Cajun Shrimp Stew

[mcokevin]

Made some cajun shrimp stew for easter dinner tonight. This recipe has been in the family a while and is a regular for special occasions or holiday meals. Always good to fire up the cast iron dutch oven for this.

Happy Easter everyone.

 

[jkc64]

That looks good

 

[bauchjw]

Wow! Incredible! I understand not sharing the full recipe, but do you have a skeleton I can hang from? Very tasty looking bowl!

 

[Winterrider]

Oh yeah, I would be all over that. . .

 

[Brokenhandle]

Looks like comfort food for sure! Would taste great with our weather...ground is white here again.
Happy Easter to you also!

Ryan

 

[indaswamp]

Nice. Over grits or rice?

 

[jcam222]

Looks tasty to me! I’m sure I’d have a bowl or three

 

[Fueling Around]

Nice meal. I would love that over rice.
I made traditional brunch for the wife and me and called it good for the day.

Health is improving?

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

That looks so good! I'm with Jed. Would love the recipe.

 

[SmokinAl]

OMG, does that look good!
Cajun, shrimp, what’s not to like!
Al

 

[tx smoker]

That looks nothing but fantastic. I'd dive head first into a swimming pool full of that. Excellent job.

Robert

 

[JLeonard]

You had me at Cajun shrimp......Great looking bowl there!
Jim

 

[daveomak]

Sharing the recipe would earn you a special place in our hearts...

 

[gmc2003]

Man I have to agree with the others. That looks scrumptious.

Point for sure
Chris

That looks nothing but fantastic. I'd dive head first into a swimming pool full of that. Excellent job.

Robert

Sure Robert and ruin it for the rest of us.

 

[mcokevin]

Alright, alright folks - I wasn't holding out on you - just a busy day.

Here's the recipe:

• 3lb shrimp (80-90 count) peeled/deveined/etc... note: I can never find any shrimp smaller than 50-60 count in FL, works just fine.
• 1c vegetable oil and 1c flour for roux
• 1c each holy trinity minced (the "holy trinity" is onion, celery, green bell pepper for those unfamiliar with cajun cooking). You can adjust this to your liking, I usually do 2c onion and 1c each celery and pepper.
• 3T garlic diced
• 1/4c tomato sauce
• 1qt seafood stock
• 1c green onions minced
• 1c parsley chopped
• 1T fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2t cayenne (adjust to your preferred spice level. This isn't supposed to be a particularly spicy dish, so I find 1/2t is the right amount to put just a little bit of heat on the back end.)
• Salt to taste -- I have found the shrimp themselves and the seafood stock have plenty of salt combined, I do not add any extra. I would not add any more than 1t as it would be easy to oversalt. The above recipe will have about 5,000mg of sodium with the ingredients I use, to give you an idea. A typical bowl served will probably have 500-750mg sodium but I haven't done the precise math on this.

Instructions:

1. Make a medium to dark brown roux with the oil and flour (I can elaborate on this if anyone needs me to). I usually take it a little beyond the color of peanut butter. Sometimes darker if I'm feeling patient and have someone to refill my beer while I whisk.
2. Add holy trinity and garlic, and sauté until the vegetables start to wilt, around 5 minutes.
3. Add shrimp and cook until they're pink.
4. Add tomato sauce
5. Add shrimp stock and stir until incorporated (add this somewhat slowly while you stir)
6. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes - stir occasionally. All of this is uncovered.
7. Add black pepper, cayenne pepper, and salt to taste
8. Add green onion and parsley, stir in
9. At this point the dish is complete, however it will get better the longer it sits. I usually reduce heat to low at this point, mostly cover it, and let it sit for another 15-30 minutes while I make garlic bread and set the table, but you can serve at any time now. Serve over rice (or however you like, it'll be good no matter what). The garlic bread is not part of the recipe, but I do highly recommend it.

Here is roughly the color I try and take the roux to. This is an old picture, yesterday was a little bit lighter as I was running short on time.

 

[bauchjw]

Wow! That is very generous of you! I was thinking just a nudge in the right direction, but this is awesome! Thank you very much!

 

[mcokevin]

Nice meal. I would love that over rice.
I made traditional brunch for the wife and me and called it good for the day.

Health is improving?

Yessir, thank you. Feeling back to my normal self and all my docs are happy. I am incredibly fortunate for the medical team I have. Back to work tomorrow, my holiday of recovery is over

 

[mcokevin]

Wow! That is very generous of you! I was thinking just a nudge in the right direction, but this is awesome! Thank you very much!

My pleasure, enjoy. I’ve learned so much from this forum it is nice to give some knowledge back!