Chef Paul Prudhomme's Shrimp Diane

New Year's Eve, 2016.  

'Bama just whipped Washington for a spot in the National Championship Game and Clemson was putting the Oh in Ohio State.  Nothing goes better with football than Cajun food, and it was New Year's Eve, so we decided to bring in the New Year with a new dinner: Chef Paul Prudhomme's Shrimp Diane.  We dug out our trusty, well-worn copy of Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen (copyright 1984) and got to work.

Tony chopped green onions and mushrooms, while I measured butter, cut fresh herbs and mixed spices. Once everything was on the counter and ready to go, we got to cooking. 




Ingredients:

1 3/4 pounds medium shrimp with heads and shells, see note at end.
6 Tbsp., total, basic shrimp stock, recipe added below
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, total
1/4 c. very finely chopped green onions
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground red pepper (preferably cayenne)
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. dried sweet basil leaves
1/4 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1/8 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1/2 pound mushrooms, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
3 Tbsp. very finely chopped fresh parsley
French bread, pasta or hot cooked white rice

Note:  If shrimp with heads are not available, buy 1 pounds of shrimp without heads but with shells for making the stock.

Rinse and peel the shrimp; refrigerate until needed.  Use shells and heads to make shrimp stock.

In a large skillet melt 1 stick of the butter over high heat.  When almost melted, add the green onions, salt, garlic, the ground peppers, basil, thyme and oregano; stir well.  Add the shrimp and saute just until they turn pink, about 1 minute, shaking the pan (instead of stirring) in a back-and-forth motion.  Add the mushrooms and 1/4 cup of the stock;then add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter in chunks, continue cooking and shaking the pan. Before butter chunks are completely melted, add the parsley, then the remaining 2 tablespoons stock; continue cooking and shaking the pan until all ingredients are mixed thoroughly and butter sauce is the consistency of cream.

Serve immediately in a bowl with lots of French bread on the side, or serve over pasta or rice.

Shrimp stock recipe: 2 quarts cold water, vegetable trimmings from the dish you are serving (or 1 medium onion, unpeeled and quartered, 1 large clove garlic, unpeeled and quartered, 1 rib celery), and carcasses or shells from the seafood in your recipe.  Bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer at least four hours, adding water as needed to keep one quart in pan.

What we did different:

As I transcribed the recipe, I noticed that I only had to buy 1 pound of shrimp, so we used 1 3/4 pounds of medium shrimp without any heads or shells. 

We did not make or use any form of shrimp stock.  I made a chicken bouillon cube and substituted that.

I believe we may have had a few too many mushrooms, but since we had too much shrimp also, it didn't seem disproportionate.

We did not include the salt in the spice mix.  We generally do not use much salt and tend to leave it out of recipes to be added when eating if needed.

Tony's rating:  3.5 stars

Sandy's rating:  3.5 stars

Our commentary:

It was an interesting dish for us, as the peppery heat is substantially less than we typically prefer.  In fact, it was a little bland, at first, but the flavors seemed to come together a bit and we both commented that it became more enjoyable the longer we ate. However, we will be doubling the amount of ground peppers for the next attempt.

It was a little reminiscent of coq au vin; only, it had no wine in it.  We both agree that substituting wine for the shrimp stock/chicken bouillon would improve the flavor.

Our stove is a ceramic top stove, so we were not able to shake the pan vigorously enough to flip the shrimp.  Instead we used a spatula and flipped them.  I am not certain that a little stirring to blend the buttery, spicy sauce over the shrimp more thoroughly would be a bad thing.  If you have a gas stove, this will be your arm work-out for the day.

We had half of a loaf of French bread we'd toasted with this, and it was really good to dip in the buttery sauce.  Tony thought it tasted like a cajun shrimp scampi, but I thought it tasted like a shrimp stew.

Unlike many Paul Prudhomme recipes that serve twelve and require some simmering time, or making a roux, this one only makes servings for two and cooks up in a about 15 to 20 minutes once everything is prepped. Prep didn't take more than 15 minutes between the two of us.  

We decided this would make a nice meal on a night when you wanted to whip something up just for two without spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

We drank a Robert Mondavi chardonnay with the dinner that improved in flavor as it warmed. I'm not convinced this was the best wine for this dish, and might try a pinot grigio with it next time we make it.

Cost to make:

green onions - $0.89
mushrooms - $3.18
1 3/4 pounds peeled medium shrimp - $14.14 (see notes under what we did different section above)
French baguette - $2.29
estimated cost of butter - $1.00

Rough cost:  $21.50

It should be noted that my home is never in short supply of the variety of herbs listed in this recipe.  I am not certain what it would cost you to purchase them each individually, but my experience is that Badia's prices are a little cheaper than most and the herbs are good.

I don't have to buy fresh parsley either.  One of the benefits of living in Florida is that you can have an herb garden year round.  Parsley is particularly fond of the winter months here and so I have plenty on hand.  I do not know what that would cost.