Shrimp DeJonghe recipes

Recipes for shrimp DeJonghe seem divided on whether to use fresh or dried breadcrumbs.

This recipe from the great grandson of Peter DeJonghe starts with stale bread. The recipe from the late, lamented Eli's The Place for Steak, which I recall as excellent, calls for "seasoned bread crumbs," which I assume mean dried.

What say you, LTHers?

In the latest issue of Cook's Illustrated bread crumbs are discussed and they determined that the best bread crumbs are made from fresh bread that has been dried in a 225 degree oven for 35 minutes. They rated these over bread that has been staled by sitting on the counter for a few days, and way over using the store-bought crumbs. They once put the italian seasoned crumbs (which the Eli's recipe calls for) at the bottom of the list. It makes sense that the fresh, oven dried crumbs would be the best. That's what I'm going to do from now on.

imsscott wrote:In the latest issue of Cook's Illustrated bread crumbs are discussed and they determined that the best bread crumbs are made from fresh bread that has been dried in a 225 degree oven for 35 minutes. They rated these over bread that has been staled by sitting on the counter for a few days, and way over using the store-bought crumbs. They once put the italian seasoned crumbs (which the Eli's recipe calls for) at the bottom of the list. It makes sense that the fresh, oven dried crumbs would be the best. That's what I'm going to do from now on.

Was there any comparison to fluffy crumbs made from fresh bread?

In the context of shrimp de Jonghe, I'm thinking about the parallel to skordalia, which is sometimes made with potatoes, but sometimes with bread.

LAZ wrote:

imsscott wrote:In the latest issue of Cook's Illustrated bread crumbs are discussed and they determined that the best bread crumbs are made from fresh bread that has been dried in a 225 degree oven for 35 minutes. They rated these over bread that has been staled by sitting on the counter for a few days, and way over using the store-bought crumbs. They once put the italian seasoned crumbs (which the Eli's recipe calls for) at the bottom of the list. It makes sense that the fresh, oven dried crumbs would be the best. That's what I'm going to do from now on.

Was there any comparison to fluffy crumbs made from fresh bread?

In the context of shrimp de Jonghe, I'm thinking about the parallel to skordalia, which is sometimes made with potatoes, but sometimes with bread.

They did mention fresh crumbs a couple of years ago and said that they weren't good in some applications, but were good as a binder in meat loaf and they worked well as a topping for Mac and cheese, so I would think they would do well on Shrimp DeJonghe.

America's test kitchen just did a show on shrimp. One of the recipes they called "Garlicky Shrimp with Bread Crumbs" it was essentially Shrimp DeJonghe. They did the dish in three pieces and put it together at serving, seemed to make sense. It was from the episode "2 ways with shrimp".

dukesdad wrote:America's test kitchen just did a show on shrimp. One of the recipes they called "Garlicky Shrimp with Bread Crumbs" it was essentially Shrimp DeJonghe. They did the dish in three pieces and put it together at serving, seemed to make sense. It was from the episode "2 ways with shrimp".

Their recipe calls for a baguette, assumedly fresh.

imsscott wrote:

dukesdad wrote:America's test kitchen just did a show on shrimp. One of the recipes they called "Garlicky Shrimp with Bread Crumbs" it was essentially Shrimp DeJonghe. They did the dish in three pieces and put it together at serving, seemed to make sense. It was from the episode "2 ways with shrimp".

Their recipe calls for a baguette, assumedly fresh.

They recently ran a TV episode where they made this dish. THey did indeed use a baugette IIRC. They referred to the dish as Garlicy Shrimp with Bread Crumbs, but during the preparation, Christopher Kimball let "Shrimp de Jonge" slip out once or twice.

LAZ wrote:Recipes for shrimp DeJonghe seem divided on whether to use fresh or dried breadcrumbs.

LAZ,

I've made Shrimp De Jonghe at home with Ritz Crackers instead of breadcrumbs and quite enjoyed the finished dish.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:LAZ,

I've made Shrimp De Jonghe at home with Ritz Crackers instead of breadcrumbs and quite enjoyed the finished dish.

Enjoy,
Gary

I've seen Jacques Pepin demo that preparation on his Fast Food My Way series.

I don't think I'd like the Cook's Illustrated version. For me, the best shrimp DeJonghe has a velvety topping, crispy around the edges, but soft in the center. I think what I like may be what they're calling "gluey." Sabatino's does a good version -- it would be perfect except that they don't serve it in a ramekin so you miss the crispy edges.

While I am asking, what have folks seen out there lately in the way of good, reasonably priced raw jumbo shrimp? The Costco price was about $20 for a 2-pound bag of frozen Vietnamese farmed shrimp. I'd prefer marine shrimp if possible.

LAZ wrote:While I am asking, what have folks seen out there lately in the way of good, reasonably priced raw jumbo shrimp? The Costco price was about $20 for a 2-pound bag of frozen Vietnamese farmed shrimp. I'd prefer marine shrimp if possible.

I just picked up a 5# box of Texas Bay wild caught 16-20's at Rubinos for $50.00.

Rubinos Seafood Inc
735 W Lake
Chicago, IL 60661
312) 258-0020

In my recent DeJonghe preparation, I wound up using a combination of made-from-scratch breadcrumbs (oven-dried challah) and premade crumbs from Garden Fresh (presumably made from the stores' bread). In my test batch, the ratio of crumbs to butter seemed too low and I was out of bread, so I supplemented. I doubt that it matters much either way.

I ultimately used twice the amount of crumbs as butter by volume. That worked, but I think it was just a tad too high on crumbs as the finished dish. The topping had the moist, velvety consistency I like, but there were no buttery juices in the bottom of the dish to mop up later with bread.

I wasn't able to get to one of the downtown fish wholesalers. Trader Joe's had signs in the freezer department about 16-20 shrimp for $8.99, but they've apparently been discontinued. I bought the Supercolossal (13-15), wild caught Mexican peeled shrimp at $13.99 and they were first-rate. Beautifully cleaned, too -- not a one needed deveining.

I did not poach the shrimp before baking, and it wasn't necessary. Indeed, the challenge with shrimp DeJonghe is to get the topping browned before the shrimp overcook.

My uncle is a fancy chef who quit the industry to sell insurance years ago but still cooks often and one of his specialties is shrimp de jonghe. We always have some sort of holiday cookoff and when some chef friends of his come in from New Orleans for the Bears/Saints game we are having a jonghe-off.

I never made this dish but decided to play around and make a Wisconsin style de jonghe. I read a few of the different approaches people take and decided to poach the shrimp. But instead of poaching the shrimp in stock made from the shells I put the shells into a pot of beer with some onions and butter and poached the shrimp in that.

Wisconsin Style de Jonghe

The Stock
-shrimp shells
-2 cans of Wisconsin beer such as high life
-1/2 stick of butter
-celery stalk chopped into 3 pieces
-1/2 onion chopped a few times

Shrimp De Jonghe
-1 lb gulf shrimp with shells 12-15 count or larger
-1 stick of butter
-1/3 cup of river valley ranch five cheese garlic spread
-Bread crumbs or crushed ritz crackers

Preheat oven to 450

Boil the stock for 15 minutes and then drain it into a bowl and remove the shells/veggies and return stock to pot.

Bring beer stock to a boil and add the half stick of butter. When beer is boiling add the shrimp and poach them for 2 minutes until just pink. Remove shrimp and wash with cold water and set aside.

Melt stick of butter and layer the bottom of a baking dish with the butter and toss shrimp around and get them coated with the butter. Add the 1/3 cup of RVR cheese/garlic spread and make sure each fish is pasted with a little bit. Be liberal with the spread, this is Wisconsin style.

Layer bread crumbs on top and bake for 12 minutes.


hot out the oven


I'm not from Wisconsin but I think they'd like this over there

I ended up using two styles of bread crumbs to experiment. Half were panko style and the other half were bookbinders seafood style. I would of done the ritz crackers mentioned above had I saw it before I got busy. It turned out great but a few shrimp were a little over cooked most likely due to the poaching. None the less Ill be making this again but have to give my heart a break until the showdown. Ill post his recipe on here with some pics after it happens.

Da Beef wrote:My uncle is a fancy chef who quit the industry to sell insurance years ago...Ill post his recipe on here with some pics after it happens.

Went over there to make up a batch of De Jonghe last week and it turned out great. It tasted just like I remember.

Richard's Shrimp De Jonghe
Makes six or seven seashells worth (five shrimp to a shell)

2 lbs shelled shrimp (bigger ones)
1 stalk of flat leaf parsley
1 clove of garlic (about 12-15 pieces in all)
1.5 cups of bread crumbs (fresh D'amatos preferred)
2 sticks of butter
1 cup dry sherry
salt pepper and red chili flakes
3/4 cup of shredded Parmesan

This was a really simple recipe and can be made a day ahead and placed in the refrigerator. He mentioned how some of the recipes from his old school cookbooks were ridiculous about the fact they wanted you to boil the shrimp beforehand and how even stupider it was that some said to leave the shrimp in the hot water to rest for 30 minutes. Skip the pre-cooking of the shrimp entirely. The shrimp came out perfectly cooked this way. Not everyone is going to have the seashells that he uses to cook the de jonghe on so mask sure to use something thats not deep.

Rip off the leaves from the parsley and throw in a cuisinart along with the garlic, butter, bread crumbs, sherry, salt, pepper and chili flakes and process until smooth.


The good stuff

Place 5 shrimp on each seashell and then cover them with the paste so that there are no air bubbles and it looks nice.


Ready to be placed in the oven

place the shells in a 450 oven and watch them carefully. I dont have an exact time but there done when the topping is nice and browned so keep an eye on them.


When out of the oven sprinkle with a bit of the Parmesan on top


Chicago, Chicago...

It really was good however my uncle had one complaint. Not enough BUTTER!!!! he said there wasn't enough juice on the bottom of some of the shells and he would use three sticks next time. I tended to agree. he also said that the paste turned out awfully green but something about the parsley still being wet from him washing sand off it.

Both his way and my original recipe Wisco style (above) were really good but they had a few differences. His may of not had enough butter and mine had no where near enough bread crumbs. I would add add more of each to each respective one next time.

I love a good de jonghe and had no idea it was that easy to make one. My uncle told me a story about how when I was maybe 7 or 8 he took me to White Castle and asked what I wanted and I asked if they had shrimp de jonghe...I wish.

Great for a holiday party because they can be made a day ahead and taken out of the fridge and placed in the oven the next day.

Those both look really good. I might have to try them out someday, thanks for the recipes.