Lost my sauce

Stark said:

Had a good cream reduction sauce going, down to a thin batter
consistency when I added a handful of shrimp, letting them cook while I
poached some eggs. Maybe a little longer than 5 minutes, but when the
eggs were poached and the shrimp pink, my sauce had broken up.

Added a little cream and stirred; the sauce was edible but I wouldn't
call it presentable.

What happened? The shrimp were thawed but wet. Was there residual
water? Should I have taken the sauce off the heat? Would the shrimp
have cooked off heat? I couldnt whisk the sauce with the shrimp in
there. Maybe I just looked at it wrong.

Interesting. Yes, the shrimp certainly released residual water and other
fluids as they cooked, but without more specific details about the sauce, I
couldn't say whether that was what caused the sauce to break.

If you're going to try that same dish again, you might try cooking the
shrimp separately, plating them, and then pouring the sauce over or around
them.

Can you give more details about the sauce?

Bob

"Bob" <virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Stark said:

Had a good cream reduction sauce going, down to a thin batter
consistency when I added a handful of shrimp, letting them cook while I
poached some eggs. Maybe a little longer than 5 minutes, but when the
eggs were poached and the shrimp pink, my sauce had broken up.

Added a little cream and stirred; the sauce was edible but I wouldn't
call it presentable.

What happened? The shrimp were thawed but wet. Was there residual
water? Should I have taken the sauce off the heat? Would the shrimp
have cooked off heat? I couldnt whisk the sauce with the shrimp in
there. Maybe I just looked at it wrong.

Interesting. Yes, the shrimp certainly released residual water and other
fluids as they cooked, but without more specific details about the sauce,
I
couldn't say whether that was what caused the sauce to break.

If you're going to try that same dish again, you might try cooking the
shrimp separately, plating them, and then pouring the sauce over or around
them.

That's what I'd do. Or, if you want the flavors of the shrimp to mix with
the sauce, cook the shrimp and combine with the sauce just before serving.

--
Peter Aitken

Remove the [censored] from my email address before using.

In article <[email hidden]>, Stark <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Had a good cream reduction sauce going, down to a thin batter
consistency when I added a handful of shrimp, letting them cook while I
poached some eggs. Maybe a little longer than 5 minutes, but when the
eggs were poached and the shrimp pink, my sauce had broken up.

Added a little cream and stirred; the sauce was edible but I wouldn't
call it presentable.

What happened? The shrimp were thawed but wet. Was there residual
water? Should I have taken the sauce off the heat? Would the shrimp
have cooked off heat? I couldnt whisk the sauce with the shrimp in
there. Maybe I just looked at it wrong.

I'd have cooked the shrimp separately, then added them after everything
was finished. Shrimp tend to throw a little liquid when they are
cooking, and it also might have overheated the sauce a bit.

That's my guess anyway. :-)
--
K.

Sprout the MungBean to reply

"I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell‹you
see, I have friends in both places." --Mark Twain

Stark said:

Had a good cream reduction sauce going, down to a thin batter
consistency when I added a handful of shrimp, letting them cook while

I

Quoted message said:

poached some eggs. Maybe a little longer than 5 minutes, but when

the

Quoted message said:

eggs were poached and the shrimp pink, my sauce had broken up.

Added a little cream and stirred; the sauce was edible but I wouldn't
call it presentable.

What happened? The shrimp were thawed but wet. Was there residual
water? Should I have taken the sauce off the heat? Would the shrimp
have cooked off heat? I couldnt whisk the sauce with the shrimp in
there. Maybe I just looked at it wrong.

A lot of shrimp and other seafood is processed with sulfites or sodium
tripolyphosphate which makes them retain more water. This makes them
weigh more and look more plump BUT when you unfreeze them they shrink
and release a ton of liquid. Cooking such shrimp can be an unpleasant
surprise and I myself have had more than one soggy experience. I am not
sure how to deal with this - thawing the shrimp before cooking doesn't
seem to fully "dry" them (but probably helps). Trader Joe's sells
frozen shrimp that is guaranteed not to be processed with such
chemicals.

"Peter Aitken" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Bob" <virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Stark said:

Had a good cream reduction sauce going, down to a thin batter
consistency when I added a handful of shrimp, letting them cook while I
poached some eggs. Maybe a little longer than 5 minutes, but when the
eggs were poached and the shrimp pink, my sauce had broken up.

Added a little cream and stirred; the sauce was edible but I wouldn't
call it presentable.

What happened? The shrimp were thawed but wet. Was there residual
water? Should I have taken the sauce off the heat? Would the shrimp
have cooked off heat? I couldnt whisk the sauce with the shrimp in
there. Maybe I just looked at it wrong.

Interesting. Yes, the shrimp certainly released residual water and other
fluids as they cooked, but without more specific details about the sauce,
I
couldn't say whether that was what caused the sauce to break.

If you're going to try that same dish again, you might try cooking the
shrimp separately, plating them, and then pouring the sauce over or
around
them.

That's what I'd do. Or, if you want the flavors of the shrimp to mix with
the sauce, cook the shrimp and combine with the sauce just before serving.

or.... for a shrimpier cream sauce, start with a reduction of shrimp shells
and water or wine and a few corn peppers, strain it and then add to begining
of the cream sauce.

In article <[email hidden]>, Bob

virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz said:

Stark said:

Had a good cream reduction sauce going, down to a thin batter
consistency when I added a handful of shrimp, letting them cook while I
poached some eggs. Maybe a little longer than 5 minutes, but when the
eggs were poached and the shrimp pink, my sauce had broken up.

Added a little cream and stirred; the sauce was edible but I wouldn't
call it presentable.

What happened? The shrimp were thawed but wet. Was there residual
water? Should I have taken the sauce off the heat? Would the shrimp
have cooked off heat? I couldnt whisk the sauce with the shrimp in
there. Maybe I just looked at it wrong.

Interesting. Yes, the shrimp certainly released residual water and other
fluids as they cooked, but without more specific details about the sauce, I
couldn't say whether that was what caused the sauce to break.

If you're going to try that same dish again, you might try cooking the
shrimp separately, plating them, and then pouring the sauce over or around
them.

Can you give more details about the sauce?

Bob

Sweated onions, celery and bell pepper in oil, added a little white
wine, cooked it down then added creole seasoning, bay leaf and a cup
and a half of half 'n half instead of heavy cream. Slow cooked that
for half an hour until I had a smooth consistency of pancake batter,
then dumped in the shrimp which needed to cook for a couple of minutes.

The sauce never boiled, but it may have stayed on the eye for a couple
of minutes too long for that's when it broke down, sort of granulating.

Didn't want to pull it off since all the shrimp hadn't turned pink yet,
but it was probably that last couple of minutes and the wet shrimp that
did it.

I think cooking the shrimp separately is probably the answer since all
the shrimp that I can buy has been frozen somewhere along the line.

Stark said:

Sweated onions, celery and bell pepper in oil, added a little white
wine, cooked it down then added creole seasoning, bay leaf and a cup
and a half of half 'n half instead of heavy cream. Slow cooked that
for half an hour until I had a smooth consistency of pancake batter,
then dumped in the shrimp which needed to cook for a couple of minutes.

The sauce never boiled, but it may have stayed on the eye for a couple
of minutes too long for that's when it broke down, sort of granulating.

Didn't want to pull it off since all the shrimp hadn't turned pink yet,
but it was probably that last couple of minutes and the wet shrimp that
did it.

I think cooking the shrimp separately is probably the answer since all
the shrimp that I can buy has been frozen somewhere along the line.

You could cook the shrimp in the sauce BEFORE adding the cream, but then
you'd have to take them out while the sauce reduced. The problem at that
point would be how to keep the shrimp during that half-hour. If you keep
them warm, they'll probably turn rubbery, but if you chill them, then
they'll probably either shrivel or they'll release more liquid when you add
them back into the sauce. It's a little tricky.

If it's available in your area, you might try using Mexican crema instead of
half & half, although the flavor will have a tangy dimension you might not
want. Or (again, if it's available) you could try adding a bit of chickpea
flour; that's used to keep cream sauces from curdling in some cuisines.

Bob

In article <[email hidden]>, Bob

virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz said:

You could cook the shrimp in the sauce BEFORE adding the cream, but then
you'd have to take them out while the sauce reduced. The problem at that
point would be how to keep the shrimp during that half-hour. If you keep
them warm, they'll probably turn rubbery, but if you chill them, then
they'll probably either shrivel or they'll release more liquid when you add
them back into the sauce. It's a little tricky.

If it's available in your area, you might try using Mexican crema instead of
half & half, although the flavor will have a tangy dimension you might not
want. Or (again, if it's available) you could try adding a bit of chickpea
flour; that's used to keep cream sauces from curdling in some cuisines.

Bob

Thanks. Haven't seen Mexican crema or chickpea flour around, but I'll
check.

The shrimp which were a good-size had been cut in half. Curling was
expected but they didn't get rubbery. If I'd sauteed them they'd
probably have cooked in a minute. Instead of the plus 5 minutes they
heated in the sauce.