Thanks for all the advice. The recipe came out great, so if anyone’s interested. . .
Finely chop small onion & garlic.
In a sauce pan, heat O & G in oil until it starts to brown (3 or so minutes).
Add shells of 2 pounds of shrimp, slices from 2 peeled lemons, 3 bay leaves, 2 cups of clam broth(*), 1.5 TBSP of Cajun Rub(**), 1/2 cup worcestershire, 1/4 c dry white wine. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes to reduce a to about 1.5 c. This smells SO FRIGGIN’ GOOD!!!
Strain into another sauce pan so you’re left with a brown sauce. Reduce at a boil, stirring constantly until it’s thickened slightly (5-10 minutes).
Add 2 c heavy cream, and reduce the whole thing to about 1.5 c (10-15 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in 2 TBSP unsalted butter.
Salt & pepper to taste.
(*) The recipe actually says 2 c clam broth, or water. I made a light shrimp stock with about half the shells from 2 pounds of shrimp and added 2 c of that, the other half of the shells, and some of the shells from the stock.
(**) Cajun Rub was a dry-rub recipe with salt, pepper, cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, oregano, and thyme. Probably any cajun spice or blackening spice would do.
I grilled shrimp coated with olive oil & the cajun rub, and served on polenta with the sauce poured over the whole thing. Accompanied with Sauvignon Blanc.
From “The Barbeque Bible”. He says it’s an Emeril recipe. Not a super-quick recipe. Definitely has a fine-food flavor to it. 2 cups of heavy cream will do that. Somewhat complex with the lemons & worchestershire & slight fishiness coming through.