Last weekend my very good friend John and I decided to surprise my parents and pay them a visit on Hutchinson Island in Stuart Florida. The two of us schemed and planned with my parent's friends Bob and Elsa to host a dinner party at their new home. We enlisted others to help pull off the surprise including Stan and Beryl, Jim and Lindale and Laird and Pat.
We flew in on Thursday and spent Friday morning and afternoon cooking up a storm. Prior to our arrival John and I planned out the menu and with the help of John and his goal of taking food to the next level we pulled off an incredible meal. Over the next few weeks I will be featuring recipes that were prepared that evening.
The theme of the party that evening was the Duquesne Club, an establishment located in Pittsburgh that is known for its incredible food and culinary expertise. Our selections were adaptations of of various recipes from the famed Duquesne Club Cookbook, which offers a collection of the Club's most famous recipes.
One of my favorite dishes is the traditional shrimp cocktail served with Remoulade sauce. We took this one to the next level by brining and roasting the shrimp and also serving it with roasted red peppers and a remoulade sauce that we purchased from the New England Fish Market in Jensen Beach.
You can make your own Remoulade sauce and will find multiple recipes here. This site offers so many variations I suggest you review the many styles and choose what suits your flavor profile best.
Here is what you need to do to prepare this dish.
For the peppers:
- 8 yellow, red or orange peppers or a mixture of all three
- Large Ziploc bag
Turn your broiler on high and let the coils preheat. Cut the peppers in half and remove the seeds and the white inards. Press down each half and flatten as much as possible. Place onto a cookie sheet and into the oven. Keep the oven cracked open and monitor the roasting of the peppers. It is okay if the skin gets very black, this is what you want. Depending on the amount of heat that your broiler gives off it can take anywhere from 8-15 minutes to get the skins to where you want them to be. I often shuffle them on the cookie sheet every 5 minutes to ensure even roasting.
Once ready and completely black remove from the oven and place into a Ziploc bag. Seal the bag and let sit to steam the peppers for about 30-40 minutes. Remove from the bag and while running under cold water remove the skins. They should literally slide off, but may require some coaxing.
Set aside.
For the Shrimp:
- 2 lbs of jumbo (16-20 count) shrimp
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1/2 cup of salt
- Water
Shell and devein the shrimp and place into a large bowl. Add the salt and sugar and cover with water. Stir well and let rest in the refirgerator for about 30 minutes. Remove from the brine and dry the shrimp well.
When the shrimp are done brining, turn on the broiler and place a cookie sheet underneath. Heat the sheet for about 2 minutes. Remove and immediately place the shrimp under the broiler for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes flip the shrimp and broil for another minute. Remove from the broiler and let rest in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
Arrange the peppers on a platter along with the shrimp. Place a bowl of the Remoulade next to the platter and serve.
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