Subject: The Best Shrimp Cocktail
From: Unicorn (unicorn@indenial.com)
Date: Mon Jul 30 2001 - 02:33:23 EDT
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F O O D F U N N Y
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Here's one from reader "Booboo4650":
When my son was very small and we were grocery shopping together one
day, we headed down the aisle with the pancake mixes, flour, etc. As
I was looking at which syrup to buy with my coupon, Steven speaks up
and says, "Mom. let's get the one that talks!" At first I didn't
understand then I looked at the Aunt Jemima bottle and realized he
watched way to much TV.
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T O D A Y ' S R E C I P E
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"The Best Recipe" is a recent addition to my cookbook library, but it
instantly became one of my all-time favorites. What sets it apart
from other cookbooks is the exhaustive testing and re-testing the
authors have gone through in order to find the best methods for
preparing just about everything under the sun. Here's what Amazon.com
says about it:
"Who in their right mind would test 70 gumbo recipes to find the very
best one? Or 40 versions of the peanut butter cookie? Or 80
chocolate chip cookie recipes? The short answer is Christopher
Kimball and the dedicated staff he has assembled at Cook's Illustrated
magazine.
"The routine goes like this: pick a favorite dish that everyone in the
U.S. either wants to cook or will someday cook--something like
macaroni and cheese--then crank up the espresso machine. Feel the
shiver. Focus. Then research all pertinent recipes, cook and taste
and cook and taste, take notes, compile data, winnow data, then settle
on one master recipe from which all other variants shall spring.
Publish same. It has been going on like this for nearly 20 years, and
as a result, any home cook can feel assured that, given the Cook's
Illustrated recipe at hand, the turkey currently in the oven will come
to the table a magnificent beast begging to be carved and served and
savored. And there's a lot to be said for that.
The book also dispels many common kitchen myths, and I will share some
of that with you through the course of the week.
The good people at Cook's Illustrated magazine took a twofold approach
to improving on this classic American appetizer: they sought the best
way to cook the shrimp, and the best recipe for the classic cocktail
sauce. In testing sauce recipes, they even went so far as to make
their own ketchup, but decided that since their experiments were
designed to replicate their favorite commercial ketchup, the result
wasn't worth the trouble. This recipe is the result of their thorough
testing, and complete details are given in the book.
All recipes this week are adapted from "The Best Recipe" by the
editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine (Boston Common Press, 1999)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0936184388/worldwiderecipes
The Best Shrimp Cocktail
20 to 30 very large shrimp, peeled and deveined,
shells reserved
4 cups (1 L) water
2 tsp(10 ml) salt
1 cup (250 ml) dry white wine
8 whole peppercorns
6 coriander seeds
1 bay (laurel leaf)
6 sprigs fresh parsley
1 sprig fresh tarragon
2 tsp (10 ml) lemon juice
For the cocktail sauce:
1 cup (250 ml) ketchup
1 Tbs (15 ml) prepared horseradish
1 Tbs (15 ml) lemon juice
1 tsp (5 ml) mild chili powder
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste (optional)
Combine the reserved shells, water, and salt in a saucepan and bring
to a boil over moderate heat. Reduce the heat and simmer covered for
20 minutes. Strain the broth, pressing on the shells to extract as
much liquid as possible. Discard the shells. Combine the broth and
the remaining ingredients except for the shrimp in a saucepan and boil
over high heat for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add
the shrimp. Let stand covered for 10 minutes. Drain the shrimp and
plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain the shrimp again and
refrigerate until ready to serve. To make the sauce, stir together
all the ingredients in a small bowl. Serves 4 to 6.
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