Shrimp Créole

Tonight I was feeling like a good old classic, and it also helped that I had some extra shrimp in my freezer. I decided to make one of New Orleans favorite dishes... Shrimp Créole, It's a mildly spicy, tomato based sauce with tons of deep flavors, served simply with some beautifully cooked and fluffy white rice.

To be able to Serve 4:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pound of Shrimp

3 Tablespoons Flour, toasted

3 Tablespoons Butter

4 Tablespoons Tomato Paste

1 teaspoon of dried Onion

1 teaspoon of crushed Red Pepper

28 ounces of Chicken Broth

4 bay leaf

1 teaspoon of Thyme, dried

1 teaspoon of Parsley, dried

4 cups of White Rice

Directions:

If you do not have toasted flour on hand: Place flour in a small skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until flour turns golden brown, about 5 minutes. BE CAREFUL NOT TO BURN THE FLOUR.

In a large skillet, heat butter over medium heat. Stir in toasted flour and mix thoroughly. Add tomato paste, then chicken stock and stir until well combined. Stir in onions, salt, crushed peppers, bay leaves, thyme and parsley. Stir to blend. Increase heat to high and bring mixture to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon.

Add shrimp all at once, stir to blend and cook until all shrimp have turned pink, 5-10 minutes. Serve on top of cooked rice.

I suggest you serve this dish with some Fresh Bread and Butter, the sauce can be a little spicy for people who can't handle spice very well (such as myself) and if you can handle heat... I still recommend the bread because I was never known to say no to Bread... I blame my mother :)