Seafood Au Gratin

I wish we'd taken a picture of tonight's dinner, but we were too busy savoring it.  I want to preserve the recipe, though -- so I'm recording it here.  Full credit for the dish goes to North Country Woman.

It takes about 1 pound of a mix of shrimp, scallops and crab (imitation crab in this case), though any seafood would be fine.  She used pre-cooked shrimp and crab that were completely thawed, and fresh scallops.

Begin by sauteing about 1/2 cup each of mushrooms and onions in olive oil, season with garlic salt, seasoned salt and seasoned pepper, then place them in a casserole dish. (I think the quart and a half size works best.)

Next, make a white sauce with 3 Tablespoons of butter cooked for a couple of minutes (in a big skillet) with about 5 Tablespoons of flour.  Stir in about 2 1/2 cups of milk slowly, and cook the sauce until it just begins to thicken.  Add the sauce to the mushrooms and onions.  Add one generous cup of freshly shredded sharp white cheddar cheese.  Add 2 to 3 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, mixing as you go along.

Next NCW lightly fried the seafood with a little olive oil, just to heat it through and shorten the baking time. What you do here depends on whether you're using fresh or pre-cooked seafood.  She was using a couple of recipes as guides, and one said to heat the seafood, the other said to add it to the white sauce mixture and it would cook during the last step.  (I probably would cook anything a little bit that wasn't pre-cooked.)  Add the seafood to the casserole.

Add 1/2 cup frozen peas, stir.

Dust the top of the mixture in the casserole with seasoned bread crumbs and paprika.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes  until it is bubbly.  Let it cool slightly before serving over puffed pastry shells. (She used frozen Pepperidge Farm shells.)  Serves 4 generously. Goes well with grilled asparagus and a fresh green salad.

Note:  JB liked this so much that he has devised a plan.  He's going to hide NCW until after TT leaves.