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For each person, peel, seed, and hollow out a large ripe tomato. Into the bottom place a cold egg which has been poached in boiling salted water until the yolk has not quite set. Cover the egg with shrimp. Top with mayonnaise (page 34) and garnish with finely chopped parsley, chives, and tarragon.

TOMATO SHRIMP APPETIZER II

Hollow the tomato out as above, put in the egg, and add the shrimp. Cover with a tomato aspic and chill until very firm. Prepare mayonnaise jelly (page 34) with equal quantities of mayonnaise and aspic and cover each tomato with this sauce. Garnish with finely chopped egg, red pepper, and parsley.

CUCUMBER SHRIMP APPETIZER

For each person make a cucumber boat. Cut a strip from one side of the cucumber and remove all the seeds, hollowing it out. Then cut a thin slice from the bottom so that the cucumber boat will stand steady on the plate. Salt and pepper the inside, and rub with olive oil and vinegar. Chill for 2 hours.

Fill the boats with well-seasoned shrimp that have been cooked in a court bouillon and chilled. Cover with a mayonnaise sauce, and garnish with slices of tomato, hard-cooked egg, and finely chopped fresh dill.

VARIATION

Season the cucumber boats well with chopped fresh dill and chives. Fill with the cooked shrimp, cover with dill-flavored sour cream, and garnish with chopped hard-cooked egg and capers.

SHRIMP ASPIC RING

2 quarts court bouillon (page 18)

3 pounds large shrimp

3 envelopes gelatin

12 eggs, hard-cooked

1 small onion, chopped

6 mushrooms, chopped

12 ripe olives, chopped

Mayonnaise

2 cucumbers

Romaine lettuce

2 or 3 knob celery (celery root), grated

Sauce rémoulade (page 35)

Pimientos, olives, and other garnish

Prepare the court bouillon. Poach the shrimp for 4 minutes and remove them from the bouillon to cool. Reduce the bouillon to 1 quart and strain. Dissolve the gelatin in 1/2 cup of cold water and combine with the bouillon. Cool, but do not let it set.

Cut 6 eggs in half the long way and 6 the round way; remove the yolks. Crush the yolks with the onion, mushrooms, and ripe olives. Moisten with mayonnaise. Fill the egg halves with this paste piped through the large rosette end of a pastry tube. Chill.

Arrange the shelled shrimp in the bottom of a ring mold — making a solid ring of shrimp. Cover with a layer of the jelly and chill until firm. Score the skin of the cucumbers by running the tines of a fork the long way, from tip to tip, in order to form scalloped edges on the cucumber slices. Then slice them evenly. Arrange a layer of the cucumber slices in an overlapping ring on top of the shrimp and jelly. Add another layer of shrimp and cover with more aspic. Chill. Cover each stuffed egg with aspic and chill.

Arrange romaine on a large platter and unmold the ring on top. Fill the center with the celery root mixed with sauce rémoulade. Decorate the stuffed eggs with pimientos and olives cut in slices or designs and arrange them around the edge of the platter. Serve with more rémoulade.

CUCUMBER ASPIC WITH SHRIMP

White wine court bouillon (pages 18–19)

2 pounds shrimp

11/2 envelopes gelatin

2 or 3 cucumbers, peeled and sliced

Romaine

Green peppers

Russian salad (pages 409–410)

Prepare the court bouillon. Add shrimp shells and cook for 1/2 hour over a brisk flame to blend the flavors. Poach the shrimp for the last 4 minutes and remove from the bouillon to chill. Reduce the bouillon to 3 cups and strain through a linen napkin.

Dissolve the gelatin in 1/4 cup of cold water. Combine it with the bouillon and season to taste with fresh tarragon or dill.

Arrange the cucumber in overlapping slices in the bottom of a ring mold. Add a little of the gelatin mixture and let it set. Pour the remaining gelatin over it and chill until firm. Arrange romaine on a round platter and unmold the ring on top. Fill the center with the cold poached shrimp. Decorate with strips of green pepper and surround with pepper cups filled with Russian salad. Serve with sauce verte (page 34).

INDIVIDUAL SHRIMP