I am just in love with all things Cajun and so I was super excited to try Shrimp Etouffee for the very first time to celebrate Fat Tuesday a few weeks back. I went with a Paula Deen recipe I found because of her southern claim to fame. Her recipes always seem to take me back to when I was little and my Mom would cook homemade, southern comfort food using a ton of butter and sugar.
Because I decided to meet a few friends later that night for coffee, I ended up being short on time and didn’t allow the roux to fully brown, but it still tasted rich and delicious. Due to Brian’s allergy to onions, I decided to use onion powder instead of onions, but you can always put them in if you are a fan. The shrimp were cooked beautifully and were very succulent and spicy! Overall, my first trial run with etouffee was a success. Next time I anticipate using crawfish instead of shrimp. Maybe I will even go out on a limb and host a crawfish boil with etouffee, creole, and jambalaya for my upcoming birthday in June!
By the way…if you are looking for a fun Cajun place to dine at, then check out The Cajun Queen in Charlotte or Razoo’s in Concord. Both are very different, but have very tasty cajun options!
Enjoy!
Shrimp Etouffee
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra flour, optional
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion/onion powder
- 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, more if desired
- 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
- 1/2 cup minced green onions, plus extra for garnish
- 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
- 2 to 3 dashes hot sauce
- 1 (8-ounce) can clam juice
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- Salt (Cajun seasoning has salt already)
- 2 pounds small or medium shrimp peeled and deveined (recommended: (31/35 size count)
- 1/2 stick butter
- Rice, optional
- Diced green onions, for garnish
Directions:
Note: To make roux, use oil instead of butter, because butter burns
Make the roux, mix oil and flour in a large heavy saucepan over low heat. Whisk flour into the oil to form a paste. Continue cooking over low heat and whisk continuously, until the mixture turns a caramel color and gives off a nutty aroma, about 15 to 20 minutes. To the roux, add the onion, green pepper, celery, and garlic and cook over low heat about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are limp. Add the black pepper, white pepper, cayenne pepper, Cajun seasoning, green onions, parsley, and hot sauce to taste. Add 1 can clam juice and the tomatoes with their juice, stir to blend. Add the salt, starting with 1 teaspoon, then add more if needed. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Add shrimp and stir. It will take about 3 minutes for shrimp to cook, don’t overcook. Remove from heat. Add the butter and stir; the heat from the dish will melt the butter. Transfer the etouffee to a tureen, serving bowl, or if you prefer, over rice. Garnish with the green onions.