Shrimp Butter on Creamy Polenta

~Edna Lewis is a legend in Southern Cooking; the Julia Child of the South. One of her greatest legacies is shrimp paste or shrimp butter. Cooked shrimp is blended with butter, seasonings, and can be swirled into grits or used as a spread for baguettes. This is my riff off her original recipe.

*Click to link for Creamy Polenta

Ingredients:

1 ½ sticks of unsalted sweet butter

1lb fresh tiger shrimp- peeled and deveined

juice from 1 lemon

¼ cup Marsala wine

½ tbsp cayenne pepper

fresh ground pepper

sugar

Directions:

1. On medium heat, melt ½ stick of butter. Once it becomes foamy, place shrimp into pan. Cook in batches and make sure to space apart so shrimp can sear evenly on both sides.
2. Remove cooked shrimp and place into blender. Reserve 5 cooked shrimp and set aside.
3. Return pan to stove and add wine, lemon juice, cayenne, a few twists of fresh ground pepper, and a pinch of sugar. Using a wooden spoon, scrape bottom of pan to loosen fond.
4. Once liquid has reduced by half, pour contents into blender. Add a stick of butter and puree. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
5. Take the 5 cooked shrimp and roughly chop. Fold into shrimp butter.
6. Take about a tbsp of shrimp butter and swirl into each serving of polenta. Garnish with scallion oil if desired.
7. Shrimp butter will keep in fridge for 1 week.