Louisiana Shrimp Puffs recipe

3 pounds raw shrimp, peeled
1 cup white wine
1 cup butter
1 cup shallots, finely chopped
1 cup celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup bell pepper, finely chopped
1 pint whipping cream
8 ounces cream cheese
4 large eggs, boiled and finely chopped
1 cup black olives, finely chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
Romano, for garnish
Parsley, for garnish
24 small pastry shells

Poach the shrimp in the white wine in a heavy 12-inch aluminum skillet until they turn pink and tender (this should take about 4 minutes over medium-high heat).

Scoop the shrimp from the poaching wine (save the wine). Separate them into 2 portions, and place each portion in a bowl to cool. At this point, leave half the shrimp whole and shred the other half into small slivers using the cutting blade of your food processor.

In the same skillet you used to poach the shrimp, melt the butter and gently saut� the green onions, celery and bell pepper until they soften. Then pour in the whipping cream and the poaching wine and stir everything together until well blended. Now over high heat, reduce the cream-wine sauce to one-half of its original volume, STIRRING CONSTANTLY.

Drop the shredded shrimp into the skillet and simmer it gently into the sauce for about a minute or two. Then, little by little, start adding the cream cheese, stirring constantly. When all is well blended, season the mixture with the salt and pepper and remove the skillet from the heat. Toss in chopped eggs and black olives and fold them into the mix thoroughly.

Taste for salt and pepper once more.

Stuff the mixture into the pastry shells, top each one with a whole shrimp, sprinkle with parsley and Romano, and bake at 375 degrees F until bubbly.