Entrée — Louisiana Shrimp Creole (David’s version) by dvdlee

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Entree -- Louisiana Shrimp Creole (David's version)
Submitted by dvdlee on August 27, 2004 at 9:57 am

DESCRIPTION
Entree -- Louisiana Shrimp Creole (David's version)

SUMMARY
Yield 0 File under Misc. Recipes & Requests

INSTRUCTIONS
I love creole (shrimp especially), and have tried a LOT of recipes -- and was never satisfied by them. One problem is that creole is more of a half-breed than most Lousiaiana cooking. Creole cooking was fairly fancy "city" cooking with lots of influence from France. Cajun was "country" cooking with rough, rustic flavors and making use of every scrap of food available. The dish "creole" is not an etoufee, but not any kind of European tomato sauce either. I think it is a true blend of the 2 types of Louisiana cooking.

A perfect creole should have a mild-to-medium hot & spicy bite -- but not be HOT. The sauce should be tomato-ey enough, but still have undertones of the slow-cooked, deep richness of basic cajun cooking. Of course, the vegetables are onion, green pepper and celery -- but the proportions have to be right.

Well after long searching and experimentation I have finally decided that this is IT. The starting point of this recipe can be found on the Tabasco site (www.tabasco.com), but I have made changes and alterations.

3 slices of lean bacon
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 cup red wine (or shrimp stock, clam juice or water)
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon file powder (1/4 + 1/4)
2 Tablespoons flour
1 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes with tomato puree (brands I like best, in order: Progresso, Glen Muir, Hunts)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons Lee & Perrins Worcestershire
1 to 1 & 1/2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 small bay leaf (1/2 of a big one)
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 to 1 & 1/2 pound shrimp, no shells, deveined

Prepare all ingredients. (I like the celery and green pepper cut into medium-large chunks, around 1/4 dice -- you may prefer a finer dice. Onion should be finely chopped, garlic minced or pressed).

Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp and well-done. Remove bacon, set aside. There should be around 3 tablespoons of bacon fat in the skillet. If there is not enough, add some vegetable oil to give you around 3 tablespoons of fat.

Add onion, celery and green pepper and saute over medium heat until crisp-tender (the vegetables are almost cooked, but still have a faint "crunch" to them). Add garlic and 1/4 teaspoon gumbo file and saute until fragrent (another 30 sec. to 1 minute).

Remove pan from heat. Add flour and mix well. Return pan to medium heat and cook for another minute or so. Add wine (or water).

Next, add tomatoes, worcestershire, tabasco, sugar, salt, bay leaf. Simmer and cook 10 minutes. (Don't panic if the sauce tastes really hot just after mixing things together, the Tobasco will settle down and become a little less hot over time.)

(Ten minutes is the minimum time to cook the sauce -- I like to let it simmer for around a half hour). Add the parsley for the last 5 minutes of cooking. Add water if needed to adjust the thickness of the sauce. (At this point, you can hold the dish as long as you want -- or even chill and store until the next day.)

When almost ready to serve dinner (5-6 minutes before). Add the fresh shrimp and crumbled reserved bacon. Just before serving add an additional 1/4 teaspoon of gumbo file powder. Check and add salt if needed or an additional dash of tabasco (if you wimped out earlier!)

Serve over hot rice.

Obviously, you need to have first-rate shrimp! I have a great store -- Whole Foods -- that has great fresh shrimp, and they will shell and devein the shrimp for me if I ask!! For family, you could make this with frozen shrimp I guess.

You can also make this a fast weeknight dinner dish with the following compromises. Use frozen onions, green pepper and celery. Microwave the bacon while you saute the vegetable (pour the fat into the pan though! LOL). After the sauce is ready to simmer, add frozen shrimp. By the time the shrimp are unfrozen and cooked, the sauce will be done. (Only add 1/8 cup of liquid (wine, stock, clam juice) if using frozen shrimp to make sure the sauce doesn't get too thin. You can add water if needed just before serving.

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