Anyone have experience with a good shrimp creole recipe?

I've made this one from the Plantation Cookbook many times, though not in a few years. I was just talking about making it again. When I make it, I don't add the shrimp until just before serving. I've made it up to that point and even frozen it, adding the shrimp just before serving. It's a solid recipe. It's also in the TD cookbook. There have been some threads in which other folks have recommended it also and made it. I believe it serves 10-12 if I recall. I don't have the book handy.



Plantation Cookbook Shrimp Creole

1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup bacon grease
2 cups chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup chopped celery, with leaves
1 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
6 oz tomato paste
16-ounce can tomatoes, coarsely chopped, and liquid
8 oz tomato sauce
1 cup stock (made from boiling shrimp heads and shells) or 1 cup water
4 lbs peeled, deveined, raw shrimp
1 tsp Tabasco
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 Tbs lemon juice
2 cups cooked rice

In a 4-quart Dutch oven, make a dark brown roux of flour and bacon grease. Add onions, green onions, garlic, green pepper, celery, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper, and sauté, uncovered, over medium fire until onions are transparent and soft, about 30 minutes.
Add tomato paste, and sauté 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, stock (or water). Simmer very slowly, partially covered fro 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Add shrimp and cook until shrimp are just done, about 5 minutes. Add Tabasco, parsley, and lemon juice. Stir, cover, and remove from heat. Serve over rice.

Tips
This dish is best when allowed to stand several hours or overnight. Let cool and refrigerate. It also freezes well.

Remove from refrigerator 1 hour before serving. Heat quickly, without boiling, and serve immediately.

From: Don's Secrets (1958), sold in Lafayette Don’s Seafood and Steak House restaurant back in the day. As far as I know, this is the first Cajun cookbook to be published.

I cut back on oil and also sub 12 ounces of pilsner beer for some of the water called for in the recipe below.


Shrimp a la Creole

1.5 pounds shrimp
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup green onion tops and parsley
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup oil (or 1/4 pound margarine)
1 4-6 oz. can tomato paste
1-2 cans tomato sauce
1 tsp sugar
3 cups of water

Sauté onions and celery in oil until onions are wilted.
Add tomato paste and fry another 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add tomato sauce and 2 cups of water.
Cook, stirring occasionally, about 40 minutes or until oil comes to top.
Add shrimp, bell pepper, garlic, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste.
Cook 30 minutes.
Serve over rice, adding onion and parsley to each plate.

The Joy of Cooking actually has a pretty good shrimp creole recipe, if you happen to have that book laying around the house.

All those recipes are good, but my Mom's was the best. Dang i miss that women. According to her, she could never get it just right until speaking with a waiter at Galatoires, many years ago. A tablespoon of pickling spice, in cheesecloth, added to sauce gives it that "taste" we are all searching for.

Thx for the tip.