Rosie Makes Shrimp Soup.

Here's the finished product.  Shrimp soup.

 And here's what started it all.

I was cleaning out the freezer

and found a quart of shrimp stock.

 

Assemble everything you need:

Chopped celery 

Chopped carrots

Chopped sweet bell pepper

Chopped onion.

Can of corn

a little sugar

Shrimp, peeled, de-tracted, and seasoned with paprika, togarashi, and gochugaru 

1 qt. shrimp stock, heated

heavy cream

dry sherry 

unsalted butter 

flour 

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Minced jalapeño

Can of Rotel tomatoes and chilies

Cilantro

 

Rosie Notes: 

I always have shrimp frozen - in 8-10 oz. batches.  I thawed it out, peeled it, and de-tracted it.  That black line going down the back is the digestive tract, not a vein.  So I de-tract, not de-vein.  Then I lightly seasoned the shrimp.  Some Hot Hungarian paprika.  Some gochugaru (Korean red chili pepper flakes).  Some togarashi (combination of red chili, black sesame seed, white sesame seed, nori [seaweed], poppy seed, orange and lemon zest).  Just a dusting.  If you don't have the exact spices, go with a sprinkling of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, or Lawry's seasoning pepper.  This is not written in stone.

None of this is written in stone.  This is not a "recipe."  This is just a "Hey, try this, but if you don't have that, you can try something else." 

As for the amounts, say a handful each of chopped onions and celery and I only had one small orange pepper left on my plant, so I used that.  Would have liked some dark green pepper or red pepper in it, for the color, but go with what you got. 

I used half the can of corn, but you could use the whole can.

I used the Rotel tomatoes and chilies to place on top of the soup, along with some cilantro and jalapeño out of the garden.  Not a cilantro fan?  Use parsley.  If you have some green onions, sprinkle them on top of your serving.

 

 Now, here's a thought.  If you happened to have some bacon, you could sauté a few strips, set the bacon aside, used some of the bacon grease with butter to sauté the shrimp in, and crumbled some of the bacon onto the soup in the serving bowls.  Just an idea.

 

As for the shrimp stock, you could substitute a store-bought carton of seafood stock or vegetable stock, but I usually have shrimp stock frozen.  Here's how to make it: 

We buy shrimp in bulk, de-head 'em, shell 'em, size 'em, then freeze 'em.

Take the shells (and heads if you're not squeamish), sauté in some oil over medium heat, add in a bunch of aromatics - onions, carrots, celery, garlic, peppercorns, thyme, and bay leaves - add water to cover, some salt, and simmer for about 45 minutes.  Drain off liquid, discard solids, and freeze in pint or quart containers.  Here are the step-by-steps plus a recipe for a shrimp and crab bisque in case you're interested.

Here's the basic outline of what I did:

 

Heat shrimp stock over low.

 

Medium skillet.  Medium-high heat.  Thrown in a tablespoon or so of butter. Sizzle. Add drained corn and sprinkle some sugar over.  Toss and sauté corn for a couple minutes until you get a nice smoky browning (caramelizing) on the corn.  Reduce heat and add in another plug of butter, then celery, carrot, and onion.  Sauté a minute.  Pour into a medium bowl.

Turn heat up to medium-high.  Add more butter.  Sizzle.  Add in seasoned shrimp (mine are large) and cook about one minute each side.  You want a searing, but not cooked all the way through.  That will be done in the soup.  Remove shrimp from skillet.  Reduce heat and add about 1/4 cup of the shrimp stock to the pan, scraping, to release all the goodie bits on the bottom.  That's where the flavor is. Pour this flavorful mixture back into the shrimp stock.

In a medium soup pot, medium heat, melt 2 TB butter.  When sizzling, add in 1/4 cup flour, stirring constantly.  Cook for about 2 minutes, to get the raw taste out of the flour and for it to turn to a tannish, light brown color.  Slowly start adding in the shrimp stock, 1/4 cup or so at a time, stirring constantly, allowing it to thicken.  When you've added all the stock, pour in the reserved cooked vegetables and shrimp.  Slowly pour in about a cup of the cream to enrich the soup.  Season to taste, with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.  Give it a splash of sherry and swirl it in.  To taste.

Ladle into bowls and top with Rotel tomatoes and chilies, minced jalapeño, and cilantro.

Add some croutons or oyster crackers.

Here's my seasoned shrimp.

Vegetables ready.

Medium high heat.

Sizzling butter.

Sprinkle on some sugar.

Clockwise from top right:

celery

onion

sweet  pepper       

carrot                                                   

Sauté corn with the sugar,

then add more butter

and the veggies.

Sauté for a minute or so.

Set aside.

Heat butter,

 medium-high heat,

 to sizzling

in a soup pot and

add in shrimp.

Sear.

About a minute each side.

These are large shrimp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shrimp are seared on outside

but slightly underdone inside.

And you've got all those nice

goodie bits sticking to the bottom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remove shrimp 

and pour in a little shrimp stock,

scraping up the "fond."

Fond - that's what those bits are called.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pour the stock with fond 

back into the shrimp stock.

Basically, you've just cleaned your pot

and saved all the flavor. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Medium-high heat.

Melt 2 TB or thereabouts butter

until sizzling.

Add in flour

and cook.

Keep cooking the flour.

You want the mixture

a light brown.

Pour in the heated stock,

just a little at a time,

stirring, letting it thicken.

Stir in cream.

Heat through.

Add in shrimp and veggies.

Let shrimp finish cooking.

A little sherry.

And serve.

Top with Rotel

tomatoes and chilies,

cilantro,

minced jalapeño.

Sliced scallions

and crumbled bacon

would be welcome.

Maybe some croutons

or oyster crackers

or toast points.

Enjoy!

Lunch At The Hawthornes'. Psst! We're Having Shrimp. And Shrimp.

Today, we’re having shrimp.  And more shrimp.
And instead of writing the recipes straight down, I’m going to give you the step-by-step, convoluted way I made lunch for us today.  In real time.
As I said, it’s shrimp.  Youngest Hawthorne wanted shrimp and grits.  And I wanted some kind of shrimp soup.

I had a 16 or so ounce package of some really nice shrimp which I peeled and de-tracted.  Yes, I say de-tract not de-vein because that black line running down the back of the shrimp is the digestive tract, not a vein.  Save all the shrimp shells.  They’ll be going into a shrimp stock for my soup.

For the stock, in addition to the shrimp shells, I have a carrot, some celery, and some onion.  Don’t bother peeling either the carrot or the onion.  Just coarsely chop the celery, carrot, and onion.

Shrimp shells, chopped onion, carrot, celery, and some bay leaves all went into a pan.

Cover with water.

Bring to a boil, then cut the heat to low and let it bare-simmer for about 40 minutes.

Here’s my stock after 40 minutes.  I just cut off the heat and let it set while I started on the next step.


Now, I’m switching over to the shrimp and grits.
(I told you I’m cooking in real time today.  Everything’s in the order I did it.)

For the shrimp and grits, I chopped up some red and orange peppers I picked from my deck garden.  Chopped up a little onion.  And sliced some hot sausage.

I seasoned my shrimp with Togarashi seasoning.  It’s got chile peppers, black and white sesame seeds, and lemon and orange zest in it.

The grits were leftover from breakfast.  And by the way, if you can find them, try Lakeside grits.  They're my favorite.  I just added a bit more grits to them, some more water, cooked 'em some more, then added some cheddar cheese and butter.  I don't think there's such a thing as "too much" cheese or butter, so add what you want.  Heated them up until juuuuust riiiiight.  Taste test!

You want them a little runny.

Now, in a medium skillet, I heated up about a tablespoon each oil and butter, until the butter was just turning brown.

Then I added in the sliced sausage.

This is the sausage I happened to have.
Kielbasa or andouille would do just fine.

Slightly brown the sausage on each side.

Like this.

Then I added in the shrimp.

Cook about 75 seconds on one side.

Then turn the shrimp over and...

...add in the onion and peppers.

Cook about another minute.
Until shrimp is just done.

Pour some grits on your plate and top with shrimp, sausage, onion, and peppers.

The Hawthornes were quite happy with my shrimp and grits.
Nice creamy, cheesy, buttery grits.
Hot sausage.  Spicy shrimp cooked to perfection.

My mouth is happy!


First course is done.
Next up is my shrimp soup

I finely chopped some onion, carrot, and celery.

I melted a little butter in my pan and added in the finely chopped onion, celery, and carrot.

Stir over medium heat for about two minutes.

Next, I added in a tablespoon of butter, let it melt, then sprinkled in about 3 tablespoons of flour.

Cook over medium heat, stirring, another two minutes, to cook the raw taste out of the flour.

The flour will help to thicken my soup.

















Now, remember that nice shrimp stock?
We’re getting ready to use it now.

Pour in about 3/4 cup.

Slowly.

Stirring.

Medium heat.

Letting it thicken.

Then slowly pour in another 3/4 cup or so.

Stir and let thicken.

Maybe 3 minutes.
And it’s nice and thick.
Cut heat to low.

Next, drop in the Togarashi-seasoned shrimp.
As much as you’d like.

And add in about 1/2 cup cream.

Let shrimp cook about 2 minutes.

Then I poured in 1/4 cup sherry.
(I know that doesn’t look like sherry, but it is.  I poured the sherry into the measuring cup that I used for the cream.)
Cook about another minute until soup is heated through and shrimp is just done.
Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

And serve!
I toasted some buttered bagel slices to accompany the soup.

Hmmmm...  something’s missing.

I know!
It needs some green.
Chopped chives.

This is perfect!
Creamy.  Shrimpy.  Just the right amount of sherry.

Enjoy!