Shrimp Etouffee

Etouffee means smothered in French.  It is a Cajun dish that started and became popular in lower Louisiana by the Acadians.  It became a traditional New Orleans food and has spread almost nationwide especially in southeastern Texas.

There are two kinds of etouffee.  One is called blonde and the other is dark.  The difference is only how dark you make the roux which is flour cooked in oil or butter. 

There are also variants of this dish.  Etouffee with tomatoes or tomato sauce is a Creole dish and the Cajun version has no tomatoes.  The etouffee in this recipe is a Cajun version.  It has no tomatoes.  But you can add a can of tomato sauce or fresh chopped tomatoes if that’s what you prefer.

Shrimp etouffee is cooked the same as the crawfish etouffee. Shrimp is more readily available year round but crawfish is seasonal.  So, one can have this dish at anytime of the year.

I call this my version because it has no thyme in it.  Both my husband and I just can’t enjoy the taste of thyme in anything so it is omitted here.  However, you can add it if you like.  This recipe only has the basic ingredients to get the basic good flavor of the dish such as “The Holy Trinity” in Louisiana cooking: Onions, celery and bell pepper.

Ingredients:

• About 2 cups of shelled and deveined shrimp
• 2 cloves garlic crushed and minced
• 1 medium onion chopped
• ½ cup chopped celery
• ½ cup diced bell peppers
• 1 bay leaf (optional)
• 2 TBS butter or margarine or cooking oil
• 1 TBS flour
• 1 1/2 cup shrimp broth or water
• ½ shrimp bouillon or chicken bouillon
• 1/4 tsp. salt or 1 tsp. Louisiana (Cajun) seasoning (Tony Chacheres or Slap Ya Mama, etc.)
• ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper or Tabasco Sauce (optional)
• 1 TBS chopped fresh parsley or 1 tsp. dried parsley
• 2 green onions, chopped

You can make your own shrimp broth by boiling the shrimp shells in about 1 ½ cups water for about 1 minute.  Strain and reserve the broth. 

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-heat.  Add the flour and slowly mix it in the butter while stirring to avoid lumps and to avoid getting burned.  Cook stirring until the flour changes color a bit. Don’t let it get too dark.  Add the onions, garlic, celery, and bell peppers, and sauté until onions are transparent.  Add 1 ½ cups shrimp broth or water.  Add the bay leaf, parsley, shrimp bouillon and Cajun seasoning. Simmer covered for about 2 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Add the shrimp and cook until the shrimp turns pink or curl up.

Note: If you like a dark roux, use cooking oil instead of butter. Butter will burn before the flour gets dark enough.

Add the chopped green onions, cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce.  Cook for a minute, taste and adjust the seasoning to your taste.  If it is too thick, add a spoon of water at a time until it suits you. If not thick enough, boil it off more to reduce the water.

Notes:  

1. The amount of cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce is up to you
2. If it needs more salt,  try adding a small piece of the shrimp or chicken bouillon or the Cajun seasoning. 

Serve over rice and enjoy!   

If you like to have a side dish with this, I think a green salad would be a good one.  

The etouffee above has a darker roux and cooked with tomatoes. It is a Creole version.