Crabmeat-Stuffed Shrimp

Yesterday for Father’s Day we made one of my husband’s favorite foods… Crabmeat-Stuffed Shrimp. It was scrumptious!

Adapted from “New New Orleans Cooking”, by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 pound fresh lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage
2 teaspoons Essence, recipe follows
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1/2 cup minced yellow onions
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
16 jumbo shrimp, shelled, leaving tail and connecting shell segment, deveined, and butterflied lengthwise
1 tablespon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a large baking dish and set aside.

Place the crabmeat in a large bowl and season with the Essence. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

In a large skillet, melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions, and cook, stirring, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the parsley and the garlic, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool.

Add the cooled vegetables to the crabmeat and toss to combine. Add the mayonnaise, eggs, lemon juice and hot sauce and stir gently with a large wooden spoon. Add 1 cup of the bread crumbs, the salt, and pepper, and stir gently, being careful not to break up the crabmeat.

Mound about 2 tablespoons of the crabmeat stuffing into each shrimp press gently to close, and place, stuffed sides up, in the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of the flaky, bread crumbs over the stuffed shrimp and drizzle with the remaining melted butter. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes.

Remove the shrimp from the oven and serve immediately.

Essence (Emeril’s Creole Seasoning):