Boobie’s Shrimp Creole
Growing up Catholic in South Louisiana, it was imperative that the rule of not eating meat on Fridays is heavily enforced. Though, technically not a sin, my mom & dad made sure we had to make the “sacrifice”., so, we had the tremendous burden of eating seafood on Fridays during lent, a sacrifice I welcomed with open arms & mouth for that matter. I particularly loved the Fridays that fresh shrimp was purchased by the fish man down the road in which the back of his truck was his fish market. The only difference today is, I prefer to buy shrimp I can actually see & taste, my mom was very frugal in this area & bought shrimp that were so small, they actually disappeared just by seasoning them. I can joke about this now but gladly had a spoon in that pot when those small shrimp were cooked. Here’s my favorite way to prepare large fresh Louisiana Gulf Shrimp.
Ingredients for approximately family of 5:
- 3 lbs large fresh shrimp with head & peeling still on.
- 2- Sticks of Salted Butter
- 2 heaping tablespoons of flour
- 2 – Bunches Onion Tops
- 1 – Bunch Parsley
- Peel & devein shrimp keeping all peelings & heads.
- Boil all peelings & heads. After boiling heavy for 10 min, strain & keep stock for gravy.
- In a black cast iron pot, if available, sauté flour in butter until brown on medium to low fire with wire whisk.
- Add shrimp stock & onion tops, boil approximately 30 min with flour & butter. Stock should be getting thicker.
- Once stock has cooked 30 min, add seasoned shrimp to stock along with parsley & only cook 10 min maximum on low fire with lid on pot. Taste gravy after 5 min of cooking for seasoning preference.
- After 10 min of cooking, remove from heat & let rest for another 10 min before serving over cooked rice.
Served along with some fresh fried filleted catfish will cause you to sin on Fridays anyway by eating too much. Hope you enjoy.