Frank Davis - Franks' Recipes

A special collection of my favorite recipes. These are the ones you'll find printed nowhere else.
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Frank's Classic New Orleans Shrimp Creole

Ever since the early days of the Crescent City, Creole food has always been aristocratic and considered highly elegant. But no Creole recipe has claimed as much notoriety as this one! From the most sophisticated restaurant to the neighborhood cafe, everybody makes "Shrimp Creole!" But the best you can get is the batch you whip up at home!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Crisco oil
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 cups finely chopped onions
1/2 cup finely sliced green onions
1/2 cup finely diced celery
1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper
1/4 cup finely minced parsley
4 cloves finely minced garlic
1 can tomato paste (12 ounce size)
1 can tomato sauce (12 ounce size)
6 cans water*
1/2 cup golden sherry wine
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp Louisiana Hot Sauce
2 Tbsp Frank Davis seafood seasoning
2 tsp salt (if needed to taste)
3 lbs medium peeled shrimp
6 cups cooked long-grain rice

In a heavy 5-quart Dutch oven, heat the Crisco oil over a medium-high fire. Then, with a wire whisk, vigorously stir in the flour and continue to work it until it turns creamy smooth. What you're doing is making a light roux... but be sure you cook it only until it just begins to turn a pale tan (you don't want it to brown!)

Next, drop in the onions, green onions, celery, bell pepper, parsley, garlic, stir them into a roux, reduce the heat to "low" and cook the vegetables until they begin to soften (about 5 minutes or so should do it). Again, you will have to continue stirring the pot or the roux will burn.

Then when the mixture is uniform, stir in the tomato paste and the tomato sauce. And don't even think about not stirring the pot now! If the tomatoes scorch... the whole dish will become bitter! So, stir...stir... and stir again for another 3 minutes or so.

At this point, increase the heat to "high," pour in 5 cups of water and all the wine, and blend everything into a semi-thick sauce. Remember, you don't want the sauce to be too thin - it will naturally thin out when you add the shrimp. If, however, it seems a bit thick to you, go ahead and pour in the last can of water.

Now you're ready to season the sauce base, so stir in the lemon juice, Worcestershire, hot sauce, seafood seasoning and salt. Then reduce the fire to low, cover the Dutch oven with a tight lid, and simmer the sauce base for an hour, stirring occasionally. Then - and follow this closely - exactly 10 minutes before you're ready to eat, drop in the peeled shrimp and stir them well into the sauce base. If you cook the shrimp any longer than 10 minutes, they will shrink and turn mushy and gritty.

When you're ready to serve, spoon a generous helping of the Shrimp Creole over a plate of hot steamed rice and dish it up alongside some hot buttered French bread and a cold crisp salad covered with a vinaigrette dressing.

Mes amis... bon appetit!

Chef's Notes:
When I say 6 cans of water, I mean to measure the water in the tomato paste can. For Italian gravy, the correct mixture is 3 cans of water to 1 can of tomato paste. But for Creole, courtbouillon, and sauce piquante, the correct mixture is 5 cans of water to 1 can of paste. That's because the roux is going to absorb a considerable amount of water. The sixth can is kept aside just in case you need it.
You may not need to add additional salt to the sauce, especially if you use my seafood seasoning. To be sure, I suggest you taste the sauce base before sprinkling the salt.
To order my seafood seasoning, use the order form on this Web site or call 1-800-742-4213.