AS YOU KNOW, sometimes I will concentrate on a specific cookbook for material. This week’s focus is on “The New York Times 60- Minute Gourmet” it was published in 1980 and written by a French chef Pierre Franey. It doesn’t have desserts, and concentrates on main meals and side dishes. It has lots of hints and the ingredients are not hard to find. I have a feeling that many of the cooking shows on TV that emphasize “short time cooking” might use his guidelines for special meals. He is a little snide about Americans tending to overcook shrimp…but this was written 30 years ago.

Don’t be mad at him when I include his remarks: “If I were to name the one ingredient that is more often than not elaborately overcooked in American kitchens-be they in private homes or in restaurants it would be certainly shrimp. It is beyond my concept how any home cook and certainly any professional chef refuses to understand that only the briefest simmering, a minute or two, to keep their texture firm and intact-not soggy, flabby, and fibrous- is necessary.”

“It is not only their brief coking time that should give shrimp a special appeal to those who would cook in a hasty time period. Shrimp happen to be one of the great food delicacies of the world. I can recall several happy occasions generally out of doors, at a table covered with newspapers to receive the shells, and with only a hot butter and lemon sauce in which to dip the shrimp-freshly steamed with beer and seasonings-as they were peeled.”

OK be mad at him, but here’s his recipe.

If you can’t find fresh shrimp, buy the uncooked frozen and thaw them out under cold running water.

Shrimp with Beer

3 pounds shrimps in the shell

4 cloves garlic, peeled 6 allspice 1 hot dried red pepper 1 bay leaf 6 sprigs fresh parsley 2 sprigs fresh dill

1 12-oz beer

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a heavy skillet and cover closely. Bring to the boil.

Let the shrimps simmer 2 minutes and remove from the heat. Serve in the shell, letting each guest peel his own. Serve hot with individual portions of melted lemon butter.

Yield: eight servings

Lemon Butter 1/4 pound butter (unsalted)

Juice of half a lemon

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 clove garlic, unpeeled but lightly crushed

Heat the butter until quite hot and almost bubbling.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir. Serve hot with shrimp steamed in beer.

Yield: about half a cup

And another recipe from the same source.

Shrimp in Cream Sauce

Note; egg yolks are used to thicken the sauce rather than flour in the following rich dish. pgg

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 pounds shelled and deveined (raw) shrimp (1 3/4 pounds with shells on)

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots

1/3cup dry sherry wine 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 egg yolks

Melt the butter in large, heavy skillet and add the shrimp. Cook briefly and sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika.

Sprinkle with shallots and stir. Add the wine and stir. As soon as the shrimp have lost their raw look, after a minute or so, transfer the shrimp to another skillet and cover. Keep warm.

Reduce the pan liquid by half and add 1 1/4 cups of cream. Cook about 5 minutes over high heat.

Beat the yolks with the remaining heavy cream and add it to the cream sauce, stirring rapidly. Bring almost but not quite to the boil. Add the shrimp and reheat.

Serve over the already prepared rice below or your favorite basic rice combination. Look how he just heats the peas with butter and no liquid to combine with the rice!pgg

Rice with Parsley and

Peas

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons chopped onion

1 cup raw rice

1 1/2 cups water

1 bay leaf salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Tobacco sauce to taste

1 cup frozen peas

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a saucepan and add the onion. Cook until wilted. Add the rice and stir briefly

Add the water, bay leaf, salt, pepper and Tabasco

Bring to the boil. Cover and simmer 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the peas with the remaining butter, salt and pepper to taste. No liquid. Heat, shaking the saucepan to redistribute the peas so that they cook evenly, about 1 minute

Add the peas and parsley to the rice and stir to blend