Shrimp Sauce for Baked Bass

A pan sauce built directly on the drippings from a baked whole bass, thickened with browned flour and finished with canned shrimp. It comes together in the time it takes the fish to rest.

• Browned flourFlour toasted dry in a skillet or a slow oven until it is the colour of light brown sugar. Nineteenth-century cookbooks often advise keeping a jar of it ready for gravies and brown sauces. Toast a few tablespoons over medium heat, stirring constantly, and note that browned flour thickens less than raw flour, so the sauce will stay looser.
• The gravy in the panThe recipe assumes a baked bass has left several tablespoons of buttery, seasoned juices behind. If your fish was baked lean or on a rack and left almost nothing, add a little fish stock or the strained juices from under the fish rather than plain water, or the sauce will taste flat.
• Canned shrimpTin sizes varied, but half a can here is probably in the region of 3 to 4 oz of drained cooked shrimp. About 1/2 cup of chopped cooked shrimp is a reasonable modern equivalent; drain and rinse canned shrimp to shed the packing liquid, which is very salty.
• Boil for a moment, and no longerThe shrimp go in already cooked. The instruction to boil briefly is about tightening the roux, not cooking the shellfish -- thirty seconds to a minute is enough. Held at a boil, the shrimp turn cottony.
• Quantity of liquidFour tablespoonfuls of boiling water is a quarter cup, which with the pan juices gives a thick, coating sauce rather than a pourable one. Loosen with another tablespoon or two if it will not fall from the spoon.
• Cayenne and lemonCayenne "to taste" here is probably a warm background note, perhaps 1/8 teaspoon for this volume. Note that the recipe adds the lemon juice before the brief boil; if you prefer a brighter finish, stir it in off the heat instead.
• YieldRoughly a cup once the pan juices and shrimp are counted in, enough to spoon over a baked bass and still fill the sauce boat.