Gulf Coast Steamed Shrimp with Champagne Vinegar Sauce

Wanna kick? see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w9iRq2ZdGw

Bryan Caswell is one of my favorite chefs. If you are ever in Houston, ya gotta go to his award-winning seafood restaurant, the Reef. Simply fabulous!

So, when my son arrive with one of his children, we just had to make one of Bryan's creation. My son is a great cook himself, having helped pay for the college expenses by being a line cook. We took on how to turn all of this:

into this:

A great summer meal for the patio!

So, what is needed is:

20 large shrimp, shell and vein removed and butterflied

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

salt and pepper

2 shallots, finely diced

3/4 cup champagne vinegar

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon (or more) cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper and place on a buttered sheet pan. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of water around the shrimp. Steam in the oven until just pink and cooked through, about 7 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Make the sauce - this is good. We guess that the sweetness must come from the champagne vinegar. This makes enough sauce for probably eight servings, or 40 shrimp.

Here's how not to hold a shallot when dicing:

Place the champagne vinegar and the diced shallots in a sauce pan and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to simmer and reduce down to 1/2 of the liquid.

Then add heavy cream and heat slightly until warm. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter a tablespoon at a time. This cools the sauce down and thickens it. Add the cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Could also sprinkle cayenne pepper on top of the shrimp after the sauce has been spooned over them.

As seen on the plate above, serve with a salad. Bryan suggests an arugula based salad with your favorite vinaigrette. My spouse, however, prefers a salad that does not use arugula. So we make a nice summer salad that included avocado, pearl tomatoes, red pepper, raspberries, olives and feta cheese, with a raspberry-pomegranate vinaigrette. Also included some crispy shallots on top. (thinly slice the shallots and fry up until browned and crispy in olive oil and butter - drain on paper towels before putting on the salad.)

Goes great with Sister Creek's Muscat Canelli.

Enjoy! (We sure did!)