Mexican Shrimp Cocktail

I first had something like this in El Mercado (the Market) of San Antonio at La Margarita Restaurant & Oyster Bar, called the Campechanna Cocktail, sometime back in the 1980's.  This is an ageless restaurant that has been around since 1941. The dish is still on their menu today and many other restaurants have copied their version of it. True to the name of the restaurant, their recipe included Oysters, something I would rather not fool with at home.

Fast forward twenty-five or so years and I was in a Pappadeaux restaurant in Houston. They have something on their menu resembling the original version, but with only shrimp. When I got home, I fooled around with a recipe for it, and this is what I came up with. I honestly don't remember if their version had cucumber in it, or it that was my innovation (or rather, a suggestion from my Number One Fan), but it added body and crunch to the dish and I like this recipe - a lot.

Ingredients

1 lb cooked jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1-1/2 cups V-8 juice (this recipe used their original flavor, but their newer spicy version will give the dish some added zing)
1/3 cup reduced sugar ketchup
2 tsp prepared horseradish
2 dashes Tabasco sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 fresh lime, juiced
1 ripe Haas Avocado
1/2 large cucumber, peeled and diced
lime wedges and cilantro sprigs for garnish
Salt to taste

The Recipe

Cut all but four shrimp into thirds.

Mix the garlic, cilantro, red onion, V-8 juice, ketchup, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lime juice and horseradish and blend well with a pinch of salt.  Add the cucumber and all the shrimp and mix well to ensure all the shrimp is covered in the sauce.

Halve the avocados and remove the pit.  Use your knife to gently score the avocado flesh into square chunks, then turn the peel inside out and as you do, scrape the diced avocado gently into the mixture.  Fold in the avocado gently so as to not masticate the pieces.

Allow the dish to sit in the refrigerator at least two hours so all the flavors amalgamate. 

Serve into stemmed wine glasses or margarita glasses, place the whole shrimp on the very top, and garnish with a spring of cilantro and a wedge of lime.  This makes enough for four large cocktails.