Shrimp Etouffe

A friend posted that she had made this one a few weeks back, and I was intrigued.  You see, my husband really would love to live in the South.  He could eat cornbread and Cajun food, hush puppies and fried chicken every day without it ever getting old.

Having said that, I attempted jambalaya once when we first got married and it wasn't good.  Of course, I also wasn't a very good cook back then.  I should try again, I suppose.  When we have fried chicken, he's usually the one that makes it.

Then I saw this recipe and knew I had to try it.

I'm borrowing her picture, and she added scallops.  The original recipe calls for a pound of shrimp and a pound of crawfish, which are a little hard to find in the middle of the country.  I just added another pound of shrimp.

The first part is making a roux.  Which is time consuming and more than a little bit stressful since it needs to be stirred constantly.  You cannot burn it at all or you have to toss it and start over. 

My advice, pour a glass of wine before you start.  ;)

That, and have everything else already cut up and ready to go before you start the whole process. 

Shrimp Etouffe
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 cup chicken stock (can use vegetable as well)
- 1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 large tomatoes, chopped
- 1 tbsp seasoned salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
-  2 tbsp Frank's Red Hot pepper sauce
- dried cayenne pepper if desired to taste
- 2 pounds raw peeled, deveined shrimp (can substitute half with craw fish, scallops or sausage)

Heat oil, adding flour a little at a time, stirring constantly over medium heat.  Making the roux takes about 20 minutes, keep stirring the whole time to make sure the bottom doesn't burn.  When it turns a medium brown color, it's ready.

Add the bell pepper, celery, onion and garlic and saute in the roux for a few minutes.  Then add tomatoes and chicken stock.  Stir together, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. 

Add seasoned salt, pepper and Red Hot.  Taste.  Add more cayenne if you want more heat. 

Last, stir in the raw shrimp and simmer in the sauce for about 10 minutes until they are done. 

Serve over rice.

Then thank Elisa.  :)