Shrimp Creole!

Ahhh, New Orleans.  The home of my youth and the city that would begin my love affair with food! Seriously, when I first moved to New Orleans (and stayed for a while) I was about twelve and was just about as finicky an eater as you ever saw.

I remember a time when my grandparents visited and took us out to eat at one of the local seafood restaurants.  I loved seafood...Indiana seafood.  I ordered a shrimp platter and very excitedly awaited its arrival.  I loved shrimp!  Well the server brought our food and plopped a plate of shrimp in front of me, in the shell with tails and heads intact!  I could not believe this.  Shrimp had heads!?  Never had I seen such a thing!  And on that day I swore never to eat shrimp again.  Luckily, that was just a teenage girl overreacting. I mean if I wouldn't eat shrimp because they had heads, I never would have eaten crawfish either.  What a loss that would have been!

Anyway, this is one of the family's favorite recipes.  When my son is home we always ask him, what would like to eat while you are here.  Three dishes always make the list, Shrimp Creole, Krapow (a wonderful Thai dish) and Chicken Marsala.  While I can make the Chicken Marsala, it is my husband, Mark who has perfected the recipe, so we will have to talk to him before I can post it here.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.  It is our own little taste of Nawlins!

2 large cans (around 30oz) plum tomatoes; chop the tomatoes and reserve the juice.

1 cup each chopped celery, onion and bell pepper

8-10 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 ½ cups chicken stock

½ stick butter

1 ½ tbsp Creole seasoning (we like a little more, but start with this amount and add to taste)

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1 lb shrimp

1 tsp Worcestershire

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup fresh Basil chopped

1 tbls fresh Oregano chopped

1 teaspoon fresh thyme chopped

Heat oil in a large skillet and add the onions, celery and bell pepper.  Sauté until vegetables are just becoming translucent.  Add the garlic and sauté one more minute.  Add the tomatoes, basil, oregano, thyme creole seasoning, salt, Worcestershire and cayenne and continue cooking for a couple more minutes.  Add the reserve juice and chicken stock half a cup of each at a time until the sauce is the consistency you desire.  Add the butter (cut into 1 tbsp chunks) and blend it thoroughly with the rest of the sauce.  Allow the sauce to simmer for 10 minutes then add your shrimp.  Allow to simmer until the shrimp are done.  Serve over rice with crusty French bread.