Lobster Washington
Cut up 3 large live lobsters, weighing 1 ¾ to 2 pounds, into 6 pieces. SeaMHI with ½ teaspoon salt and a little pepper. Put 3 tablespoons butter in a large shallow pan, add the lobster pieces and same them for about 5 minutes, or until the shells turn red. Add to the pan 1 tablespoon chopped shallot and 2 tablespoons chopped onion. Add a generous ½ cup dry sherry and 1 ¼ cups heavy cream. Bring the mixture to a boil, cover the pan, and cook over low heat for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the pieces of lobster to a dish and keep them hot. Cook the liquid in the pan until it is reduced to 1/3 its original quantity and add ½ cup cream sauce. Correct the seasoning with salt, add ¼ cup cream, rub the sauce through a fine sieve and add ¼ cup whiskey. Remove the lobster meat from the shells and combine it with the sauce. Serve very hot with boiled rice or on freshly made toast points.
The popularity of shrimp is evidenced by the fact that Americans consumed more than 240 million pounds of shrimp last year. They vary in color and in size but all have much the same flavor. The larger the shrimp, the more they cost. Opinions differ about whether it is easier to remove the shells before or after cooking. But some gourmets insist that the meat tastes better if it is cooked in the shell. You can shell shrimp with just two motions: Mold the tail end in the left hand and slip the thumb under the shell between the feelers, Lift off two or three segments in one motion. then, still holding firmly to the tail, pull the shrimp out from the remaining shell and tail.
In cooking shrimp the important thing to remember is not to overcook them—2 to 5 minutes' cooking time will do the job. The water in which they cook should be well salted—1 tablespoon salt in 1 quart water is about right for each pound of shrimp. Bring the water to a boil and add the shrimp. When the water returns to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer until the shrimp are done. Or the shrimp may be cooked in the same kind of court-bouillon as is used for lobster.
Shrimp Creole
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a shallow pan, add 2 tablespoons chopped onion and cook until soft. Add 1 pound cooked and shelled shrimp. Sauté the shrimp quickly and add ¼ cup Madeira or sherry. In another pan melt 1 tablespoon butter. Add 8 sliced mushrooms and sauté them lightly. Add 1 small green pepper and 1 pimento, both diced, 3 tomatoes peeled, seeded and chopped, and ½ cup tomato sauce (January, 1955). Cook the vegetable mixture for a few minutes, then combine it with the shrimp and heat together thoroughly. Serve with fluffy boiled rice.
Sbrimp Cocktail
Serve cooked, well-chilled shrimp with the following sauce: Mix together thoroughly 1 cup tomato catsup, ½ cup chili sauce. 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon grated horseradish, the juice of 1 lemon, ¼ teaspoon celery salt and 5 drops Tabasco sauce.
Shrimp Curry
Make the following curry sauce: Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan, add 1 finely chopped onion, and cook until the onion is soft. Add a small bay leaf and stir in a tiny pinch of thyme and 1 tablespoon curry powder. Add ¼ cup white stock and bring the sauce to a boil. Add 1 ½ cups velouté sauce (March, 1955) and simmer the mixture for 10 to 15 minutes. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve, add ½ cup cream and heat well. Combine the sauce with 1 pound cooked and shelled shrimp and heat the shrimp thoroughly. Serve very hot on boiled rice.
Unless you live in the part of the country where blue crab abound you arc not very apt to cook either the soft-shell or the hard-shell crabs. But you can find excellent fresh frozen crab meat in any frozen-food case, and fresh crab meat in any good fish market. It comes cooked, packed in ice, and should be eaten the day that you buy it since it is very perishable. It comes in two styles: The regular style includes both claw and back meat and it must be picked over to remove bits of shell; the “lump back” style includes only the bigger pieces of meat from the back. The latter, of course, is more expensive.
Deviled Crab Meat
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan and add about 2 cups fresh crab mear. Heat over a very low flame. Mix 1 ½ teaspoons English mustard with enough water to make a thin paste and add it to the crab meat. Prepare about 1 ½ cups Mornay sauce (April, 1955) and add 1 cup of it to the crab meat, along with ½ teaspoon salt and a little fleshly ground pepper. Fill individual baking shells with the mixture. Add 2 tablespoons whipped cream to the remaining Mornay sauce and spread the filled shells with it. Sprinkle with a little grated Parmesan cheese and brown under the broiler or in a hot oven.
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