Spicy Gluten-free Shrimp Étouffée
What up friends!
Hope everyone is staying safe & healthy! Fun fact - if you don’t know me IRL (in real life), although I think most of you do - my adorable husband (who will be called J / Husbae moving forward) is from New Orleans. Yes, born & raised. He moved to Dallas in June 2011, but let me tell you, he will remind you immediately that he is from NOLA (and you’ll probably hear it in his voice too *swoons*).
Imma be real with you….I was a little bit nervous about touching Cajun specialties. There’s a skill to it that I felt like I just didn’t have and shouldn’t even attempt to touch because I’m not Cajun, Creole, etc. NONETHELESS - I understand that’s it’s a big part of his life, his culture, so I figured I’d give it a whirl….but you know I had to give it a Vicky D twist and make it gluten-free. Before you click off, just keep reading.
Etoufee are the cajun/creole way of smothering dishes. Well if you’re from the south, you already know there’s nothing better than a good ol’ smothered (pronounced smotha’) dish. The main jist is that A LOT of the dishes that you’re probably familiar with like gumbos and etoufees have a roux base. What’s a roux you ask? Basically, it’s butter and flour that cooked down into a dark paste that flavors the entire dish and gives it deep, rich essence. The trick is you have to stir it…..for what feels like forever, but really like 15 minutes. Nope, you can’t step away or it will burn and then you’ll have to start over….yes start over before you even add anything else.
The next big part of Cajun cooking is the holy trinity - onions, celery and bell pepper. Like the roux, it’s the base of many popular dishes: gumbo, etoufee, jambalaya, etc. They actually sell this in the frozen food section so save you on work, but chopping is one of my fave parts of cooking.
The biggest difference in my recipe is that I wanted to make it gluten free, so instead of flour, I used corn starch. I tested out this recipe about 3X to make sure I had it right. No, I don’t think it taste like my MILs, but it’s pretty darn good and wasn’t even hard to make….just don’t burn the roux.
After the roux, the stars of this dish are the spices. One of my favorite parts of cajun and creole cooking are all of the spices - ingredients that add the perfect amount of heat, warmth, depth, richness to dishes that immediately wake up your tastebuds. I had to measure out the ingredients for the purposes of this recipes, but when I watch my husband cook, he just lets the spirit move him.
Speaking of J, if you’re wondering if he approves of this recipe - he does! After three attempts, he was pleasantly surprised and said “the perfect of amount of sauce that is deep in flavor, with just the perfect kick of heat.” Well there you have it folks - check out the recipe below, pair with rice, cauliflower rice, pasta or heck even grits for a fun brunch and let the good times roll.
GLUTEN-FREE SHRIMP Étouffée
INGREDIENTS
5 tbs butter
6 tbs corn starch
1 medium white onion (diced) - roughly 1 cup
2 stacks of celery (diced) - roughly 1/2
3/4 cup of diced bell pepper (i really like sweet peppers)
1 tbs fresh minced garlic
1.5 tbs tomato paste
1 1/2 cups of diced tomatoes
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tbs paprika
1 tbs oregano
1 tbs garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
A smidge of Cajun seasoning with Tony’s (Note: a lot of the spice in cajun seasoning are listed above, so just add a dab to give it a kick).
Salt + pepper to taste
cayenne (optional - as hot as you want it!)
1 pound of large or jumbo shrimp (again, you can add more!)
INSTRUCTIONS
To make the roux: melt butter, add flour and stir on low until the roux is a medium brown color. This should take roughly 10-15 minutes, but if it’s okay a little longer. The roux should be like a thick pasty sauce, not grainy, but not “liquidity.” Again, better that you go slow instead of burning it - so STIR, STIR, STIR!
Add your onions, bell pepper and celery to your medium brown-colored roux and cook for about 8-10 minutes on medium heat veggies are soft. Add garlic and continue to cook on medium, allowing the garlic and veggies to come together. You will start to smell it - YUM!
Time for tomatoes - mix in your tomato paste and diced tomatoes (with their juice).
Spice it up - add all of your spices: paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, cayenne pepper, dash of cajun seasoning, salt + pepper, bay leaf - your etoufee will start to become even more fragrant!
Add your chicken stock and cook your etoufee on medium-low for 10 minutes allowing all of the spices to marry and get to know each other.
Before you add your protein (shrimp, chicken, etc), taste it to see if additional seasonings are needed. Then, add your shrimp and cook until no longer translucent.
Enjoy with your favorite starch and top with parsley just to brighten up those rich flavors!
