Shrimp Etouffee and Blackberry Cobbler

I was tired of the same old thing so i went scouring the internet for a shrimp etouffee recipes and found one on nolacuisine.com and figured where better to get a recipe for cajun food? And it was awesome! Also I halved the recipe b/c i figured one pound of shrimp was plenty for one person with leftovers. i'm not halving the one i'm posting b/c fractions and math are beyond me.

Onto the cooking!

First i made the shrimp stock:

The shrimp stock is the following:
The Shells and tails from 2 lb. of Shrimp
1/2 Cup chopped Onion
1/4 Cup chopped Celery
2 Garlic Cloves
2 Bay Leaves
3 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
1 tsp. Black Peppercorns

Add all ingredients to a 2 qt. saucepan. Cover this with cold water, it should be about 6-8 Cups Cups. You’ll only need 1 1/2 Cups for the etouffee. Bring almost to a boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

While your shrimp stock is simmering, put shrimp in a bowl and sprinkle with a tablespoon of Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning and toss so all the shrimp gets covered.

Next i got out my grandmother's cast iron skillet and melted the butter.

After the butter melted, i added the onions, bell pepper, and celery, sauted until translucent. This picture below is before i added the red pepper :)



Next stir in the flour to make a blond roux, stirring constantly, about 3 or 4 minutes. Stir in a tablespoon of Tony Chachere's. Add a small amount of the shrimp stock, stir well to form a paste, add the remaining stock gradually, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

Add the tomatoes, garlic, Thyme, Worcestershire, and hot sauce, a little salt, black pepper, and Cayenne. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Finally add the shrimp, green onions, and parsley, simmer for 10 minutes more or until the shrimp are cooked through.

That's it! I served it over white rice that i cooked in the normal rice cooking way, but threw in a couple bay leaves while it was boiling to give it a little more flavor.



While the etouffee was cooking, i started to put together the blackberry cobbler. Firstly, i need to preface this with a little back story. I picked the blackberries myself on saturday and then VACUUM-PACKED them until i could use them.

This recipe is actually Paula Deen's Peach Cobbler but i figured fruit is fruit and decided to try it with blackberries.

I didn't take any pictures of my actually putting the cobbler together, but this is what the finished product looks like!

Here are the recipes!

Shrimp Etouffee
compliments of NOLA Cuisine

2 Tbsp Creole Seasoning (Tony Chachere's is THE BEST!)
4 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1/2 Cup Onion, Finely Chopped
1/4 Cup Celery, Finely Chopped
1/4 Cup Bell Pepper, Finely Chopped
1/4 Cup Flour
3/4 Cup fresh Tomatoes, diced
1 1/2 Cups Shrimp Stock
2 Tbsp Minced Garlic
I bundle of Fresh Thyme
2 tspWorcestershire Sauce
1 tsp Hot Sauce (I like Louisiana Hot Sauce or Texas Pete)
1/2 Cup Green Onions, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp minced Italian Parsley
2 lb Good Quality Shrimp, Peeled and Deveined, Save shells for the stock
3 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste

Season the shrimp with 1 Tbsp of the Creole Seasoning.

Melt the butter in a large cast iron skillet, add the onions, bell pepper, and celery, saute until translucent. Whisk in the flour to make a blonde roux, stirring constantly, about 4 minutes.

Stir in the remaining Creole Seasoning. Add a small amount of the shrimp stock, stir well to form a paste, add the remaining stock gradually, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. You may need a little more stock, but the end result should be the consistency of a gravy, not too thick, not too thin.

Add the tomatoes, garlic, Thyme, Worcestershire, and hot sauce & black pepper. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Add the shrimp, green onions, and parsley, simmer for 10 minutes more or until the shrimp are cooked through.

Blackberry Cobbler
compliments of Paula Deen

4 cups fresh blackberries
2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup water
8 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/2 cups milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.

Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.