Summer, Sand, Sea, Shrimp

I think that the problem with owning a yacht would be avoiding the hordes of old “friends” who suddenly decide to look you up while you’re docked in the harbour at St-Tropez or off Cap d’Antibes. No, that’s just not for me. I’d have to turn over the deck to the party and slip off with Mrs. E. for a quiet evening overlooking the water, somewhere like the place pictured above in Nice.

And what would we order? Summer, sand, sea…. makes me want to have shrimp.

Here is a particularly good recipe from dinner last Saturday night (thanks S&K!). Of course, I monkeyed around with it a little, but I don’t think it suffered from my interference.

A Summer Seafood Cocktail For 6

24 extra large shrimp or Prawns. Steamed.

1 lb of jumbo lump crabmeat.

Combine in a food processor or blender:
1 cup of mayonnaise.
1 teaspoon of grated onion
Juice of 1 lemon (use half for the remoulade, save half for later)
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
Sea salt and cracked pepper
1 red pepper, roasted, seeded, peeled and puréed
1 clove garlic, puréed into the red pepper
1 green onion, minced
2 tablespoons of prepared horseradish
1 tablespoon of drained, minced capers
1/4 cup of minced parsley
2 teaspoons of chopped dill or sweet pickles.
1 tablespoon of olive oil
dash of Worcestershire sauce
dash of cayenne or a hot sauce.

Chill for an hour or two to blend.

1/2 dozen fresh, ripe, Roma tomatoes (or others, seeded and diced)
sprinkled with salt and pepper.

3 avocados, peeled, chopped and doused with the rest of the lemon juice.

Assemble in martini glasses beginning with:

The chopped avocado
Top with the lump crabmeat (you may make it into a crabmeat salad as you would with tuna salad)
Add the remoulade
Sprinkle with fresh parsley
Top with the diced tomatoes
Arrange 4 prawns (shrimp) around the lip of the glass.

And open the champagne, or a White Burgundy, or a dry Riesling. This would also make a perfect light lunch.