CHICAGO'S SHRIMP DEJONGHE

Chicago's Shrimp DeJonghe image

Though I can no longer enjoy this wonderful dish since suddenly becoming deathly allergic to crustacians at age 19, I do still enjoy making it for company! It's a fairly simple dish consisting of whole peeled shrimp cooked in individual serving dishes swimming in garlic butter and topped with fine bread crumbs and then broiled....

Provided by Kelly Williams

Categories Seafood

Number Of Ingredients 15

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Ingredients

DE JONGHE'S ORIGINAL RECIPE: (FIRST PRINTED IN 1947)
2 lbs. large shrimp (40), or 48 slightly smaller
1 large garlic clove, mashed with the side of a knife or finely minced
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbl. finely chopped fresh tarragon
1 Tbl. finely chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbl. finely chopped fresh chervil
pinch of dried thyme crumbled between your fingers and thumb
1 shallot, minced (very finely chopped)
1 Tbl. (fresh, not dried) minced onion
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups fine dry breadcrumbs
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
pinch of mace, (optional as i don't add this)
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Steps:

1. Cook shrimp in a 4-quart pot of boiling salted water* until just cooked through, about 1 1/2 minutes. Drain shrimp in a colander, then immediately transfer to a large bowl of ice water to stop cooking. Preheat oven to 350°F. Mash garlic to a paste with 1/4 teaspoon salt using a mortar and pestle (or mince and mash garlic with salt using a large knife), then stir together with fresh and dried herbs, shallot, onion, 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter, 1 cup bread crumbs, nutmeg, mace, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Melt remaining 1/2 stick butter and stir together with remaining 1/2 cup bread crumbs, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to make topping. Arrange shrimp in 1 layer (slightly overlapping if necessary) in a buttered 3-quart flameproof gratin dish or other wide shallow ceramic baking dish. Cover with herbed breadcrumb mixture, then sprinkle with topping. Bake in upper third of oven until golden, about 15 minutes. Turn on broiler and broil until crumbs are golden brown, about 2 minutes. * When salting water for cooking, use 1 tablespoon for every 4 quarts water. **This can also be made in 8 small baking ramekins for appetizers, or 4 larger individual baking dishes for main dish-sized. ***Lastly, I don't recall my mom using a whole lot of fresh herbs when making this herself, especially during the winter! So she had to have either subbed dried herbs for some of them, or used italian seasoned breadcrumbs instead. So that's an option for you, too. All I remember was it was PURE HEAVEN... do hope you try it! Enjoy for me!! :D (Photo from bing images)