Dauphin Island Casserole

Shrimp of the Week

Sometimes the waters in the gulf provides an immeasurable bounty of freshly caught seafood. The problem around my neck of the woods, or water as it were, is the fact that we do not eat or enjoy anything other than freshly caught seafood. I know, we are spoiled rotten folks around here. There are probably many bags of headless shrimp, milk cartons of crab-meat, fillets of grouper, snapper and/or flounder lying in a frozen state in many of our freezers. They were fresh when we put them up, but now, there they are, resting, just a notch or two above ones in the grocer’s freezers. It just goes against our nature to try and fry or even saute frozen shrimp. So, what do we do with such an accumulation of frozen seafood?

Make casseroles, like this one today. Nobody will know it’s not fresh. Oh, the price we have to pay living on the gulf coast.

Dauphin Island Casserole
6 servings

8 oz elbow macaroni
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced red sweet pepper
1/4 cup diced mushrooms
1 1/2 cups chopped shrimp, cooked, peeled & deveined
1 large tomato, diced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup crab-meat, picked of shell and cartilage
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Cook macaroni al dente, drain and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour to form a paste and whisk in the cream. Simmer to make a thick sauce. Turn off heat and stir in the lemon juice and mayonnaise.

Melt remaining butter in a large skillet and sauté the onion, pepper and mushrooms until tender. Stir in the shrimp, tomato, cooked pasta and the cream sauce. Add salt, pepper to taste, and gently stir in the crab-meat.

Pour into a buttered 2 quart oblong casserole dish, top with the cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until heated thoroughly.

Can also use lobster meat or tuna instead of the crab-meat.