Anyway, how could one not think about food when one is thinking about New Orleans? From beignets to etouffee, there is no better place to eat in the world. And speaking of etoufee, here is a delicious recipe from that master of old time Creole cooking, Leon E. Soniat, Jr.* This one comes with a little hint about chopping onions. If you want to avoid that horrible sting in your eyes, always use your sharpest knife and chill the onion in the frig for a bit before you chop it. This trick really does work; try it next time.
3 pounds raw shrimp, peeled, washed and deveined
1 pound crab meat
1 stick butter
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1/2 bell pepper, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
3 tablespoons minced parsley
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco or to taste
Cooked rice
Heat the butter and oil in a large, heavy pot such as a Dutch oven. Add onions, bell pepper and celery. Saute for five minutes and remove from heat. Add the garlic.
To one cup of stock add the cornstarch. Mix well and then add the mixture to the pot. Now you may need a little help. While stirring the pot continuously, add the wine, tomato paste, green onions, parsley and Worcestershire sauce. Add the shrimp, cover the pot partially and simmer ten minutes. Stir once or twice while it cooks. At about five minutes, stir in the other cup of stock and add some salt, pepper and Tabasco. Simmer another ten minutes while continuing to stir occasionally. Now add the crab meat and simmer another five to ten minutes to cook it through.
Serve over fluffy rice with some good bread to sop up whatever is left at the bottom of you bowl. Bon appetite ~
* recipe from La Bouche Creole II by Leon E. Soniat Jr. and June Soniat from Pelican Publishing c 1985
Header: Watching the Pot by Carl Emil Mucke via Old Paint
2 comments:
Two sure signs you are watching a crappy super bowl: When the most memorable parts of the game are a power outage and horribly inconsistent officiating.
Mmmmmmm... shrimp etoufee.
I find that sticking out my tongue while chopping the onions works too... although it does make me look a little "goofy" (which is not too difficult to do, I know).
Seriously; that game was awful. And now Joe Flacco is "elite." Gah! My brain hurts.
Maybe some shrimp and crab etouffee will make it all better...
Post a Comment