Shrimp Etouffée

Sunday night, John and Mike (and Joe!) joined me for the True Blood premiere.  Those of you familiar with the show know that it’s set in “Bon Temps,” Louisiana, a small town in backwoods LA where the residents embody a certain southern stereotype and fornicate with vampires, maenads, and well…fairies.   Seeing as John is an extraordinarily well-recognized vampire specialist (check him out at Amazon here), it only seemed right to drink “bloody red wine” and prepare a very Louisiana dish: etouffée.  Now, I had originally planned on making crawfish etouffée, but the Neighborhood Walmart by my house was out, so I picked up pre-cooked shrimp instead (a result of the oil spill in the Gulf, maybe?).  Prepare with either shrimp, or crawfish, but crawfish tails add a little extra “Louisiana” to the dish.

What we prepared was creamy, spicy, and oh-so-Louisiana.  Make this dish with freshly chopped ingredients, prepare a roux, and allow everything to simmer in Cajun spices.  You will have a dish that’s spicy (bot not too spicy) and clearly delicious.

Shrimp Etouffée
This dish is a combination of Emeril Lagasse’s and Paula Deen’s shrimp etouffée with a couple of tweaks (find the originals here and here).  I didn’t use quite the quantity of ingredients Emeril’s calls for, but used Paula’s instead.  Yet, I used Emeril’s overall technique and call for butter for the roux (Paula calls for oil, that crazy lady).  When in doubt, see Emeril for how to cook Louisiana, but see Paula for quantity sizing.


Ingredients:
* 1 cup celery, chopped
* 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
* 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

* 4 garlic cloves, minced
* 1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
* 1 stick + 3 tablespoons butter
* 1 tomato, diced
* 1 cup onions, chopped
* 1/2 cup flour
* 1 tsp pepper
* 1 tsp cayenne
* 2-3 tsps Cajun Seasoning, to taste (i.e., Tony’s)
* 2 lbs shrimp, deveined and de-tailed
* 4-5 cups water

Other Accompanying Dish:
* Prepare 6-7 servings white, or brown rice.  (Note: I use a handy-dandy, rice cooker.  I’ll have to wait for water to boil again!)

1.) First, do your prep-work by measuring out all of your ingredients–celery, tomato, onion, peppers, flour, parsley, and spices.

2.) Then remove the tails from your thawed, pre-cooked shrimp.

3.) Now, you’re ready to make the roux.  Begin by melting one stick of butter + 3 tablespoons butter in a saucepan.  Note: cut butter into 1 inch cubes in order to melt faster.

5.) Now, add your onions and celery.  Sauté for about five minutes, or until tender, but with a little bit of crunch.

6.) Once celery and onions are tender-but-crunchy, add your bell peppers and tomato and mix in.  Allow to cook for 1 minute.

7.) Once mixed properly, add garlic, parsley, and spices.  Mix and add 2 1/2 cups water.  Mix to create a creamy roux.

8.) Now, this final step is probably the trickiest, because it requires that you know what you’re doing.  Anyone who has had etouffée before knows exactly what the sauce/roux should look and taste like.  Those of you new to making this dish will need to follow this rule of thumb: add 2 more cups of water and allow to simmer for a couple of minutes.  The broth should be thick and creamy and not too watery.  Add the shrimp and allow to cook for another couple of minutes and for spices to integrate.  TASTE and adjust spices accordingly.  If, however, at any point during this final step, the sauce begins to get thick and gloppy, or thick and sticky, add more water.  The consistency you’re looking for here is “creamy.”  The roux’s flour + water + butter ratio is want to make a thicker sauce naturally (it’s similar to making a batter), but it’s your job to add enough water to keep the sauce from clumping, or globbing up.

9.) Now, remove from heat and serve over rice as this dish is clearly delicious.

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