Although I’ve only been to New Orleans once in my life, I did it full on and had a blast. It was completely different than I had expected, though bits and pieces are a bit of a blurr from spending a lot of time on Bourbon Street, I can still vividly remember The Corner Oyster House where I dined 3 times during my stay. Their creole was THAT good, not to mention their Hurricanes. That was the best meal I had throughout my entire trip and ever since, I’ve been trying to recreate that flavor. Unfortunately, I haven’t yet hit the nail on the head but, I’ve come pretty close with my current version of shrimp creole. Sadly, I was completely out of parsley when I made this, but honestly, not a whole lot of restaurants use it on this dish. It’s a what you see is what you get kind of meal.
3 tbs butter
1 c onions, diced
½ c green bellpepper, diced
3 celery ribs, diced
1 lg garlic clove, fine minced
1 tbs creole seasoning
4 tbs tomato paste
1 c water
32 oz diced petite tomatoes
1-8 oz can tomato sauce
4 c shrimp stock
1 tbs cayenne
1 tsp ground Thyme
2 tbs worcestershire sauce
½ tbs tabasco
2 lg bay leaves
2 tbs creole seasoning
1 tbs chicken bullion
12 oz shrimp, cleaned and devained
Salt and white pepper to taste
1 c green onions, sliced with bulbs removed
Start by melting butter in a deep pot over medium high heat. Add the trinity (vegetables) and garlic. Sauté until tender. Add everything to your food processor and puré. Return vegetable puré to the pot. Add 1 tbs of the creole seasoning and tomato paste. Cook until the mixture begins to brown. Add the tomatoes and juice. Next, add the water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat for 15 minutes and add the tomato sauce, stock, bayleaves, pepper, salt, cayenne, thyme tabasco, worcestershire, 2 tbs creole mix and bullion.
Cook at simmer for 1 hour.
Now, it’s time to thicken your creole. Make your roux by heating a small pan over medium high heat. Add ½ c flour. Whisk it around a bit until the flour begins to brown slightly. Next, add 2 tbs oil. Your roux should look like raw cookie dough. Use a ladle to gradually whisk 1 ½ c of the creole liquid into your roux . Now, gradually whisk the roux into the pot of creole. Add your shrimp to the pot and make any adjustments with the salt and pepper as needed. Cook additional 10 minutes. Serve over rice with a little green onions.
Girl-Chef Tastes 