Jarlsberg Stuffed Shrimp Cakes

I was recently asked to create a summer garden party menu by Jarlsberg USA using their cheese. My client and I wanted to include some kind of fish cake on the menu, and I initially made Fresh Salmon Cakes (which I love, btw). We wanted, however, to include Jarlsberg in as much of the menu as we could, and considered stuffing the Salmon Cakes with the cheese. I didn’t quite feel they were a good choice for that, so back to the drawing board I went. I’m so glad I did, as I hit upon the idea of a Jarlsberg Stuffed Shrimp Cake. As I’m sure those of you who read this blog know, I’m a true New Orleanian when it comes to loving shrimp. I wasn’t quite sure about this idea when I started out, but by the time I let the mixture rest overnight (allowing the flavors to marry), and cooked them up for dinner the next day, I was sold!

I took some over to my mother and her friend, Margaret, for dinner and they loved them, too.

“It tastes like something my grandmother used to make for us when we were kids,” Mom said. “She called it Shrimp Pie. It was the depression, and she to had to come up with cheap ways of feeding us, and shrimp were 3 pounds for a dollar…” (what do you know-well, like Mom says-the genes are strong).

And yeah-can you imagine-3 pounds for a dollar? Ah well, shrimp is not quite that cheap anymore, and probably never was away from the Gulf Coast, but the good news is, you can use a small sized shrimp (which are generally cheaper) for these cakes since the shrimp is chopped anyway.

I have paired them with a slight variation on a Tomato Butter Sauce from Marcella Hazan’s  Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Served with a simple salad of mixed greens, this makes a very tasty lunch or supper, indeed-depression or no depression.

Oh, btw, I am so grateful to JarlsbergUSA, who is sponsoring me to attend and represent them at the International Food Bloggers Conference this August being held at the historic Monteleone Hotel in New Orleans. I’ll be spending a few extra days in the city, chatting with and interviewing NOLA food folks, so if there’s anything in particular you’d like to hear about from the Crescent City, please leave a comment and let me know. Recipe follows…

Laissez les bontemps roulez!