Discover New Orleans Creole Recipes & Bring a Touch of Creole to Your Dishes
You want something sweet? I could go for something sweet! No matter how hungry you are there is always room for something sweet in the New Orleans home! Supplies Ingredient Preparation Prepare an 8×8 glass dish with parchment paper. In a heavy gauge pot …
Supplies Ingredients Preparation Heat oven to 350 degrees. ~~Green Bell Peppers~~ Wash bell peppers and cut them lengthwise and remove the seeds and membranes. Fill an 8-quart pot with water and heat to a boil. Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Place the …
Shrimp elegance
Shrimp Creole is a richly seasoned tomato-based seafood dish that is simply elegant, delicious and quick to prepare. I have made it with a roux and without a roux; and both are delicious, but the roux creates a thicker sauce. I love the sauce that remains after all the shrimp are gone, which can be eaten with the rice or wiped up with a piece of French bread.
My recollection of shrimp has not always been elegant. Every shrimping season my mom would contact the “shrimp man” to buy some shrimp. He would come right off the boat and drop off about 75 pounds of fresh shrimp to our home. The ice chests would be ready with ice outside and the square plastic containers stacked in the kitchen. Newspapers would be laid on the table and an old metal pie pan would be placed in front of sister and me. Mom or Dad would scoop a large amount of shrimp from the ice chest, and we would begin to de-head the shrimp, all 75 pounds of them! They were cold and slippery, and the antennae was often longer than the shrimp itself. You had to be careful not to stick yourself with the rostrum on top of its head. We often found little crabs in the shrimp harvest.
Mom would take the batch we peeled and rinse them several times in both sides of the sink. Then a couple handfuls of shrimp and some water would be placed in each container and closed with its tight lid. There were also a few smaller containers for future dishes that needed some shrimp, such as stuffed peppers. This treasure from the Gulf of Mexico was then placed in stacks in the large upright (extra) freezer.
It was vital to have another freezer in the house to store the seafood so you can have shrimp available any time. The frozen shrimp was then defrosted, and the shrimp had to be peeled and de-veined. The reward for our work was a fried shrimp po-boy (sandwich) on crusty French bread.
Supplies
Ingredients
Preparation
Peel and de-vein shrimp, sprinkle Creole Seasoning and put in fridge.
In a heavy gauge pot create a roux by heating flour and oil and stirring constantly until it thickens and turns light brown. This will take several minutes. Add diced onions, celery and bell peppers and sauté about 5 minutes or until they are tender and a little brown. Stir the vegetables and roux constantly and scraping the pan bottom well.
Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes and stir well.
Then add creole seasoning, garlic, basil, thyme and parsley.
Continue to stir a little longer, then gradually add the seafood stock to reach the desired consistency and amount of sauce.
Simmer over low to medium heat for about 20 minutes. Add the peeled and de-veined shrimp. Cook until shrimp are pink. Add additional Creole Seasoning to taste.
Pairing:
Lagniappe:
Enjoy Keeping It Creole!
New Orleans Macaroni and Cheese My mother’s name for Macaroni and Cheese was called Baked Macaroni. She did not use macaroni pasta but generally used spaghetti pasta. It is a creamy cheesy side dish went well with her Smothered Chicken. This is truly the ultimate …
French King Cake In France during the month of January, everyone enjoys the Galette des Rois to celebrate the feast of the Epiphany. This is the day “of the Three Kings” (des Rois) when they visited baby Jesus. This delicious King Cake/pastry includes a …
Stuffed Cabbage
Prosperity and good luck in the New Year!
Cabbage Rolls and Black-eyed peas are traditionally eaten on New Years Day as it was thought it would bring wealth and good luck!
Supplies
Ingredients
~Cabbage~
~Tomato Sauce~
~Filling~
Preparation
~Cabbage~
Cook 2 cups of white rice and set aside.
Boil water in an 8-quart pot. Pull the leaves from the cabbage and par boil them until pliable (. Remove the leaves from water with tongs, shake off the excess water and set aside to drain on a cookie sheet. Cut the bottom of the leaf if it remains very hard.
~~Tomato sauce~~
In heavy gauge pot, heat olive oil and sauté the finely chopped onions. When translucent add crushed tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, sugar, parsley and Paul Prudhome’s Italian Magic Seasoning® until well combined. Add tomato paste and chicken broth and mix well, then cook for 5 minutes and turn off heat.
~~Filling~~
In a Dutch-oven or heavy gauge pot cook ground pork because it takes a little longer to cook. Add ground chuck and steak seasoning and cook until almost done Then add green bell peppers and onions until meat is completely cooked and the vegetables are very soft and brown. Add garlic and cook a few minutes. the cooked white rice and Creole Seasoning to taste.
Pour about ½ prepared tomato sauce in the bottom of the baking dish.
Spoon of meat and rice mixture onto a cabbage leaf and fold in the sides, then roll forward, securing it with toothpick if they begin to unroll. Place them close together in a baking dish to prevent them from unrolling.
Then pour the remaining tomato sauce over the cabbage rolls.
Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.
Enjoy Keeping It Creole!