Shrimp Creole II

In a large (10" non-stick) skillet, heat the oil over low. Blend in the flour, stirring constantly over low heat until the mixture is brown. (BE CAREFUL NOT TO BURN! If any black specks appear, you must discard and start over.) This will take around 20 minutes.

Add the onion and bell pepper to the roux and cook 5-10 minutes, or until softened. Stir in the tomato sauce mixed with the hot water; add garlic, parsley, salt, cayenne, bay leaves, and thyme. Bring to a boil, lower the heat even more, cover, and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Stir the shrimp in the simmering sauce and remove from the heat. Let stand, covered, for 5-10 minutes until shrimp turn pink. Remove bay leaves and serve the shrimp over the rice.

NOTE: I got this recipe from my daughter. It is from the "Rare Collections, Galveston County, Texas Junior League Celebration Cookbook."

I made sure I had an extra can of tomato sauce ‘just in case’, but I didn’t need it. I heated my oil on a "3" on my stove top in my non-stick Calphalon skillet. I used a silicone whisk to blend in the flour until the lumps were gone. Then I switched to a flexible spatula my daughter had bought me at Williams-Sonoma and stirred it constantly. After 20 minutes it was a pretty brown color, so I added my vegetables to it. Then used just really hot water out of the tap to mix with my tomato sauce and added that. After I added all the spices (I did use fresh thyme), I lowered the heat to "L" on my stove top, and simmered it for 20 minutes before adding the shrimp. I used 31-40 count and took out 30 shrimp for us for two meals. I weighed it on my scale so I could figure weight watcher points, and those 30 weighed 10 ounces. The total for this meal is 10 points (7 for the dish and 3 for the rice, of which ¾ cup cooked basmati rice was measured for each of us). The flavor is excellent! It is different from the other Shrimp Creole recipe on this site (which is from Norwoods in New Smyrna Beach). Both are good, but just different from each other.