Cooking Crab Creole Shrimp

A staple of Louisiana cooking, crab Creole shrimp is a delightful dinner and very easy to make.

Creole cooking is a native Louisiana cuisine. It is a combination of several cooking styles that were brought to the Louisiana area from France, Spain, Africa, and sometimes Italy. As you explore Creole cooking, you will discover a wide variety of foods including seafood. Creole cooking also tends to be a bit spicy, so when cooking crab Creole shrimp, you will need cayenne pepper.

Another native food of the Louisiana area is Cajun cooking. They are similar in many aspects, like the ingredients they use and the spiciness of the cuisines. But they differ in the fact that Cajun cooking is based on French provincial cooking while Creole cooking is based on classical style cooking. So with Creole, you will use a lot of classical cooking methods. For example, many of the sauces used in Creole cooking are based on the sauces found in classic cooking. There are some differences between classical cooking and Creole cooking. For example, classical cooking sauces and soups will use a mirepoix of onions, carrots, and celery while most sauces and soups in Creole cooking will use a mirepoix of onions, celery, and bell peppers.

In the classic cooking world, there are five mother sauces: béchamel, espagnole, tomato, hollandaise, and veloute. These are sometimes called "leading sauces." From the mother sauces, you can make most of the sauces you would need. Any sauce made from a mother sauce is called a small sauce.

Creole sauce is a small sauce based on the tomato mother sauce. Once you have made your tomato sauce, you will need:

• 4 ounces onion, diced small
• 4 ounces sliced celery
• 2 ounces green peppers, small diced
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 quart tomato sauce
• 1 bay leaf
• A pinch of thyme

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind

• Salt
• Pepper
• Cayenne pepper

1. In a 2-quart saucepan, sauté the onion, garlic, celery, and green pepper in olive oil.
2. Add the tomato sauce.
3. Add the bay leaf and thyme.
4. Let simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Add salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste.

This is a basic Creole sauce that you can use when cooking crab Creole shrimp or any other Creole style food.

The general recipe that I gave you above is good, but if you want to be cooking crab Creole shrimp, you will need:

• 1 pound shrimp, peeled
• 1 pound cooked crabmeat
• 5 ounces butter
• 1 cup green peppers, diced small
• 1 cup onions, diced small
• 1 3/4 pounds tomatoes, diced
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons parsley
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• Salt
• Pepper
• Cayenne pepper

1. In a 2-quart pot, sauté the peppers and onions in 2 ounces of butter.
2. Add the bay leaf, tomatoes, thyme, garlic, parsley, and paprika.
3. Let this simmer for about an hour. If it doesn’t thicken to the right consistency, add the cornstarch and whisk until it thickens.
4. While the sauce is simmering, sauté the shrimp in 3 ounces of butter with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.
5. After the sauce has simmered for an hour, add the shrimp and crab to the sauce.
6. Remove the bay leaf.
7. Serve over white rice.

The best way to make white rice is to use a 2-to-1 water-to-rice ratio. Add a bit of salt to the water and bring the water to a boil. Add the rice and bring to a boil again. Then, reduce the heat so the water is now just a simmer. It should be done in about ten minutes.

Creole cooking has a rich history of flavorful dishes. From desserts like Creole cream cheese to tasty sides like Creole hush puppies. As you explore Creole cooking, you will discover tasty variations of classic dishes.

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