How about Pickled Shrimp? They can be done a couple of days ahead. Serve in a pretty bowl with crackers alongside. Pickled Shrimp 7 1/2 cups water 2 1/2 pounds unpeeled fresh shrimp 3 medium onions, sliced Fresh ground pepper Whole peppercorns 4 bay leaves 2 whole cloves garlic, peeled 1 cup cider vinegar 1 tablespoon lemon juice Bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the shrimp and cook until just pink, no more than 3 to 5 minutes. Drain well and rinse in cold water to prevent further cooking. Peel and devein shrimp, leaving tails on. In a large glass airtight jar (about 1 1/2 quarts *) layer shrimp and onions and top each layer with ground black pepper, peppercorns, bay leaf and a clove of garlic. Keep layering until jar is about 2/3 full. Pour vinegar and lemon juice over layers until jar is almost full. Leave space at the top so you can gently shake jar to remix ingredients. Seal jar tightly and chill for a few days up to 2 weeks. Turn jar upside down to remix every other day or so. Serve chilled as an appetizer. * Note: for larger shrimp you may need a larger jar and adjust ingredients accordingly. PD says they'll keep for 2 weeks. Hugh Acheson in Saveur says a week - http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Pickled-Shrimp. I'd go with a week or less. Here is a link that might be useful: Paula Deen's Pickled Shrimp

Agreed ! I've just never lived where sumac was exotic and our rural friends live close enough to shop in university towns. When I lived abroad in a tiny town in the back side of beyond, I had to travel to the big city to buy a broom because they were seasonal merchandise, but dozens of spices were available in the town. I wasn't pooh-poohing your story about the guy who had to be talked down from making sumac recipes, just expressing my surprise that sumac was in that category. To me, galangal is that way; less common, so I get it, just surprised. We have more poison sumac here than poison oak, so the word ”sumac” puts some people off, but culinary sumac also comes in little picnic packets. Re the shrimp cakes, I wasn't questioning the method of making a paste to hold them together—that's classic. It was making patties altogether given the price of good shrimp. What you just said about using the tiny, less expensive ones for the paste makes great sense, and turns the project into an extender for the big ones, rather than a ”do what?” I've thought several times about making some pickled mustard seeds, just to try it, after you've posted the recipe, but I've been waiting for other mustard seed jars in the fridge to be done (and remember). Now it's moved way up my must try list. Thank-you, again! I've seen any number of remoulade recipes that sound fine, even if I don't find good enough to eat straight with a fork, but I'm now ready to try to reproduce the star ingrdient!

How about this one from our very own Alexa? MARINATED SHRIMP WITH CHAMPAGNE BUERRE BLANC Sauce base: 2 cups Champagne or other dry sparkling wine 1/3 cup finely chopped shallots 2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar or other white wine vinegar 1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns Shrimp: 1 cup Champagne or other dry sparkling wine 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 3 tablespoons minced shallots 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 24 extra-large uncooked shrimp (about 2 pounds), peeled with tail left intact, deveined 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives 1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley Nonstick vegetable oil spray 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces For sauce base: Combine Champagne, shallots, vinegar, and peppercorns in heavy medium saucepan. Boil until reduced to 1/4 cup liquid, about 20 minutes. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.) For shrimp: Combine Champagne, olive oil, shallots, and ground pepper in resealable plastic bag. Add shrimp to bag and seal; shake bag to coat shrimp evenly. Marinate shrimp at room temperature at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour, turning bag occasionally. Mix chives, tarragon, and parsley in small bowl. Preheat broiler. Spray broiler pan with nonstick vegetable oil spray. Drain shrimp; discard plastic bag with marinade. Arrange shrimp on prepared pan in single layer. Broil shrimp until just opaque in center, about 2 minutes per side. Stand 3 shrimp, tails upright, in center of each plate. Re-warm sauce base over medium-low heat. Whisk in butter 1 piece at a time, just allowing each to melt before adding next (do not boil or sauce will separate). Season buerre blanc to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon warm sauce around shrimp. Sprinkle with fresh herbs and serve. Market tip: Champagne and sparkling wines labeled extra dry are actually slightly sweeter than those labeled brut. The latter works best for this dish. Posted by Alexa at the GardenWeb Cooking Forum.

Oh Yummy! Thanks for sharing. I love her recipes - this is her recipe for Grilled Herb Shrimp - very good. You can get it ready ahead of time and just toss them on the grill. Serves 6 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped 1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley 1/4 cup minced fresh basil 1 teaspoon dry mustard 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 2 teaspoons coarse salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 1/4 cup olive oil Juice of 1 lemon 2 pounds jumbo shrimp (16 to 20 per pound), peeled and deveined, tails intact Vegetable oil, for grilling In a medium bowl, combine garlic, onion, parsley, basil, mustards, salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon juice. Add the shrimp, and marinate for 1 hour at room temperature, or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Heat a grill or a grill pan over medium-high heat. Brush the rack or pan with vegetable oil to prevent the shrimp from sticking. Skewer 5 to 6 shrimp on a 12-inch skewer for a dinner serving. Grill the shrimp on each side, until opaque and lightly charred, about 1 1/2 minutes.