on a day they had 21-25 count fresh, headless, wild-caught Gulf shrimp for $6.99/lb. Happy days are here again! So I did what any self-respecting Louisiana girl would do, and bought about 7 pounds, coming home to shell and devein them before frying some, and freezing the rest. And let me say, my 12 year old daughter is an excellent shrimp deveiner, and can devein nearly as fast as I peel.

So I've had the envie for Shrimp Remoulade lately. I guess it's warming up, and no one watns to eat a heavy beef stew when it's hot outside. (High today will be 97ºF -- new record high.) So I boiled a couple pounds of shrimp, cooled them, and toppwed them w/ remoulade sauce last night. They will be a nice supper tonight that wont' require heating up the kitchen. Below is my recipe for Remoulade Sauce. It is good as an accompaniment to any boiled seafood or crab cakes, but shrimp dressed in it is wonderful. I like a white remoulade chunky w/ mnced veggies, and prefer not to have a runny, red remoulade full of paprika and vegetable oil. So if you can find cheap shrimp, or even if you have to spend a little on them, try making my Remoulade Sauce. It hits the spot!

Remoulade Sauce
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup chopped green onions, white and green parts OR finely minced purple onion, OR a mix of the two
1/4 cup finely chopped celery, including leaves
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup mayonnaise
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoon coarse-ground mustard (like Zatarain's)
2 teaspoons dijon mustard (like Grey Poupon)
Few dashes Tabasco
Tony Chachere's to taste

Mix all ingredients well and chill for 4-6 hours before serving.