Poached Shrimp with Remoulade

Last evening was Ms Cocktail’s evening so we allowed her to make the choices for the dinner. We ended up with mussels in a wine and garlic broth, butter lettuce with three types of tomatoes, shrimp two ways (poached with a remoulade and jerk shrimp) Cajun shrimp baked rice, grilled asparagus and grilled figs with goat cheese and honey for dessert. Even though it was a lot of work, Ms Cocktail has pretty good taste.

The poached shrimp is actually quite easy to make once the shrimp has been cleaned and if you let the shrimp cool after poaching, this makes a really nice alternative to the standard shrimp cocktail. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I like big, bold flavors and this remoulade is no exception. It goes together very quickly and was the hit of the evening.

Poached Shrimp

8 cups water
1/4 cup sliced onion
1 garlic clove
1 bay leaf
2 celery ribs with leaves
1 1/2 Tbs kosher salt

2 lbs shrimp

1/2 lemon, sliced

Bring the water to a boil then reduce to simmer. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaf, celery and salt. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and lemon slices and simmer for another 5 minutes. Drain immediately and chill.

Remoulade

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbs capers drained and minced
1 Tbs sweet pickle relish
1 Tbs finely chopped fresh tarragon
2 tsp minced shallot
1 tsp tarragon vinegar
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp kosher salt

Whisk all the ingredients together and refrigerate.