The food with a title that I'm not so sure about...

When I was growing up, my parents never bought seafood. Nevermind that my father wrinkles his nose every time he smells raw fish, and nevermind that Long John Silver's was much more tasty to us than any seafood concoction we could have dreamed of; it was simply too expensive. Chicago isn't known for its fresh seafood, but it sure is known for its tasty [fatty] sausage. Nowadays I tend to skip the sausage (more expensive in the middle of the wheatfields) and opt for shrimp or scallops or salmon, or cod....the list goes on.

Yet tonight I remembered that my mother did cook one fabulous shrimp dish from a recipe she received at work one week. It seems there was a sale on shrimp at a local market and my mom was desperate to get us to eat it without the remarkably capable method of deep frying. My mom wrote the recipe on an index card with a chicken sitting on its eggs in the corner, one of those old recipe cards that people took the time to write out and alphabetize in an old wooden recipe card holder, before the advent of technology. She called the recipe "Shrimp duh John" and ever since she made it I have craved and adored it, but I don't make it often (too much butter and other fattening ingredients...).

I decided to look up shrimp recipes today on allrecipes.com (ps--join that community--I've found the best recipes from internet home cooks), and I ran into a listing for "Shrimp de Jonghe." After scrutinizing the ingredients, I was pretty confident that it wasn't the same dish, but then I noticed "Shrimp de Jonghe II" in the "Related Recipes" bar, and I couldn't believe my eyes. IT'S A REAL RECIPE! The second version was much more like the version my mother made, so I copied it down and made some alterations. The most significant revision is the serving size; hubby was at work so the recipe is for one. What follows is the recipe and a few pictures of the turnout.

Shrimp de Judy (I have renamed it for my mother...)

8 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, although I left the tails on

2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced (use a garlic press for best results)

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 cup organic or reduced sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

2 tablespoons panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

Black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put shrimp into a small salad or other mixing bowl, and add all ingredients except panko. Mix with a spatula and pour into a small casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle panko over the mixture (you might need a bit more if your shrimp aren't covered enough) and bake for 15 minutes, or until the broth has mostly evaporated and the panko is a golden brown color.

Once my shrimp was baked, I heated up some leftover jasmine rice and corn from lastnight to serve it over. Always use your leftovers, or my mother would be angry!!