Shrimp Creole (Slow Cooker)

You’ll need a 6 quart slow cooker for this one. The sauce needs to cook down and cooking a small volume of food in a larger cooker puts a greater percentage of the food in direct contact with the heated surface, resulting in the browning that creates such great depth of flavor. From: Joe Simmers, Creole Slow Cooking. NOTE: I add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar when adding the tomatoes.

• Ready In: 40 mins
• Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup butter
• 1⁄3 cup flour
• 1 1⁄2 cups onions, chopped
• 3⁄4 cup celery, chopped
• 3⁄4 cup bell pepper, chopped
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1⁄2 teaspoon white pepper
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2  bay leaves
• 1⁄2 teaspoon thyme
• 1⁄2 teaspoon basil
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1  cup tomato sauce
• 1 (14 1/2ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2  lbs  raw peeled shrimp, medium sized
• 1⁄4 cup  chopped parsley
•  thin sliced green onion (optional garnish)

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring often, until you have a medium brown roux. .
2. Add the onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally for about 6-8 minutes.
3. Add the black, white and cayenne peppers, bay leaves, thyme, basil, salt and tomato sauce. Stir to mix and cook for one minute. With a spatula, scrape the contents of the pan into the crock along with the diced tomatoes; stir. Cook LOW for 4 hours.
4. Remove the lid and stir well. Some of the sauce will be stuck to the sides of the crock and look almost as if it were burned. This is the carmelization process. Scrape all the sides and stir it back into the sauce. Add the shrimp and parsley; continue cooking on LOW for 1 hour; stirring once during the cooking process. Serve over steamed rice garnishing with sliced green onions.