Shrimp Sauce Piquant

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Title: Shrimp Sauce Piquant
Categories: Cajun, Sauces, Fish/sea
Yield: 8 servings

2 tb Unsalted butter 1 1/2 ts White pepper
2 1/4 c Chopped onions 1 ts Ground black pepper
1 1/2 c Chopped green bell peppers 1 1/2 ts Minced garlic
3/4 c Chopped celery 2 1/4 c Basic seafood stock
3 c Peeled & tomatoes, chopped 1 1/2 ts Dark brown sugar
1 c Tomato sauce canned 3/4 ts Salt
3 tb Minced jalapeno (see note) 2 lb Peeled large shrimp
2 ea Bay leaves 4 c Hot basic cooked rice
5 1/2 ts Ground pepper, cayenne

NOTE: Fresh Jalapenos are preferred; if you have to use pickled ones,
rinse as much vinegar from them as possible. Melt the Butter in a 4-quart
Saucepan over high heat. Add the Onions,
bell Peppers and Celery; saute about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add
the Tomatoes, Tomato Sauce, Jalapenos, bay leaves, ground Peppers and
Garlic; stir well. Continue cooking about 3 minutes, stirring often and
scraping the pan bottom well. Stir in the stock, Sugar and Salt and bring
to a bOil. Reduce heat and simmer until flavors are married, about 20
minutes, stirring often and scrap- ing pan bottom as needed. (If mixture
scorches, quit stirring and pour mixture into a clean pot, leaving the
scorched ingredients in the first pan.) Add the shrimp to the hot (or
reheated) Sauce and stir. Turn heat up to high, cover pan, and bring
mixture to a bOil. Remove from heat. Let sit covered for 10 minutes.
(Meanwhile, heat the serving plates in a 250F oven.) Stir, remove bay
leaves, and serve immediately. To serve, mound 1/2 cup rice in the center
of ea ch heated serving plate; then pour about 1/2 cup Sauce around the
rice and arrange about 8 shrimp on top of the Sauce. LAGNIAPPE: "Piquant"
to a Cajun means "it's hot and 'hurts like a sticker in your tongue.'" If
you want less "piquant," reduce the Jalapeno Peppers by half. Sauce Piquant
is enjoyed with such gusto in Louisiana that the town of Raceland has a
Sauce Piquant Festival every year dedicated to nothing but fish, meat, fowl
and seafood made with variations of this Sauce. From Paul Prudhomme's
Louisiana Kitchen

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