While I strive to keep a majority of recipes posted on here quite simple, quick, and easy enough for pretty much anyone to pull off, every once in a while you just have to live a little and push your limits with something new and different. As one of my favorite movie quotes goes, "You just gotta keep livin' man, L-I-V-I-N!" And nothing says living like some Gulf Coast, down home Cajun/Creole magic more so than Shrimp Etouffee! We have all heard of it, but do you know what etouffee really entails? Well, it is a well-loved Cajun and Creole dish that typically smothers shellfish in a rich gravy served along side white rice. Now depending on which side of the Cajun or Creole tracks you grew up on, this also means tomatoes will or will not be included. As for the rest of us, I'm just going to show you how to make a damn good plate of Shrimp Etouffee good enough to light up that true Louisiana magic deep in all us and have us screaming "Laissez les bons temps rouler (Lay say lay bohn tohn roo lay) – Let the good times roll." We are making this Shrimp Etouffee from complete scratch so sit back and relax as I cover all the important parts and pieces to making this dish extra special...Let's get cooking!
Right off the bat I'm going to tell you that we are going above and beyond by creating our own shrimp stock for this Shrimp Etouffee recipe. You may be asking why go to that extra effort, but we already have most of the ingredients and seasonings for the etouffee itself so why not further utilize everything and double-down on fortifying flavor rather than just cheating and using some boring old chicken stock! That being said, you can search to find the Shrimp Stock recipe yourself, but I'll quickly explain the process. Begin by saving the shells from 2-3 pounds of shrimp you peel for the etouffee recipe. There are a ton of vitamins and flavor packed in those shells so toss them in a pot with some water, carrots, celery, onion, mushrooms, garlic, lemon, and black peppercorns. Boil away for about an hour and strain the solids...it is really that simple!
Making stocks from scratch is a great kitchen practice to use up leftover scraps and bones/shells so do yourself a favor and try it for yourself. Besides, homemade stocks add a ton of flavor for minimal effort so just take a quick minute to read the Shrimp Stock Blog before moving on. You don't want to be the one person that cheated with store bought chicken stock when it really is as simple as boiling some shells and a handful of other ingredients. You should end up with a bowl of awesome sauce packed full shrimp flavor and umami goodness!
Alright, alright, alright......yeah had to keep with the Dazed and Confused theme! Now that the shrimp stock is ready we can move on to the dish itself. Since you already peeled and deveined your shrimp for the stock, toss them in some Old Bay seasoning and set them back in the fridge for later. Yes, I realize Old Bay is somewhat of a cheater move, but we are going to use a special spice blend later on so you can double that up and skip the OB if you want to stay true to scratch cooking. Otherwise, just enjoy that OB flavor and let it work some magic on your shrimp.
Speaking of our spice blend, let's go ahead and make it now so you can use it on the shrimp if you so please. Otherwise, it will go in with the roux ingredients. The exact amounts are on the recipe card, so for all the Old Bay haters go ahead and make a double batch. Essentially, combine the paprika, Italian seasoning, cayenne, garlic, onion, and white/black pepper to form a perfect etouffee seasoning blend. Honestly, it is really great on the shrimp, but you just can't have a good seafood recipe without a little Old Bay, eh?
Still with me? Believe it or not, we are finally about to start cooking! Well, I guess you should go ahead and prep your veggies, but otherwise it's time to cook! Begin by melting some butter over medium-high heat in a large pan. Feel free to substitute the butter with some bacon grease you have been saving....we all know you have it the fridge so don't feel ashamed and just use it for a bit more flavor! Toss in your diced bell pepper and celery and sauté for a few minutes to start to soften things up.
Now go ahead and add that etouffee seasoning blend we just created so those flavors get well incorporated. Add some onion and continue to sauté the veggies so that their natural juices come out.
After about 5-6 minutes, the veggies should have released most of their natural juices so sprinkle in the flour and whisk continuously as a roux forms. This step is critical to thickening and flavoring our etouffee so stay by the stove and keep stirring to prevent burning anything and allow the roux to become a medium-dark peanut butter-ish color. Yeah it is a little tougher to judge since the veggies are in there rather than just the typical fat/flour mix, but use your best judgment and cook it through without going too far. Ultimately this will color your "gravy" sauce so there is no exact time or specific color....just do what feels right to you.
Once you are feeling good about your roux mixture, add the tomatoes (yes I know this brings up the Cajun vs Creole controversy) and cook a few more minutes to begin to loosen things back up.
Yes I know it looks like a hot mess and we are going to end up scrubbing our pan for hours to get it clean once again, but just trust me and carry on. Now add that delicious shrimp stock we made before. You probably ended up with a bit extra so go ahead and freeze it in an ice cube tray to use next time you make jambalaya or other seafood dishes. Those little shrimp cubes work wonders as pan deglazers, just sayin! Anyway, stir in the shrimp stock, or chicken stock for you lazy heathens, and simmer for several minutes until the whole mixture thickens to a thin gravy-like texture.
Before we forget, add in several dashes of your favorite hot sauce and a bit of Worcestershire sauce at this point. Each of these additions every few minutes really help build several layers of depth and flavor. Give it a taste and see if it makes you happy. If not, you probably screwed up along the way at some point so try and save things with some salt and pepper, but don't overdo it! We have come this far so no need to mess it up now. Add the seasoned raw shrimp from earlier and let them cook in the hot gravy mixture. Unless you got some giant big mamma jamma shrimp, they should turn pink and be fully cooked in 4-6 minutes since this sauce is hot and simmering away.
Looks pretty dang good, if I do say so myself! What do you think? Did your batch turn out as good as mine cuz mine was hella good! Not just good, but I'm talking DAMN GOOD! Serve it up with some rice and chow down. Make sure to dish your own bowl first because once your family and friends start slurping this down they will be back for seconds and you will end up hungry with none after all that hard work! I know many of you will complain about the tomatoes because they are not exactly traditional, but I guarantee if you go down to Louisiana you will find this dish served 50/50 both with and without them so use your own judgement whether you want them included or not, but I like the addition myself. Anyway, make up a big batch of this delicious Shrimp Etouffee and let me know what you and your family think. Laissez les bons temps rouler! Until next time my Foodie Family, get in the kitchen and do delicious things....just keep cooking!
SHRIMP ETOUFFEE
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