Shrimp Creole

I wonder how many kitchens across America were full of the aromas of gumbo, jambalaya or other Cajun or Creole dish last night? My kitchen joined in the Mardi Gras hoopla too thanks to a shrimp creole recipe I found on The Runaway Spoon. Dinner was ready in less than an hour.

If you do a search for “shrimp creole,” you’ll end up with page after page of results, but most of them are from large impersonal sites. I like to focus my recipe searches on personal cooking blogs, like mine. I’m glad I persisted because this recipe is a winner.

We had leftovers, but not enough for for a full meal for two of us, so I’ll cook up some fillets of fish and serve the leftover shrimp creole on the side.

Looks like mine! Photo by billmichalski (Flickr)

Shrimp Creole

You will need a saucepot with lid for the rice and a 4-5 quart pot or dutch oven with lid for the shrimp. Serves 3-4.

• 1-1/2 cups long grain white rice
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 3 celery ribs, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, ribs and seed removed, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 1 Tbsp Creole or Cajun seasoning (or ½ tsp each of garlic powder, salt and paprika, and ¼ tsp each of thyme, cumin and cayenne pepper, or you could follow the recipe for Emeril’s Essence)
• Half of a 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (14 oz)
• 1 (14 oz) can mild diced tomatoes with green peppers
• 1-1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 pound shrimp, uncooked, peeled and deveined – buy American only, don’t support Asian slave labor!

Prepare rice according to package directions.

In a large pot or dutch oven, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the celery, pepper and onions and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and translucent, about 12 minutes. Stir in the garlic and green onions and cook 3 minutes more. Stir in the Creole seasoning. Cook a further minute until fragrant.

Stir in the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Cook until the sauce has thickened slightly, about 10 minutes. Add the shrimp, cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and leave covered for at least 10 minutes to fully cook the shrimp.

Fluff the rice with a fork. Serve the shrimp over rice.

Original recipe: Shrimp Creole, The Runaway Spoon