Creole cooking always makes good use of tomatoes and is a blend of French, Spanish and African cuisines. The “holy trinity” of green peppers, onions and celery is found here as well.
Ingredients
¼ cup bacon drippings or vegetable oil
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1½ cups chopped yellow onion
1 cup chopped green onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (16-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon ground red pepper
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon hot sauce
5 pounds large or jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
Hot cooked rice
Instructions
Place the drippings or oil and flour in a cast iron skillet over medium heat.
Stirring constantly, cook 15 minutes or until the roux is dark brown. Add the yellow and green onions as well as the celery, green peppers and garlic. Cook another 15 minutes, stirring often.
Transfer to a large Dutch oven. Add the tomatoes, salt, black pepper, red pepper, bay leaves, juice, Worcestershire and hot sauce, stirring well. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the shrimp and simmer 5 minutes or until the shrimp turn pink. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Sprinkle the parsley on top and serve immediately over hot cooked rice.
Recipe by The Tennessee Magazine at https://www.tnmagazine.org/let-the-good-times-roll/