Shrimp Etouffee with Steamed Rice

i was looking around this morning for something to cook, discarding recipes left and right because i didn't want to make another dessert and so many recipes required rolling out dough (including the maultaschen i want to make), and we don't have the counter space for that. :\

but i was browsing my main recipe source, the food network, and it dawned on me to make an etoufee! anyways, i did some searching and found a highly-rated recipe that didn't rely on crawfish (since, according to my brother, it's really only available if you get it shipped). i've only had etouffee a couple times (at most), with the most memorable being at a brunch i went to with a friend while i was still living in chicago (around 1999-2000ish). stuck with me that long, that was how good it was! i was worried it was going to come out too stew-like (i really don't enjoy stews), but it looked good enough to take a chance on.

and, even though i don't really like emeril (he kinda reminds me of an ape, the way he looks and hounds over the stove as he's cooking, tho i'm sure he's a nice guy), i couldn't resist.

the recipe

here are the changes i made to the recipe:

• i don't like celery, so i took that out and substituted more onion (which i love)
• i'm too cheap and lazy to make emeril's essence, and i couldn't find it at the store, so i just used cajun seasoning that came in a big shaker container thingy
• too lazy to peel/seed/chop tomatoes, so i got diced tomatoes in a can (organic [on sale], no salt added)
• i don't like long grain rice, so i used medium grain
• i didn't make the fried mirliton strips

here's how it went:

i was unsure how to cook the rice (i don't normally eat rice) so i followed the directions on the rice package. i used 2 cups rice and filled to the 3 cup line in the pot, as directed. wolfgang puck says "rice perfect" and i was going to doubt him, but it did come out just fine!


i used frozen shrimp (on sale, $12 for 2 lbs, still $$$, imho), so i had to defrost them.


one of the onions i bought looked like it was starting to sprout(?) so i tossed it. good thing i had extras!


chopped up onions and green and red bell peppers


look ma, i'm making a roux!



vegetables cooking in said roux








a hint for peeling mechanically deveined shirmp (well, maybe not a hint, but something i discovered which may be obvious to everyone else) -- pull the shell down from the sides towards the legs to pull them off. usually the shell will tear towards the tail, that's fine. hold on to the body of the shrimp and pull on the tail and it'll disconnect along with the shell, leaving just nommy shramp meat! (too bad i didn't discover this until halfway through.)

oh, before i forget, i don't drink wine either, so when it said to use a dry sherry or white wine, i didn't know what to get. i ended up with a clos du bois sauvignon blanc. it called for 2 tablespoons, although i think i may have ended up adding significantly more by accident (maybe nearing 1/4 cup? LOL). (and now i have a bottle of wine in the fridge that may never get used again.)





here it is, all coming together:




and on top of (invisible) rice:


the final verdict:

WHOA, nomma! so delicious! i'm definitely making this again, whether for myself or for a party. it was a teeny TINY bit too salty but i think that's because i added the salt as specified in the recipe but used salted butter?