Tuesday 17 June 2014

Recipe 33- Slow Poached Shrimp Cocktail

Recipe 33- Slow Poached Shrimp Cocktail 

I quite enjoyed whipping up these poached shrimp. It really is a nice take on the typical cold rubbery shrimp rings you can buy at the store. This recipe gives the shrimp so much FLAVOUR an making your own cocktail sauce will make you feel like a 'top notch' chef. 

I started by bringing my frozen uncooked shrimp from the freezer. I let it thaw but kept the shrimp chilly in the fridge until it came time to poach. 
The sauce was pretty simple to throw together. I had everything on hand except the Horseradish. 
I am glad that I now have some in the kitchen, I forgot how tasty it was. 

Into a mixing bowl I added some ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce ( you think its hard to say ?, try typing it haha) and the zest and juice of a lemon. 

Now we can all have a little laugh to ourselves on my account. I have always purchased store style seafood sauce when I have a shrimp ring. I seriously thought the white flecks in the sauce was actual seafood.... Guess I was wrong haha! 
I just had to add that, because I am hoping I am not the only one out there that thought that :) 

Next I moved over to my stove to start working on the shrimp. 
Into the pot went some water, sliced onions and garlic and a few bay leaves. 

My friend Craig that went to Chef School used the fancy name they use for this concoction: 
"Court- Bouillon"

You can use it to when you make this recipe, it will really impress friends when you serve it! 
Everything is brought to a simmer on med-high heat, the flavours really come together and they smell fantastic. 
Now it was time for the shrimp. They literally get tossed into the pot, given a quick stir and the lid is placed on top. The heat gets turned off and the shrimp are left to poach for 10 mins. 
In the picture below, the second the shrimp hit that hot liquid they already start to turn that lovely shade of pink
10 minutes later, I plucked my shrimp from the broth and let them cool before peeling.


Now I got fancy just like Chef Michael has in the book. I found a nice cocktail glass and dressed it up pretty for my regular monday night group of friends. 
I have to say, this is one of the fanciest treats we have had on a monday night 'friend' gathering.
The shrimp was perfectly cooked and I just loved the flavour from the poaching process.
And the cocktail sauce was beyond excellent. 
This sauce recipe made an entire mason jar full and this will be stored in my fridge for many more repeats on this recipe. 
This would be a great way to "wow" your guests at your next party or get together. 
Chef Michael also gives a few variations in the recipe, not only for the poaching liquid, but also for the cocktail sauce. It really opens the door to many new flavours you could bring to this recipe! 

As always my compliments to the Chef and cheers to you, my friends! 






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