Creole Shrimp

By Joelene

Ingredients

• Creole Sauce:
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon whole butter
• 1 small diced onion
• 1 red bell pepper cored and diced
• 1 green bell pepper, cored and diced
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes
• Seasonings:
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• Hot pepper sauce and Worcestershire sauce, to taste
• 1 tablespoon sugar (to take the acidity off the tomatoes)
• Salt, to taste
• For the shrimp:
• 2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Splash white wine
• Chopped scallions
• Pinch chopped parsley
• Pinch cayenne
• Pinch paprika
• Sliced scallions and lemon wedges, for garnish

Preparation

Step 1

Get the pan hot over a medium high flame, saute all ingredients, except flour, tomato paste and tomatoes, in the olive oil and butter until they begin to wilt. Add flour and tomato paste. Season with oregano, thyme, parsley. cayenne pepper, white pepper and black pepper.

Saute all that until it begins to brown. After 5 minutes when it's quite brown, add the tomatoes. Stir in hot pepper sauce and Worcestershire, to taste. Add sugar and salt. Reduce heat and let the sauce simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Shrimp: In a pan over medium heat, saute shrimp in 1 tablespoon of whole butter. While the shrimp is cooking, splash it with white wine. Then add to taste, some chopped scallions, a pinch of parsley and a bit of cayenne pepper and paprika.

After the shrimp is almost ready, add it to the sauce for 3 to 4 minutes. so the Creole flavor cooks into the shrimp. Prepare the serving plates with cooked rice. Ladle the shrimp and Creole sauce into the rice beds, making sure there is lots of sauce. (Creole dishes feature "Lots of Gravy"). Garnish with sliced scallions (the green parts) for color and lemon wedges.