Hé enfants! Faisons un certain étouffée!
Tis the season. New Orleans and Lent converge to make this the time of year to dig out all those non meat recipes in your treasure chests. This is one from waaaaaaaay back. Maybe from my 1970s vintage River Road Cookbook (which has not been actually seen since the early 80s and which is actually from Baton Rouge and not The Big Easy . . . . but I digress).
This recipe takes a bit of time but is actually pretty uncomplicated for such a seemingly complex dish. It has two basic preparations and a relatively long cooking time, but a pretty short amount of prep time.
The key to this one is to make shrimp stock and use that as the basis for the dish.
For the stock, peel two lbs of shrimp. I used frozen 51/60 shrimp from Thailand. I chose them because they're the EZ-Peel kind with the shell split and the shrimp deveined. I peeled the entire 2 lbs (about a hundred shrimp) in well under 10 minutes. Save the shells. Put the shrimp in a bowl and toss them with at least a tablespoon of your favorite Cajun or Creole seasoning mix. I used a product from Zatarain's, but over the years I have used lots of others, all to good effect.
Dice up about a cup each of bell pepper, celery, and onion (locally known as The Holy Trinity). Put the shrimp shells in a pot and cover with enough water to cover well, but at least a quart. I usually make two quarts. Add 1/4 cup each of the Holy Trinity and half a lemon, sliced. Add a generous faggot of thyme. I didn't have any string to tie it so I used one of the sprig twigs and that worked just fine. Add a dozen or two peppercorns, a few bay leaves, and three or four cloves of garlic, smashed (no need to peel them, but you can) and that's it. Bring this *almost* to a boil then dial the flame back and let it simmer for about 45 minutes.
While the shells are working and the shrimp are sitting,coated in the seasoning, do the rest of your mise en place. Dice/chop another four to six cloves of garlic. Tie another faggot of thyme. Slice thin a half cup or so of green onions, including the white bottoms. Mince up some flat leaf parsley, maybe three or four tablespoons' worth.
Get ready for use some flour, a 14 oz can of chopped tomatoes (or, as I prefer, half a 28-32 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes, chopped by just squeezing them between my fingers) Worcestershire sauce, the Cajun seasonings, a half stick of butter, some hot sauce (Tabasco or otherwise), and salt and pepper.
When the stock is done, strain out the solids and hold the liquid. Put it aside.
Put a low fire under an even heating pot. Enamel cast iron or copper is best. Lacking that, use your heaviest, most even heating pot. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter. When hot, add the Holy Trinity and let it go until translucent, 4 or 5 minutes. Add a quarter cup or so of flour and stir it in. Make a nice, blonde roux, about 4 or 5 minutes. Keep it moving so it doesn't catch and burn. This step and the next are the most tricky part of the process.
When the roux is still light, but starting to go golden, add a small amount of the stock. Maybe a quarter cup. Some people say to whisk it now, but I just stir it constantly. This will make a sort of paste that coats the vegetables. Keep moving and it will not stick, and the liquid will blend in with the roux pretty easily. When that liquid is absorbed, add a half cup or so more. Stir that in until blended and smooth. Add more stock up to about a cup and a half, total. The resulting mixture should be the consistency of a good gravy - not thick and not watery.
Add the tomatoes, the garlic, Cajun seasoning, two tablespoons or so of the Worcestershire, the thyme, and the hot sauce. Let this simmer for 30 minutes or so, until the flavor seems well developed. Stir frequently. Using your spoon, "feel" the bottom of the pot. If it feels like it is catching, stir/scrape the bottom and it will all redissolve. Don't let it catch and burn.
After that, add the shrimp, green onions and parsley. Simmer until the shrimp cook. Maybe 10 minutes. Halfway through, taste for seasonings and add salt and pepper to taste. Depending on your shrimp, it may need very little salt or a good dose. Taste before seasoning!!!
Add three or four butter pats and stir in after the dish is off the fire. This is TOTALLY gratuitous, but turns the whole thing really rich and silky.
Serve over rice. We like jasmati for this, but any white rice will do.
Laissez le bon temps roullez!
Er . . . . sorry. Lent. Eat respectfully! 
= new reply since forum marked as read
Sorry to say, I never got to experience Mardi Gras, so I just live vicariously. Zatarains is about as spicy as us Norse in Minnesota get. Throw in some spicy venison sausage, then at the end some shrimp and corn and there ya go around here.
I bet New Orleans is just grand ~ enjoy!
