Growing up, I hated eating shrimp. In fact, I tended to avoid eating seafood of any kind. This is probably because my family’s go-to seafood dishes consisted of tuna noodle casserole and salmon patties.
If you grew up in the 80s, you feel my pain!
My first memory of shrimp involves a cold shrimp cocktail with spicy cocktail sauce – which I mistakenly thought was ketchup. Not the best introduction.
It wasn’t until I began working in a restaurant kitchen while in college that I discovered how delicious shrimp could actually be – when cooked properly.
The challenge with shrimp is that it’s so easy to overcook them. I’ve done it countless times before. That’s why I love the Lee Brothers’ easy shrimp creole recipe so much. Adding the shrimp to the pot last, after it’s been removed from the burner, cooks them just long enough to bring out their characteristically pink color but not long enough to turn the soft flesh tough and unappetizing.
The smell of pork sausage, poblano pepper and onion simmering alongside homemade shrimp stock is reason enough to attempt this recipe.
We usually eat this dish like a thick stew, forgoing the typical bed of rice and cooking the broth down until it thickened a bit. It yielded about three servings, but I probably could have gotten four if I hadn’t let it simmer for so long.
Another idea – and the Lee Brothers suggest this in their Simple, Fresh, Southern cookbook – would be to serve the creole over creamy grits. I would suggest coarse ground yellow grits, such as Charleston Favorites Stone Ground Grits, which can be found at most specialty grocery stores throughout the South.
The subtle heat in this dish makes it a perfect fall-time dinner. And because it’s easy (it’s in the name, after all), you can tackle this recipe any night of the week!
Here’s the recipe:
Easy Shrimp Creole
• 1 lb headless large shell-on shrimp
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 3/4 pounds vine-ripened tomatoes
• 6 oz fresh hot pork sausage, casings removed
• 1 large white/yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 large poblano chile, seeded and diced (about 1 cup)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (regular paprika works just as well)
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried red chile flakes
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegarPeel the shrimp, throwing the shells into a small saucepan set over medium heat. Add 1 cup of water and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and simmer until reduced by half – 5 to 6 minutes.
While the shrimp stock simmers, core the tomatoes: set a strainer over a medium bowl. Cut the tomatoes in half crosswise and, using your pinkie finger, tease the seeds out of the cavities of each half, letting them fall into the strainer. Tap the rim of the strainer against your palm for 30 seconds, or until most of the flavorful gel clinging to the seeds dissolves and drips into the bowl. Discard the seeds. Next, chop the tomatoes; you should have approximately 2 cups. Add them to the bowl with the tomato water.
Pitch the sausage into a heavy-bottomed 4-quart Dutch over or pot set over medium high head, and cook, stirring and breaking up the sausage with a wooden spoon (not a metal spoon!!), until the pork is just browned and has rendered some fat – about 6 minutes.
Add the onion, garlic, chopped poblano, remaining teaspoon of salt, black pepper, paprika, and chile flakes. As the peppers, sausage and spices begin to combine, take a moment to breathe in the amazing smells coming from your cooktop! Wipe the drool from your mouth and resume cooking. Stir and scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan as the peppers and onions release their liquid, until the peppers and onions have softened – about 6 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and the tomato juice. Add the strained shrimp stock. Turn the heat on high, and cook until the tomatoes have completely collapsed into a red, bubbling stew – 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the shrimp and red wine vinegar. Cover and let stand for 3 minutes or longer, until the shrimp have cooked through. Serve immediately!
Oliver & Marr 