The recipe for this tasty (if you like shrimp) and pretty dish came from a culinary mystery novel called ‘The Last Suppers’ and our test cook made a double batch for the newsroom taste testers and the folks at home.
Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader
Recipe came from culinary mystery novel
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“I love pasta … and peas … and shrimp,” reporter and taste tester Margaret Roarty said earlier this week, happily counting the reasons she enjoyed “Shrimp on Wheels” fresh from the Times Leader Test Kitchen.
“Oh, it’s warm,” advertising director Diane McGee said, delighted to realize the dish wasn’t chilled, as she had expected, but had stayed warm in a slow-cooker. “If I wasn’t going out for dinner I’d ask for more.”
“It’s a nice, light sauce,” reporter Jennifer Learn-Andes said. “And very flavorful.”
“It’s good. It just needs a little pepper,” sportswriter John Erzar said, reaching into a desk drawer for his personal pepper shaker.
Sounds like a triumph, doesn’t it? But while those four co-workers tried and enjoyed this dish, seven others declined even to try it — most often citing the reason of not being seafood fans.
I didn’t mind their refusals. That meant there would be all the more leftovers to take back home, where Mark, my mom and I all really liked the way the Shrimp on Wheels tasted. Plus, as my mom pointed out, “It’s so pretty.”
The recipe came from a culinary mystery novel called “The Last Suppers,” by Diane Mott Davidson, which I recently borrowed from the Osterhout Free Library.
In this book a Colorado caterer named Goldy is preparing food for her own wedding, when the groom calls to tell her they have to postpone the ceremony. He went to the home of their priest to give him a ride to the church, and found the clergyman shot to death.
While that doesn’t sound at all light-hearted, there’s quite a bit of humor in the book, as when a bossy church lady frets about changes in church music.
When the groom disappears on the day of the wedding, some people think he’s jilted the bride. But, no, the murderer has kidnapped him. And while Goldy helps the police solve the crime, the reader is treated to several recipes she and her helpers use, all of which sound very good.
Shrimp on Wheels is something the heroine whipped up for a church meeting — she keeps on cooking, no matter how many bad things happen — and she wanted to use wheel-shaped pasta instead of spaghetti or fettuccine to reduce the messiness potential.
Mark thought the dish was a good blend of flavors, and grabbed the library book to analyze the recipe while he sampled the dish. Now he wants to read the book, too, before I return it to the library. So, I wonder, which of us will want to make the cookies Goldy calls Canterbury Jumbles? We shall see …
Shrimp on Wheels
5 ounces wagon wheel pasta (ruota)
Salt, to taste
1 quart water
1 tablespoon crab boil seasoning (I used Old Bay)
1⁄4 lemon
3⁄4 pound shrimp (large, unpeeled, deveined, raw)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons shallots (minced)
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules
1⁄4 cup boiling water
1 cup milk
1⁄2 cup dry white wine (preferably Vermouth)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)
1 cup frozen baby peas
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 2-quart casserole dish with a lid. Set aside.
Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. Drain and set aside.
In a large frying pan, bring the quart of water to a boil and add the lemon and the crab boil seasoning.
Add the shrimp, cook until just pink, about 1 minute and immediately transfer with a slotted spoon, leaving the seasoning behind, to a colander to drain. Do not over cook.
Drain and peel shrimp and set aside.
In another large frying pan, melt the butter on low heat and saute the shallot in it for several minutes, until limp, but not browned. Sprinkle the flour over the shallot and cook over low heat for 1-2 minutes, until the mixture bubbles.
Dissolve the chicken bouillon in the boiling water. Stirring constantly, slowly add the chicken bouillon water, milk and wine, stirring until thickened.
Combine the mayonnaise and mustard in a small bowl. Add a small amount of the (bouillon water, milk and wine) sauce to the mustard and mayonnaise and stir until smooth, then add the mixture to the sauce. Stir until heated through.
Add the cheese, stirring until melted. Add the pasta, shrimp and peas and stir until well combined.
Transfer the mixture to the buttered dish and bake, covered, for about 15-25 minutes or until heated through.
