Crevettes Marseillaise Pastis au fromage

Here's that shrimp recipe I was promising you. It's entirely improvised; I didn't base it on anything I'd read. But obviously it has its predecessors.

Key here is to flambé the pastis at two stages; when the mushrooms are cooking (they'll absorb a LOT of pastis flavor) and when the shrimps are sautéing (they absolutely suck the stuff in, it's incredible) but to be careful -- hair and eyebrows are at risk. Use a long kitchen match and don't use as I did a midget cigarette lighter. The only reason I have my eyebrows is that food in my kitchen knows very well who's boss.

The pearl onions are a major pain to peel but they taste great. If you can get them frozen, use those.

Ingredients
10-20 very large raw jumbo shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed, brined for 30 minutes
I cup finely chopped shallots
Lots of large garlic cloves, finely minced
5-6 cremini mushrooms, sliced
10-20 cipollini (pearl onions, peeled)
Small container crème fraîche
Whole milk
Flour
Chicken broth
2 cups hard cheese, preferably asiago, aged cheddar or Marechal au Lait Cru, grated
Compound herb butter from scratch (butter, sautéed chopped shallots, garlic, Italian parsley)
Red pepper flakes
Pastis as needed
I package good dry linguine (Barilla or Rusticella d’Abruzzo) or any fresh pasta not named Olivieri
Italian parsley
Basil

Method
Sauté shallots in compound butter till translucent. Add pearl onions and sauté about ten minutes, stirring constantly. Add some garlic and sauté a further three minutes. Remove. Add compound butter and mushrooms. Sauté on medium heat until mushrooms have lost their water and are beginning to brown.

Carefully, splash some pastis on the hot mushroom mixture and be standing by with a kitchen match or barbecue spark lighter. Stand back and flambé.

Remove and add to shallot mixture.

Add the container of crème fraîche and about 1/2 cup of milk to the pan and bring to simmering boil, stirring constantly. Stir in a scant tablespoon of flour and continue stirring. Slowly add chicken broth on a medium simmer, perhaps 1/2-to 3/4 cup. Remove from heat when sauce coats back of a spoon. Add cheese and stir in until thoroughly combined. Mix in one tablespoon of pastis and two tablespoons of chopped Italian parsley. Cover.

Start water for linguine. Water must be the salinity of the sea.

Clean and rinse soaking shrimp. In new, clean stir-fry pan, melt at least two tablespoons of compound butter on medium heat. Add more garlic and about a tablespoon of red pepper flakes. Mix thoroughly and bring to a simmer. Drop in shrimp and distribute evenly. Now, about one minute after dropping in the shrimp and not having turned them over, increase heat slightly and splash pastis generously in the pan. Light pastis with aforementioned kitchen devices and let flame out.

Turn shrimp over, cook a further minute or so and remove to bowl with shallots and mushroom mixture.

Cook linguine to not even al dente; it must be slightly hard at the center. (In the ten minutes or so between being drained and being on your plate it will come to be fully cooked, and NOT MUSHY). Drain and remove to sauté pan. Now add the cheese/crème fraîche sauce and bring to a very slight simmer. Chop basil and Italian parsley. Add the shrimp and all other ingredients and serve before I come over there and do it for you.