Shrimp DeJonghe

The DeJonghe brothers' hotel and restaurant
was located on Monroe Street in Chicago, a couple
of blocks west of Lake Michigan. the
restaurant was closed in the early 1920s for
serving liquor during Prohibition,

In 1891 three brothers—Henri, Peter, and Charles DeJonghe—moved from Belgium to the United States and settled in Chicago, where for the next three decades they owned a number of restaurants. Their most famous one, the luxurious DeJonghe Hotel and Restaurant was on Monroe Street in Chicago's Loop neighborhood. Many celebrities of the day are said to have dined there, including Al Capone.

Somewhere along the line, one of the brothers or their chef, Emil Zehr, came up with a special butter that had breadcrumbs, parsley, and lots of garlic mixed into it. This so-called DeJonghe butter was used as a flavorful topping for any number of foods—a menu of the times lists Oysters DeJonghe, Lobster DeJonghe, Eggs DeJonghe, Chicken DeJonghe, and Shrimp DeJonghe. Out of all of them, the one that stuck was the shrimp, and it has since earned a prominent place on the list of Chicago's signature dishes.

Flash forward about eight decades and meet Brian Quinn, the great-grandson of Peter DeJonghe. Brian is a chef by trade, and when he was a chef-in-training, his grandmother Harriet Quinn (née DeJonghe) decided that since her grandson was truly interested in food and was showing promise as a chef, she should give him the secret family file. That file included the recipe for DeJonghe butter. Brian has kindly shared the recipe with us.

The original recipe makes a gargantuan amount; it was used in so many dishes that the restaurant needed to have lots of it on hand. We took that recipe—which calls for 2 pounds of butter, 1 pound of margarine, 3 cups of chopped garlic, and 14 cups of breadcrumbs!—and scaled it down to a more manageable number of servings. Of course you could easily double or triple the DeJonghe butter in this recipe if you wanted to keep some on hand.

Shrimp DeJonghe

Makes 6 servings
As Brian Quinn says, you can use this butter to "...'DeJonghe' anything: oysters, lobster, and so on. Just remember, this is a very garlic-powered recipe."

About 2 ounces firm-textured bread, preferably stale, torn into pieces
8 tablespoons (1 stick/4 ounces) salted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper sauce (like Tabasco)
1/4 cup minced garlic (about 7 large cloves)
3 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 medium shallot, minced
36 large shrimp, shelled and deveined

1. In a food processor, process the bread pieces to make breadcrumbs. Measure out 11/4 cups crumbs.
2. In a bowl, with an electric mixer, blend the butter, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce. Add the garlic, parsley, and shallot and blend. Add the breadcrumbs and blend to distribute evenly. (The butter can be made ahead. Scrape it onto a piece of plastic wrap and form into log 6 inches long. Wrap well and refrigerate.)
3. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
4. Arrange the shrimp in one large or 6 small gratin dishes. Spread the breadcrumb/butter over the shrimp. (If you've made a butter log in advance, cut it into slices and place over the shrimp in a single layer, not overlapping.) Bake the shrimp until the topping is nicely browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve hot.

Tomato-Basil DeJonghe: Decrease the garlic to 3 tablespoons and omit the shallot. Add 3 tablespoons minced sun-dried tomatoes. Use fresh basil instead of parsley.

Lemon-Tarragon DeJonghe: Use 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper instead of the hot sauce. Decrease the garlic to 3 tablespoons. Use 2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon instead of parsley. Increase the shallots to 2. Add 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest.

[This article first appeared in the February/March 2008 issue of Hallmark Magazine.]