Saturday, August 18, 2012

Shrimp Etouffee


I've mentioned before my husband used to travel a lot and have a nice expense account to go with the job.  We've counted that he's been to nearly all the 48 contingent US states, a couple US territories and at least 6 foreign countries.  One of the things my husband likes to do when he travels is try new food and new restaurants.  He waxes fondly about certain meals or restaurants in particular.
A couple years ago when I was working two jobs and he was out of work completely, we decided that my husband would give me a bit of a break and cook at least one meal a week.  He's not much of a cook, so we found a few recipes that were quick and easy or he could put in the slow cooker.  But one week he was feeling nostalgic for crawfish etouffee.

On his own, he researched some etouffee recipes and spent half a day looking for crawfish in our town.  Finally he settled on a recipe and instead of crawfish (which he couldn't find), shrimp.  His meal was appreciated and good, but it wasn't spectacular.  The roux didn't have a deep enough flavor, nor did it have enough heat.

Recently we decided to try again.  I took the recipe my husband used along with a couple other recipes I've had stored in my "to make" file.  Even though I make light roux frequently, I don't often make a darker roux, so I also searched around for a few roux tutorials, just to make sure I wouldn't have to dump a batch and start over.

The end result was a combination of about 4 different recipes.  My husband has declared it his new favorite. If you can find crawfish, by all means use it.  Otherwise, shrimp works nicely in this dish.  My husband hates celery, which is a traditional ingredient in etouffee.  If your family likes celery, cut the other vegetables a bit and add some celery.

Shrimp Etouffee

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour or 1/4 scant cup equal parts brown rice flour and white rice flour
3/4 cups green bell pepper, diced
3/4 cups onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup water
1/2 - 2/3 pound shrimp, cooked, shelled and deviened
3 cups cooked white rice


Melt butter in a large skillet.  Add flour and whisk.  Cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly, about 15 minutes until roux is a caramel brown.  Add vegetables and cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are soft.

Add spices, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato paste and stir to combine.  Pour in chicken stock and water and stir until smooth.  Add in shrimp and simmer 5 - 10 minutes until mixture has slightly thickened.

Pack a small dish or measuring cup with rice.  Turn it upside down in the center of a plate or shallow bowl.  Dish a portion of the etouffee in the bowl.  Serve.

Serves 2

UPDATE July 2, 2013:  I have since made this a couple times using half white rice flour and half brown rice flour instead of wheat flour in the roux.  I had to be cautious not to use too much flour (a very scant 1/4 cup seems to be about right).  The roux also doesn't get quite as dark, but converting this recipe to gluten free turned out well.

This post has been featured on this great blog:

 Ms. enPlace

26 comments:

  1. Your etouffee looks wonderful. I would have never thought to add cumin to etouffee but it is one of my favorite spices so I bet I would like it.

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    1. Cumin is one of my favorite spices too. It may not be authentic to add it to etouffee, but most of the time I add heat to any dish with chili powder or cayenne, I add a little cumin as well.

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  2. Thanks for linking this week! No matter if it isn't crawfish...I'll eat anything turned into etouffee! Yum. Love the color.

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    1. I'm glad I got the color right! That was one of the failing parts of the first attempt.

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  3. this looks amazing! And fairly simple! I'll be trying this on Mr. B soon! thanks for sharing at the party this week :-) I love it ♥ I'll be featuring this on my Facebook page too!

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  4. Thank you for the post. We also save $$ by buying in bulk and fishing and hunting to stock up the freezer.

    Popped in from Gonna Love It.

    thriftshopcommando.blogspot.com

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    1. We don't hunt or fish, but I grew up with lots of folks who did because they needed to. I was (am) always grateful for a little venison.

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  5. oh la la! I am so glad you shared this! my husband, mr.hooah, is from TX-LA & he LOVES cajun foods. I cannot wait to fix this for him bc he LOVES Etouffee!(:

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  6. I love cooking with shrimp. This recipe looks delcious. It's something that I will definitely be adding to my list of recipes to try. I'm stopping by from the Wednesday Whatsits party (I'm also a follower of you blog!) and I'd love for you to share this at my party. www.thisgalcooks.com/2012/08/marvelous-mondays-link-party-8.html

    Have a fabulous day!
    Julie

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    1. I like cooking with shrimp too, even though we don't have it that often.

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  7. I used to make this years ago and had forgotten about it. Thanks for the reminder, it looks soo good!

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  8. lucky lady-having a man that will cook for you:)

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    1. He doesn't cook supper much, however he does make me breakfast on the weekends. :-)

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  9. Laura,
    This looks wonderful and I love the color! Thanks so much for sharing at Creative Thursday this week. Have a wonderful weekend.

    Michelle

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  10. Love your recipe for shrimp etouffee! It looks very delicious!

    Stopping by your blog from White Lights on Wednesday (I posted #48 - Mango, Banana and Chai Tea Smoothie).

    Pinned!

    Amber @ The Cook's Sister

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  11. Great Recipe. I have a link party on Wednesdays, and I would love it if you would link this and any other posts. It is called Wednesdays Adorned From Above Link Party. It runs from Wednesday to Sundays.
    http://www.adornedfromabove.com/2012/08/tangerine-toner-and-wednesdays-adorned.html
    I hope to see you there. I am your newest follower, and I would love for your to follow me also. Have a great Day.
    Debi Bolocofsky
    Adorned From Above
    www.adornedfromabove.com

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  12. YUM. I'm pinning this to try when my son comes home from college since he and I are the shrimp lovers. Thanks for sharing at this week's BFF Open House!

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  13. Wonderful dish! Thanks for sharing on Southern Sundays.

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  14. This looks so good! I love shrimp, but I've never had it in an etoufee before. Thanks for sharing on foodie friday

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  15. I have never had etouffee. This looks and sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing at All My Bloggy Friends last week! I can't wait to see what you share tomorrow! :)

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  16. Wow, this shrimp dish looks so delicious! I love Cajun cooking!! Thank you for sharing at Fit and Fabulous Fridays! :)

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  17. This looks great. I'm starving now. Thanks! I will be trying this one out soon. Thanks for linking it up at Doodles & Stitches.

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  18. This sauce sounds amazing for any seafood. I am pinning it. Thanks for sharing it on foodie friday.

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