Cajun Shrimp Stuffed Pistolettes

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) real butter
• 2 cups finely chopped onions
• 3/4 cup finely chopped celery
• 1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
• 1/4 cup finely sliced green onions
• 6 cloves finely minced garlic
• 1/2 pound coarsely chopped mushrooms
• 3 cups evaporated milk
• 1 cup shrimp poaching stock
• 1 pound Velveeta cheese*, cut into chunks
• 1/2 gallon vegetable oil
• 5 pounds poached and ground shrimp**
• 2 teaspoons seafood seasoning
• 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 24 unbaked Hearth Farms pistolettes

Instructions

1. Melt the butter a heavy 12 inch skillet over medium heat until it foams. Then stir in the onions, celery, garlic, bell pepper, green onions, and mushrooms and cook them for about 12 to 15 minutes until they soften completely. Be careful not to let the butter burn!
2. When the vegetables are ready, pour in the evaporated milk and the poaching stock, mix them together thoroughly, and bring the mixture to a slow boil. Then drop in all the Velveeta chunks and, with the heat still set at medium, stir until the cheese melts and the sauce turns smooth and silky.
3. While the sauce is simmering, heat the vegetable oil to 325 degrees F in a high-sided fry pan.
4. Fold the ground shrimp into the hot sauce in the skillet. Stir everything together thoroughly, and cook the mixture for 3 minutes. When the stuffing is uniformly blended, sprinkle on and stir in the seafood seasoning, pepper, and cayenne. Then remove the pan from the heat, and allow the stuffing to cool slightly.
5. If you want to develop the maximum flavor in the seafood mix, make the stuffing one day, cover it and place it in the refrigerator overnight, and reheat it and stuff the pistolettes the next day.
6. Drop the pistolettes into the hot vegetable oil and fry them for about a minute or two on both sides until they turn a golden, crunchy brown. Then, while they're still hot, hold them with a towel, make a slit in one end with a paring knife (big enough to insert a teaspoon), push down some of the bread with the knife on the inside of the pistolette to make a pocket, and fill the pocket with the stuffing.
7. Serve them as you make them.

Notes

* If you want to make the stuffing spicy, instead of using regular Velveeta cheese you can substitute the Mexican-style jalapeño Velveeta.

** To poach the shrimp, simmer them in water seasoned with crab boil and lemon juice only until they turn pink. Do not overcook them.