Shrimp Étouffée is one of the oldest and by far the best Cajun/ Creole recipes to come from Louisiana this perfect dish typically contains shellfish smothered in a delicious Roux that can either be brown or blond, Cajun or Creole spices, and is served over a bed of steaming white rice. In French, the word “étouffée” literally means, “smothered” or “suffocated”

Did you know that as early as the 1920’s documentation of the Shellfish Étouffée recipe could be traced? Circa the 1950s Crawfish Etouffée was introduced and proudly served to restaurant patrons in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Originally Crawfish Etouffée was a popular dish in the bayous and backwaters of Louisiana with local Cajuns.

In 1983 a waiter at a popular Bourbon Street restaurant Galatoire’s brought the crawfish Etouffée dish in to his boss to taste and history was made in that popular Bourbon Street restaurant that had primarily served only French Creole dishes, the Cajun dish became part of their menu and one of their biggest requests.

Below you will find my  beloved recipe for Shrimp Étouffée with simple and easy to follow directions to my favorite NOLA inspired dishes of all time…

Shrimp Étouffée

• 1 stick unsalted real butter
• 1 cup of finely diced carrots
• 1 large finely diced onion
• 1 cup of diced celery
• 1/2 of cup diced bell peppers
• 1 and 1/2 pounds raw peeled shrimp, divined
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 and 1/2 cups shrimp or fish stock
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
• 1 sprig of fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1/4 of cup sliced scallions
• cooked white rice

Brown Roux

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup flour

In a heavy bottom sauté pan, melt butter over medium high heat. Using a wooden roux spoon, add flour, stirring constantly until flour becomes light honey brown.Continue stirring constantly during the process, as flour may scorch if not very careful during the browning process (reserve)

Directions

Melt the real unsalted butter in a large metal skillet over medium heat. Once the real butter has melted add the diced carrots, diced onions, diced celery, and diced green bell peppers.

Sauté vegetables till soft, around 10 minutes or so. Add in the 2 bay leaves and raw cleaned and peeled shrimp. Reduce the heat to medium. Stirring occasionally cook about 5-6 minutes.

Dissolve already made Roux from above in the shrimp or fish stock. Add to the shrimp and vegetable mixture and season with salt and Cajun seasoning. Stir until the mixture thickens, about 4 minutes. Add the parsley and cook for about 2-3 minutes.

Remove the bay leaves and serve over a bowl of white rice and garnish with scallions before serving.

© Heidy L. McCallum and The McCallum’s Shamrock Patch, 2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material or photos without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Heidy L. McCallum and The McCallum’s Shamrock Patch with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. You may not copy and paste recipes to share on Social Platforms.

Filed under: Creole & Cajun, Dinner, Fall Menu, Fish and Seafood, Foods of the World, Soups and Stews, Stews, Uncategorized Tagged: bay leaves, Black pepper, Butter, Cajun, Cajun seasoning, Carrots, Celery, fish stock, Flour, green bell peppers, Heidy McCallum, Kosher salt, Onion, Onions, scallions, seafood, Shrimp Étouffée, shrimp stock, The McCallum's Shamrock Patch, Thyme

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