Gulf shrimp with shiitake mushrooms, figs, honey candied pecans and peppadew peppers stuffed with caramelized onions, cream cheese and Fourme d'Ambert, a french cow's milk blue cheese. Grüner Veltliner pairing. This was a no utensil dinner. Finger bowl was a necessity. Shrimp in the shell were extra tasty as they should be. But the key concept of the dish was the pairings:
Figs & pecans: could have eaten these forever. Would make an excellent pavlova.
Shrimp & pecans: also great
Shiitakes & figs: really nice
Shrimp & shiitakes: really nice
Shockingly, the peppadews were not as great as I thought they would be but the reason was simple: too much caramelized onion. The peppers were stuffed with them and then the cheeses added and then more onions. Too much. They overwhelmed the concept and lost all acid balance with the peppers. Just the cheese and peppers would have been nice. Looking forward to all the leftover pecans. Fun fact, butcher's paper is not entirely non-stick. Get parchment.
