This comes from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Parties! It specifies "serves 12" - ok for a party, but I have only ever made half the recipe. Ina mentions that the secret to good shrimp salad is to "undercook" the shrimp and stresses not to cook it longer than the specified 3 minutes - that's for a shrimp size of 16-20 per lb. She also emphasizes that the shrimp must be cooled before being combined with the mayo mix to avoid spoilage.
Getting Ready:
buy the shrimp - be sure to get unpeeled; the recipe suggests the Extra Jumbo (16-20) size, but you could also use Jumbo (21-25)
if frozen, the shrimp need to be thawed; if you forget to do this overnight, most frozen shrimp thaw quickly under running water
prep the onion, celery and dill; NOTE that Ina minces the onion and celery - I just do a fine dice.
prep the lemons
Note the mayo quantity - start with the smaller amount and then add more as you prefer.
NOTE I AM SHARING MEASURES FOR THE FULL RECIPE (4 lbs shrimp) AND HALF RECIPE (2 lbs)
Full recipe:
3 TB kosher salt
2 lemons cut into quarters
4 lbs uncooked shrimp in shell, thawed (16-20 per lb)
1.5 - 2 cups mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 TB white wine vinegar
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
6 TB minced fresh dill
1 cup red onion, minced or finely diced
3 cups celery, minced or 1/4" dice
Half recipe:
3 TB kosher salt
2 lemons cut into quarters
2 lbs uncooked shrimp in shell, thawed (16-20 per lb)
1\2 - 1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 TB white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 TB minced fresh dill
1/2 cup red onion, minced or finely diced
1.5 cups celery, minced or 1/4" dice
Bring 5 quarts water, salt and lemon to a boil in a large pot. (I use my pasta pot.) It may be best to cook only 1 lb. of shrimp at the same time - then bring the same water back to a boil and repeat until you’ve cooked all the shrimp. For the half recipe, add only half the shrimp (2 lbs - in two batches). Reduce the heat to medium. Cook uncovered for only three minutes or until the shrimp are barely cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon (or spider) to a bowl of cool water.
If doing the full recipe, bring the water back to a boil and repeat with the remaining shrimp.
Let cool, then peel and de-vein the shrimp.
In a separate bowl whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, wine vinegar, salt, pepper and the dill.
Combine with the cooled, drained and peeled shrimp. Add the red onion and celery and check the seasonings.
Serve, or cover and refrigerate for a few hours. The flavour does improve if you let it sit for a bit.
Notes and Tips...
Shrimp - this doesn't take long to make, but the trick is to have the frozen shrimp thawed. Most frozen shrimp thaw nicely if placed in the refrigerator overnight. Otherwise, thawing it under cold running water works fine, but adds a bit of time and attention to the prep. My grocer sells raw shrimp in the shell, already de-veined - which is nice. I don't advise buying raw peeled shrimp - so much of the flavour comes from the shell - and that makes the time it takes to peel the shrimp worthwhile. In a time crunch, I guess using raw peeled shrimp would still produce a flavourful salad.
Lemon, salt - even when making half the recipe, I use the full amount of salt and lemon in the cooking water
Mayonnaise - best ingredients make best food. I do sometimes use Miracle Whip and love the taste
Vinegar - Ina even suggests using good white wine; I almost always have champagne vinegar on hand and like to use that
Celery - either regular or celery hearts work fine; some people like the more delicate flavour of celery hearts
Make ahead - I have almost always made this the day before; it rarely lasts into day three - but if it does, by then it is still edible, but a bit "watery"
Serving suggestions: Ina proposes using this on a picnic, as an appetizer or a main course salad. Have always thought they'd look nice served in little lettuce cups.
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