I know I have mentioned before that there were a limited number of dishes that my mom excelled at cooking. I can tell you that she did make an amazing ham sandwich and taught me how to make ham sliders before they were even in the vogue! Her dirty rice was the precursor to Popeye’s and I still crave it. The recipe that I really miss is her Shrimp Stew. No matter how I try, the end result is just not the same as when she would labor over the stove making this for us.
She was so proud about heading down to the Barataria shrimp sellers and banter with them about the size and prices of a pound of shrimp. We go down in our station wagon with a large ice chest in the back, ready for the catch of the day. The ice chest never went back home empty. Besides shrimp, we would always get several dozen blue point crabs so we could boil them up. These little trips excited us because we knew what was going to happen later on that evening!
I recommend watching this video so you can get a better understanding of how Mama was cooking!
As we got older and moved away, we knew that Mama would head over to Barataria and get at least 5 pounds of shrimp and 2 or 3 dozen crab if we planned to come home. At some point in time, Mama realized that it would be easier if we just stayed down on the bayou. Bayou Segnette proved to be the perfect place to meet, cook, crab, and pass ourselves a good time. We had a cabin on stilts directly on the water, where we could drop our nets into the bayou and delight the kids with the task of catching fresh crabs. Mom would inevitably make her shrimp stew to feed the masses and I would cook up a pot of spaghetti. Libby would contribute to the meals and sometimes, we would get a bit of olive salad from Wayne!
When Mama taught me to make her stew, she was very specific. This recipe is exactly the way she wrote it and the only exception is the Italian Seasoning that I add near the end. I recommend getting all of your ingredients prepared prior to starting, especially peeling and quartering the potatoes. She also doesn’t tell you to head, peel, and devein the shrimp so you will need to do that. Chop your onions, bell peppers, and celery ahead of time and have it ready to go in the roux.
Mama’s Shrimp Stew
Mama’s Ingredients:
3 to 5 pounds medium shrimp
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup all purpose flour
2 large onions
1 small bell pepper
4 stalks celery
3 medium potatoes (quartered)
1 tablespoon salt
3 pieces of garlic
Cajun Seasoning to taste
(I add 1 tablespoon of Italian Seasoning)
I also add parsley flakes.
Just enough water to make it look good!
Mama’s Directions:
Heat vegetable oil very hot before adding flour for roux. Add flour, sitrring constantly.
When flour almost appears to burn, add chopped onions, celery. This slows cooking process. When onions appear translucent, add garlic and bell pepper. Then add raw shrimp and allow all ingredients to cook down slowly in covered Dutch oven, in roux, stirring often. Cook on slow heat. After about 5 to 10 minutes, add potatoes and water to thin out sauce. Cook until potatoes are done. Serve over rice.
Note: She does not tell you the amount of water. I would suggest starting with 1 cup of water and adding a bit more if you desire. You do want a thick stew consistency. She also does not tell you to add the Cajun Seasoning, salt, and pepper. Do that as the stew cooks. Add the Italian Seasoning during this time.
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