The Ash Creek Papers

Memorial Day weekend?  With three days of rain and 46° air temp, we have regressed into “stew season”.  Well… not all the way back into snow-beating-against-the-window-pane-throw-a-log-on-the-fire stew season.  I was looking for a “transitional” recipe.  A dish that was satisfying, but not lie-on-the-couch-after-dinner-can’t-move satisfying.  This shrimp and sausage dish meets the “Goldilocks Standard”…not too big, not too small it’s just right.  Many ingredients, but easy to prepare, good flavor oomph, without being heavy-heavy. 

Further, I had a slightly chilled red wine that screamed to be opened!  First, by way of background, there are five wine regions in Burgundy, running north to south: Chablis, Côte d’Or, Côte Chalonnaise, Mâconnais & Beaujolais.  The varietal for red wine is Pinot Noir, except in Beaujolais where Gamay is the grape.  It is very rare to see these red varietals blended together. I think of it as an “irregular verb” type of blend. {SPOILER ALERT: I have a fondness for atypical blends}  I knew of two AOCs that blend Pinot Noir and Gamay: Bourgogne Pas-Tout-Grains and Saint-Pourçain.  And then I came upon a Loire Valley wine that employed the same blend!  It’s the perfect match for the recipe!  The wine meets the Goldilocks Standard, too!  Flavorful complexities without bulk.  And served slightly chilled, it’s a refreshing red to serve with the  shrimp and sausage stew. Plus (and this great news!), the wine is a natural “barbeque red” for when warm weather returns! Alternate wine choices for the stew: Cru Beaujolais would work well here, as would an Alsatian Pinot Gris.

François Cazin Cheverney Rouge “Le Petit Chambord” ’19 (Loire, France)
Cheverny is one of the most recent appellations in the Loire Valley (1991). The area, south of the Loire and abutting the marshy region of Sologne (the best hunting grounds in France), has produced wines since the 6th century. The soils consist of various combinations of clay, limestone and silica. Le Petit Chambord is a blend of 67% Pinot Noir and 33% Gamay from estate vines averaging thirty years old on clay-limestone soils, sustainably farmed and harvested by hand. The varieties are vinified separately. Cheverny is fresh and floral, with appley-texture and crisp acidity. The flavors are sleek and precise.

SHRIMP & SAUSAGE STEW

Ingredients
6 ounces of Tanqueray Gin
½ ounce of Noilly Pratt Dry Vermouth
3 olives stuffed with blue cheese
¼ cup olive oil
1 lb andouille sausage, cut into rounds
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 large celery rib finely chopped
½ green bell pepper, chopped
8 cloves of garlic, minced
½ tsp cayenne pepper
3 tomatoes chopped (about 2 cups)
1 cup low sodium chicken stock
1 cup bottled clam juice
10 oz frozen baby lima beans, thawed
¼ cup flat leaf parsley
2 lbs very large shrimp (shell-on)

Directions
1. Put gin and vermouth into a glass pitcher, fill with ice, stir vigorously while incanting, “You who know all, thank you for providing us juniper and all the other obscure ingredients responsible for creating this sacred liquid!” Strain into a pre-frozen Martini glass of admirable size.  Skewer the olives on one of those tacky cocktail swords, place in glass. Immediately begin consuming.  Now you can begin the food prep, and the cooking!

2. In a large deep skillet heat the oil.  Add the sausage and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until lightly browned (about 5 minutes).  Using a slotted spoon transfer to a plate.

3. Add the onion, celery and green pepper to the skillet and cook over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until softened (about five minutes).  Add the garlic and cayenne and cook for another minute.  Add tomatoes and cook, stirring until their liquid is nearly evaporated (about five minutes).  Add the stock and clam juice and bring to a boil.  Scatter the sausage and lima beans and half of the parsley on top.  Add the shrimp, cover tightly and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, until the shrimp is pink and cooked thru.  Let the stew rest for five minutes off heat, then sprinkle with remaining parsley and serve.

n.b. The recipe originally called for “large” shrimp.  My view on shrimp?  The larger the better!  Also, I don’t waste time deveining the shrimp (it raises the potential for kitchen injuries).  The recipe with its roots in the South called for andouille sausage.  Really?  Any sausage would be fine.  What do you have on hand?  Chorizo?  Bratwurst?  Go for it! I used Black Bear’s Hungarian Bratwurst because I had it in the fridge.