Shrimp Macque Choux Recipes

SHRIMP AND SWEET CORN MAQUE CHOUX

Steps:

• Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shallot, red and green peppers, and green onion. Season with salt and pepper, and saute until soft, about 5 minutes.
• Add zucchini, sweet corn, water and 2 teaspoons Cajun or creole seasoning to the skillet. Cook until zucchini is tender, about 2 minutes. Add half and half, and stir. Turn off heat.
• Meanwhile, season shrimp with remaining 2 teaspoons Cajun or creole seasoning. Melt butter in a separate skillet and cook shrimp in four batches, about 2 minutes on each side, or until curled, pink and cooked all the way through. Do not overcook.
• Divide corn mixture between four plates. Top each plate with 5 cooked shrimp, and serve immediately.

SHRIMP MAQUE CHOUX

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large straight-sided skillet or wide, shallow pot over medium-high heat. Add scallion white and light-green parts, onion, peppers, celery, and thyme; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring a few times, until vegetables are crisp-tender and golden in places, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Stir in corn kernels and milk, then vermouth; boil until liquid has mostly evaporated, about 1 minute. Stir in stock, cream, and shrimp. Bring to a simmer (but do not let boil), reducing heat as necessary, and cook until shrimp are opaque and just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Discard thyme sprigs, stir in dark-green scallion tops, and serve.

SHRIMP MACQUE CHOUX

Steps:

• Set oven to broil. Brush individual pizza crusts with melted butter, and sprinkle with chopped parsley and garlic salt. Place on a baking sheet and broil until sizzling. Remove, and set aside.
• Heat 1 cup oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. In batches, place tortilla strips in hot oil, and cook until crisp. Remove to paper towels, and discard oil.
• Add whipping cream to a saucepan, and whisk over high heat. When the cream begins to boil, whisk in sour cream. Reduce to medium heat. Stir in chicken bouillon and jalapeno juice, and simmer.
• In a separate saucepan, warm 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour; continue whisking until the mixture is a pale golden color. Then whisk flour mixture into cream mixture, whisking until well blended. Remove from heat, and stir in jalapenos and cheese. Set aside.
• Warm 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Stir in salt pork, and brown on all sides. Remove salt pork to paper towels, and discard oil.
• Warm 6 tablespoons butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in onions, celery, green and red bell peppers, garlic, and thyme. Cook until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the corn, and cook about 5 minutes, stirring. Stir in andouille and salt pork. Season with salt, pepper, 1/4 cup parsley, and Creole seasoning; cook about 10 minutes. Add shrimp, and cook until pink, about 5 minutes. Drain the butter sauce off of the shrimp and meats, and reserve the sauce in a bowl or jar.
• Stir the cream sauce into the shrimp and meat mixture. Stir in 3 cups of penne pasta. Reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
• To serve, place pizza bread in the bottom of individual bowls. Ladle a spoonful or two of the reserved butter sauce over the bread, then ladle over sauce. Add more pasta, if desired. Sprinkle with Creole seasoning, and top with crispy tortilla strips.

CAJUN CORN MAQUE CHOUX

Steps:

• 1. Cut the kernels off of the corn into a large bowl. Using the back of the knife, scrape the sweet corn milk from the cobs to extract about 3 tablespoons and add it to the bowl. Set aside.
• 2. Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until the fat renders and the bacon is crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel-lined plate and set aside. Add the butter to the skillet and when melted, add the celery, bell peppers and onions. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 15 minutes. Add the milk, scallion whites, garlic, tomatoes and corn. Cook until thickened, 10 minutes.
• 3. Serve garnished with the scallion greens and reserved bacon.

CAJUN TASSO CORN MAQUE CHOUX WITH GRILLED SHRIMP

Steps:

• Prepare a grill for medium heat. Shuck the corn, being sure to remove all the silk. Season the ears with some olive oil, salt and black pepper. Grill, rotating the ears regularly, so as to char but not scorch, 10 to 15 minutes. Reserve.
• Dice the Tasso into approximately 1-centimeter cubes. Heat a large, heavy Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the Tasso with a little bit of canola oil and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until evenly browned, about 15 minutes. Remove and reserve, leaving any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.
• Add a little more canola oil to the Dutch oven. Add the garlic, celery, jalapenos, onions and bell pepper and sautee until the onions are sweated, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Add the wine and simmer, scraping up the bits from the bottom of the pan, until all the wine has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the bay leaves, thyme, red pepper flakes, 1 tablespoon paprika, 2 teaspoons cayenne, 2 teaspoons chili powder and some salt and black pepper. Stir.
• Using a knife, cut the kernels off the corn cobs, then milk the cobs using the back of the knife. Add the corn to the Dutch oven. Reserve about 50 pieces of Tasso, then add the rest to the Dutch oven. Add the heavy cream and butter, stir and bring to a simmer. Cook the mixture until thickened with a slight creamed corn consistency, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaves.
• Combine 1 tablespoon salt, 1 tablespoon black pepper, 2 teaspoons paprika, 1 teaspoon cayenne and 1 teaspoon chili powder in a small bowl. Toss the shrimp with 1/4 cup olive oil on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the shrimp on both sides with the spice rub. Grill the shrimp over medium heat until pink and slightly charred, but not overcooked, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
• To serve: Place 1 tablespoon of corn maque choux in an Asian soup spoon. Top with a grilled shrimp and a piece of the reserved Tasso. Garnish with some green onion. Repeat with the remaining maque choux, shrimp and Tasso.

MACQUE CHOUX AND SHRIMP

Steps:

• In a 12" skillet over medium-high heat, cook bacon, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 7 minutes.
• Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside.
• Melt 1 tablespoons butter in hot bacon fat.
• Add garlic, shallots, peppers, and jalapenos and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
• Increase heat to high; add okra and corn and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, about 6 minutes.
• Stir in scallions and remaining butter and season with salt and pepper; set aside and keep warm.
• Meanwhile, heat oven to broil and place a rack 8" from broiler element.
• Toss shrimp with oil in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper.
• Transfer shrimp in a single layer to an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet and broil, turning once using tongs, until pink and cooked through, about 4 minutes.
• Serve the maque choux and shrimp on top of a bed of rice; garnish with reserved bacon and a sprinkling of scallions.

MAQUE CHOUX

Steps:

• Working with 1 corn cob at a time, set the ear of corn upright in a medium bowl. Shave the corn from the cob by slicing down the sides using the tip of a sharp chef's knife, holding the knife almost vertical. (This gives you neat tablets of corn that land squarely in the bowl and keeps the kernels from scattering all over the counter.) Using the back of the knife, scrape each cob to release all the nibs and the "milk" of the kernels into the bowl. Repeat with remaining ears of corn, then snap the cobs in half, and add them to the bowl.
• In a large, deep sauté pan, melt 3 tablespoons butter over medium heat until foaming. Add onion and celery, and season with 1 or 2 pinches of kosher salt. Stir constantly until softened and translucent but not browned, about 5 minutes.
• Add 2 tablespoons butter and the bell pepper, poblano and serrano, and stir constantly, adding another pinch of kosher salt, letting the butter melt and the peppers soften and become translucent, about 2 or 3 minutes. You will smell the peppers' sweetness and their mild capsaicin releasing.
• Add the final 3 tablespoons butter and the corn mixture from the bowl, cobs included, and another pinch of kosher salt. Stir constantly to coat with the butter and combine thoroughly.
• When everything starts to hiss and sound hot, but isn't cooking so hard as to take color, add 1/2 cup water and a healthy few grinds of black pepper, and cover the pan for a couple of minutes to steam/shallow braise the mixture.
• Remove the lid, and stir well, noticing the corn releasing its liquid and the kernels softening, and the cobs turning somewhat translucent, if however vague. You will notice a general softening and melding together. Return the lid, and let cook a few more minutes, noticing the water evaporating and the remaining liquid reducing and gaining some "body" and gloss. Discard the corn cobs, but do suck them before tossing - those buttery juices make a nice cook's treat.
• Taste for salt, and serve. It should be sweet, spicy, a bit wet and surprisingly complex, given the few ingredients and their ordinariness. If you want a smoky taste, add a good pinch of smoked paprika.