732. SHRIMP CREOLE with OKRA, BACON, CAROLINA PLANTATION RICE PILAF and YELLOW SQUASH

serves 4


SHRIMP STOCK:

Shells and heads from the 40 medium-sized shrimp you will be using
1 tablespoon butter
4 cups water

Lightly brown the shells in the butter. Add the water and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain, discard the shells, and reserve the stock.


SQUASH:

12 small yellow crookneck squash, cut into ¼-inch thick circles
1 medium Wadmalaw Sweet onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon butter
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all of the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed skillet. Cover, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until the squash have released their juices and are tender. Uncover, reduce the heat to medium, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until all of the liquid has evaporated. Keep warm until ready to serve or set aside and reheat when ready to serve.


CREOLE SAUCE:

2 tablespoons butter
1 large green bell pepper, finely diced
2 celery stalks, finely diced
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
1 small clove garlic, smashed
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup shrimp stock
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
4 dashes Tabasco®
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves

Toss the vegetables, garlic, salt, and pepper and sauté them in the butter until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes, or until they render their juices. Whisk in the tomato paste, add the shrimp stock and seasonings, and simmer for 5 minutes to marry the flavors. Remove the sprigs of thyme and the bay leaves and discard. Keep warm until ready to serve or set aside and reheat when ready to serve.


CAROLINA PLANTATION RICE PILAF

1 cup Carolina Plantation Rice
2 cups shrimp stock
40 tender fresh pods of okra, heads and tails removed and pods thinly sliced
1 tablespoon butter
Pinch of salt
12 pieces bacon, cooked and crumbled

Combine rice and shrimp stock and bring to a boil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Boil for 1 minute, then cover and reduce the heat to low. Let cook 15-20 minutes, being careful not to lift the lid before 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, check to see if the rice is fluffy and all the liquid is gone. If not, cover and cook for an additional 5 minutes. When done, remove from heat, keeping lid closed. Cook the okra with the butter and salt over medium heat until the okra slime has almost caramelized. Set aside. Just before serving, you will add the okra and bacon to the rice.


SHRIMP:

40 medium-sized shrimp, peeled and deveined (shells used for stock)
1 tablespoon butter
1 small clove garlic, smashed
½ teaspoon Cajun spice

When everything else is ready, sauté the shrimp in the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and spice. Shake the pan to get the outside of the shrimp seared and the inside hot and translucent. This will take only a few minutes. Do not overcook or the shrimp become tough.


TO SERVE: Check the Creole for seasoning. Toss the rice with the okra and bacon. Divide the rice between 4 plates and spoon the Creole around it. Place the shrimp around the Creole and spoon the butter and juices from the skillet over the shrimp. Serve the squash in a side dish.


courtesy of: Executive Chef Frank Lee, Maverick Southern Kitchens: Slightly North of Broad and High Cotton Restaurants located in Charleston, South Carolina

336. CHICKEN, OKRA, and BACON GUMBO

3 1/2 lb frying chicken
1 lb young Okra pods
10 oz corn kernels
1 lb smoked sausage
8 slices bacon
16 oz can tomato puree
4 cloves garlic
4 large tomatoes
3 large onions
2 green bell peppers
2 stalks of celery with leaves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried thyme

Top and tail the Okra pods, ie cut off the ends. Cut the pods into approximately 1/4 inch rounds. Slice the sausage into 1/4 inch rounds. Chop the bacon finely. Mince the garlic.

Pop the tomatoes into boiling water for 30 seconds, remove, peel and chop.

Peel the onions and chop 2 onions coarsely. Cut the remaining onion into quarters. Seed the bell pepper and chop coarsely.

Cut the leaves from the celery and place to one side, chop the celery stalks.

Place the chicken, the celery leaves, the quartered onion and salt into a Dutch oven, with sufficient water to cover the solid ingredients. Bring to the boil, cover with lid and reduce the heat. Simmer for approximately 45 minutes, until the chicken is tender to a fork.

Remove the chicken, reserve the broth after discarding the onion quarters and celery leaves.

Skin and debone the chicken. Cut into small, bite sized pieces. Reserve.

Cook the bacon and sausage in the Dutch oven, over medium heat, until the bacon becomes very crispy. Remove the bacon and sausage from the Dutch oven, but leave one to two tablespoons of bacon/sausage dripping in the oven. Crumble the bacon and set aside with the sausage.

Add the chopped onion, green pepper, celery and minced garlic to the dripping in the Dutch oven and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the vegetables become tender.

Add the chicken, reserved broth, bacon, sausage, tomatoes, tomato puree, okra, corn and thyme to the Dutch oven. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for approximately 90 minutes.


courtesy of: Michael Tracey's Afri Chef, African Recipes: Cooking Real Food From Africa