Shrimp with Avocado Salsa

It was early in the day and I knew my parents were headed to BWI that evening to stay in one of the hotels near the airport the night before their early-morning flight to Florida. Knowing there's nowhere decent to eat dinner near BWI, I called them that morning and asked if they wanted to drive 45 minutes out of their way to come have some dinner here at Chez French Laundry at Home before heading to the hotel. It took about 2 minutes of deliberations on their end before they said they'd be here that afternoon. I knew I could easily reconstruct a semblance of the Parm-Reg Custard dish as a first course, then serve the Shrimp with Avocado Salsa, followed by the Carnaroli Risotto (stay tuned for that post!). Three small courses would be perfect before having to head to the hotel for a good night's sleep before boarding the plane at the butt-crack of dawn.

You've already read about the Parm-Reg custards, so let's talk about the Shrimp with Avocado Salsa, shall we?

The first thing I did was prepare the court bouillon in which to cook the shrimp. Court bouillon (a quick stock) is an acidic poaching liquid flavored with vegetables and herbs. It's designed to quickly poach fish and shellfish. Here's the mise en place:



I had to make a bouquet garni for this, which consisted of thyme, parsley and bay leaves tied up in the outer leaves of a leek:





I am a big dork because I love making bouquet garni. It's soooo pretty and green and smells so nice. And I love to speak French (even though I am far from fluent), so I enjoyed being able to say the words "bouquet garni" when I was describing this dish to a friend over the phone while I was doing the prep work. I also began describing all the other ingredients with a half-French/half-English translation, which was really hilarious in that inside-baseball kind of way, but you had to be there, especially when I called shrimp "cravats" (neckties) instead of "crevettes." I"m sure you're doubled over with laughter just reading about it. (cue eye rolling) Dude, I"ll have you know Lorne Michaels is like totally knocking down my door to get me to audition for SNL, but I'm all "Lorne, I am far too funny for your darling little sketch program, please stop bothering me. Gah."

Anyway.... to start the bouillon, I mixed the liquid, vegetables and bouquet garni together in a medium-size stock pot:



After it came to a boil, I reduced it to a simmer, then added the wine, lemon and vinegar:



When the bouillon came back up to a simmer, I added the shrimp (the one laying on top looks like he could be called Nigel, doesn't he?):





The shrimp simmered in the bouillon for only a minute, then I removed them from the pot, put them in a bowl, and covered them with about half of the bouillon:



The shrimp cooled in the liquid and after about 20 minutes of sitting on the counter, I put the whole bowl in the fridge to chill further until I was ready to serve it. You know, this whole court bouillon process required a decent amount of work (and ingredients) and I'm not entirely convinced it made a bit of difference in how the shrimp tasted when they were finished cooking. Actually, I've had shrimp taste better using different (and much easier poaching liquids). It did make my fridge smell really good, though. But again, I'm not convinced it was worth it, or that I'd do it that way again.

Next up was the Avocado Salsa. Here's the mise en place:



This was incredibly easy and I can think of about ten different things I'd serve this with. Or, I could just make it, put it in a bowl and eat it with a spoon -- it's that good. I just mixed the cucumber, onion and olive oil, then tossed in the avocado and stirred gently, then seasoned it with a little salt and pepper.

The plating of this canapé was so simple. First, you start with some forks:



Then, you peel the shrimp and place one on the tip of each fork, with a spoonful of the Avocado Salsa just behind it:



These were pretty good, but not something I'd go through the trouble with the court bouillon to make again. In fact, I was so annoyed with it by the time I was done, I skipped making the tomato diamonds as an additional garnish for the salsa. I just couldn't be bothered. I might look for another way to do the shrimp, but the Avocado Salsa I would make time and time again. It's light and delicious and the red onion wasn't overpowering at all. All the ingredients worked well together. Mom, Dad, and I enjoyed it, and we had a few extra servings so I called the neighbors to come over for a taste, which they were more than happy to do. I think the shrimp needed a tad more seasoning, but it wasn't terrible. It just wasn't a homerun in terms of preferences when thinking about all the other canapés I've made thus far from the French Laundry Cookbook.

Up Next: Carnaroli Risotto with Shaved White Truffles from Alba

Brands Used:
All-Clad Coppercore cookware
Seafood and produce from Whole Foods
White serving platter from SurLaTable
Forks from my maternal grandparents, Gordon and Lena Seitz

Music to Cook By: Yaz, Upstairs at Eric's (and the song "Goodbye, Seventies" was in my head for hours afterward. Damn you, Alison Moyet. Damn. You.)