Shrimp Etouffee

Dear Salley,
That girl lugging the huge bag of pots and pans up the stairs? That's me. I've got big plans for us.

I cooked my first meal in my dorm's kitchen tonight. It was a little bit of a challenge but fun! It felt really good to get back into it - there are only so many dining hall meals I can stand. My boyfriend came over and we had a cozy dinner in Salley Hall. It felt like we were back home for a little while :) Sometimes those little familiarities make college life easier. (Sorry to the 5th floor for making it smell like seafood. I'll make brownies next time).

Ingredients
1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp.
1 whole onion - diced
1 each red and green bell pepper - okay to dice one whole bell pepper, any color.
1 can of diced tomatoes, or dice 2 romas.
2 cloves of garlic - about a teaspoon, minced, or pre-chopped from jar.
3 green onions - sliced. Discard roots and old green ends - use white and light green parts.
1/2 bunch of parsley - chopped
1/8 to 1/4 cup clam juice, preference (this is for extra seafood flavor - you could leave it out.)
2 cups of water - for Etouffee broth
2 teaspoons of cornstarch - into reserved 1/2 cup oyster/water broth.
good shake of Cajun seasoning
2 whole bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce - optional
Salt and pepper to taste.

1. Roughly chop one whole onion and red and green bell pepper.  Mix in tomato, bell pepper and tomato and cook in a pot over medium heat for 10-12 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Add minced garlic and cook about 30 seconds.

2. For the seafood stock, pour the clam juice into 2 cups of water. Set aside 1/2 cup of stock for later.

Add seafood stock to cooking veggies and bring to a boil.

3. Reduce heat to a low simmer. Add 2 whole bay leaves. Add your heat - hot sauce, Cajun seasonings, cayenne pepper, whatever. Cook uncovered for 20-30 minutes at low heat.

4. Add chopped green onions and parsley.

5. Spoon 2 teaspoons of cornstarch into 1/2 cup of reserved seafood broth -- blend well. Stir cornstarch liquid into pot. Sauce should start to thicken into a gravy after a couple of minutes. Let it cook for about five more minutes over low heat.

6. Add the cooked shrimp at the end and let them heat to temperature, about 4 minutes.

Throw out the bay leaves.

Serve over rice with extra hot sauce

You can omit all the spiciness of this dish if you’re that kind of person. But I feel if you’re going Cajun, you should go all the way.