Mardi Gras Shrimp Recipes - JOYFUL scribblings

One of my favorite meals when I visited New Orleans last summer was shrimp and grits at Mr. B’s. You can read about it on my New Orleans post. I’m a Yankee so I didn’t grow up eating grits, but these weren’t your run of the mill plain jane grits. I’m sure they were filled with loads of butter and cheese which makes anything taste great. I adapted this recipe from one I found on Kraft Foods website and it’s delicious, almost as good as Mr. B’s. If I can recall though Mr. B’s shrimp was wrapped in bacon. I’ve made a few adjustments to the original recipe. Since today is Fat Tuesday, I thought I would share these two tasty shrimp recipes reminiscent of New Orleans cuisine. Buy yourself some beads, put on some jazz music, make yourself a hurricane and if you can’t join them, pretend.

Shrimp & Grits

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup instant grits (I used Trader Joe’s Stone Ground White Grits)

1 cup KRAFT Shredded Cheddar Cheese

2 slices OSCAR MAYER Bacon, chopped

1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled, deveined

4 green onions, thinly sliced (about 1/3 cup)

1 clove garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. chopped parsley

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Old Bay seasoning

Make It

BRING chicken broth to boil in medium saucepan. Add salt. Slowly stir in grits. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover. Cook 7 min. or until thickened. Stir in cheese; set aside. If you use the stone ground grits it takes a little longer to cook.

MEANWHILE, cook bacon in large skillet on medium-heat heat until crisp. Drain on paper towels; set aside. Add shrimp, onions and garlic to skillet; cook and stir 3 min. or until shrimp turn pink. Add bacon, parsley and lemon juice; mix well. To save on time I used already cooked bacon and shrimp and just warmed them in the skillet with green onions and garlic. I also seasoned the shrimp with Old Bay seasoning.

SERVE shrimp mixture over grits.

Shrimp and Chicken Etouffee

My neighbor George shared Emeril’s Shrimp Etouffee with us. The original recipe calls for shrimp stock, but he used chicken stock and made it with a mixture of shrimp and chicken. It’s delicious, but very spicy. If you want less heat I recommend using less than a tablespoon of the cayenne pepper in the essence recipe.

Shrimp Etouffee

Ingredients
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups chopped onions
2 cups chopped green bell peppers
2 cups chopped celery
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons Essence, recipe follows
1 quart chicken stock or shrimp stock
3 pounds medium shrimp (21 to 25 count per pound), peeled and deveined
1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves
Steamed white rice, for serving
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion tops, for garnish

Directions
Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven set over medium heat. Add the flour and stir continuously to make a roux. Stir the roux over medium heat until the color of peanut butter, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the onions, bell peppers, celery, and garlic to the roux, and cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes to the pot and season with the bay leaves, salt, cayenne, and 1 tablespoon of the Essence. Cook the tomatoes for 2 to 3 minutes and then whisk in the chicken stock.

Bring the mixture to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Cook the etouffee, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes. Season the shrimp with the remaining tablespoon of Essence and add them to the pot, stirring to evenly distribute. Cook the shrimp for 5 to 7 minutes, or until they are cooked through. Add the chopped parsley to the pot and stir to combine.

Serve immediately over steamed white rice and garnish with sliced green onion tops.

Emeril’s ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Serve with a loaf of baguette bread.

Make It

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