Rosie Makes Shrimp Etouffee.

I have a dear friend, an ex-neighbor (Hey, Jo!), who took a trip to New Orleans and brought me back a trivet with a shrimp etouffee recipe printed on it. I finally decided to try it out last night. Now, methinks shrimp etouffee might be like cole slaw or potato salad where everybody has a different recipe for it, depending on where you're from. When I googled shrimp etouffee, most of the online recipes called for flour, as in making a roux. This recipe did not. By the way, etouffee is from the French, etouffer, for "smothered" and is used to describe a stewed dish cooked with little or no liquid, usually served over white rice. We begin with Mr. Hawthorne doing the "shit detail" as he calls it. Deveining and peeling the shrimp.

Most people peel then devein. Mr. Hawthorne has a system where he deveins, then peels. First he takes scissors and cuts down the back of the shrimp, removing the vein.

After deveining all the shrimp, he simply peels off the shell which has already been cut in half.

Shrimpies.

Here are all my ingredients: onion tomatoes leftover Rotel tomatoes with chilies (leftover from my queso dip) assorted peppers from my garden (See those two tiny ones - one yellow and one orange? Those two pack a punch.) parsley garlic bay leaves celery green onion Land o' Lakes Unsweetened Butter

Chop all ingredients, except the bay leaves. Duh.

Clockwise from top left: onion, parsley, celery, peppers, bay leaf, garlic, green onion. Now, see that little teeny pile of peppers at bottom right? They be HAWT!

Rotel tomatoes in the bowl and fresh tomatoes, chopped. (OK, the recipe didn't actually call for Rotel tomatoes with chilies. But it did call for canned tomatoes and cayenne pepper. I subbed the chilies for the cayenne and I got rid of the leftover Rotel tomatoes.)

Melt butter in skillet, then add onions, celery, pepper, and garlic. Cook over medium heat for about 5-7 minutes.

Add bay leaf, salt and pepper.

Pour Rotel tomatoes in.

Add in fresh tomatoes.

Simmer for about 10-15 minutes.

Then add in the shrimp and cook until just done, maybe 2-3 minutes. (Now my recipe on the trivet said to cook the shrimp for 15 to 20 minutes, being careful not to overcook. I would think they would be like shoe leather at this point. So I cooked them for maybe 3 minutes and they were fine.)

And I always like to add in a bit of sherry for a kick of flavor.

At the very end, I put in the sliced green onions.

Finally added in the parsley.

Stirred just to mix and removed from heat.

Close up of the shrimp etouffee.

I had garlic/parsley toast left over from the spaghetti dinner the other night. I placed the toast on the plates, then added white rice with a pat of butter.

And topped with the shrimp etouffee.

I like spicy and this dish did not disappoint. I think it had something to do with those two teeny tiny peppers I picked.

So many textures and flavors. Crunchy, garlicky toast. Goodness of the shrimp and onions and peppers. Freshness of the celery and parsley. The back-of-your-throat almost ouch of those teeny tiny little peppers. The smoothness and neutrality of the rice. Everything counterbalanced each other. Very nice meal. ETA: Monday Morning Quarterbacking: Should have added more tomatoes.