Name: Julia’s Shrimp Remoulade
Ingredients: bay leaf; creole mustard; prepared horseradish; lemon; celery; vegetable oil; worcestershire sauce; dijon mustard; scallions; egg yolks; ketchup; white wine vinegar; garlic; tabasco sauce; drained capers; fresh parsley leaves; sweet paprika; lettuce leaves; lemon; fresh shrimp; salt

James Villas

Julia’s Shrimp Remoulade

Preparation info

Difficulty
Medium
Makes
6
servings

Appears in

The Glory of Southern Cooking

By James Villas

Published 2007

About

Julia Reed, an author who hails from greenville, Mississippi, but lives in New Orleans, knows a thing or two about Creole cooking in general, and everything about shrimp remoulade in particular. Remoulade dressing, of course, is one of the glories of Southern cuisine, and for years, I believed that the finest versions were found in such venerable New Orleans restaurants as Galatoire’s, Broussard’s, and Commander’s Palace. Then, when I tasted Julia’s, I flipped. “Basically, it’s my take on Paul Prudhomme’s dressing,” she confessed, “but, you know, I do like to fiddle around a little bit.” Well, her take involves substituting Dijon mustard for ordinary yellow mustard, and white wine vinegar for plain white vinegar, but the way she’s really transformed the dressing is by adding capers.

Ingredients

The Dressing

2 large egg yolks
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup finely chopped scallions
½ cup finely chopped celery
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
¼ cup prepared horseradish
¼ lemon, seeded and cut up (including rind)
1 bay leaf, crumbled
2 tablespoons Creole mustard
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons drained capers
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon salt

The Shrimp

1½ pounds medium fresh shrimp
½ lemon, seeded
Thinly shredded lettuce leaves

Method

To make the dressing, place the yolks in a blender or food processor and blend 2 minutes. With the machine running, add the oil gradually in a thin stream till the emulsion is thickened. One at a time, add the remaining ingredients and process till well blended and the lemon rind is finely chopped. Transfer the dressing to a covered container and chill at least 2 hours.

To prepare the shrimp, place them and the lemon in a large saucepan with enough water to cover, bring to a boil, remove from the heat, cover, and let stand 1 minute. Drain, discard the lemon, and when the shrimp are cool enough to handle, peel and devein them.

When ready to serve, combine the shrimp with the dressing in a bowl and toss till well coated. Make small mounds of shredded lettuce on 6 salad plates and mound shrimp over the tops.