Getting to cook again...Ah, the relief. I'm back in the kitchen and loving it. With the convention and business trip behind me (and not another one for a short while), I'm looking forward to getting reacquainted with my cookbook collection.
Last night I indulged myself in a batch of Shrimp Creole, which I prepare via crockpot. It lets the flavors mingle so nicely... My original recipe calls for canned stewed tomatoes, but lately I've had a difficult time finding plain ones on the grocery store shelves. Everything seems to already have herbs and other things added. Perhaps some people find that helpful, but, for me, it throws off the recipe. In any case, the last time I attempted to substitute canned diced tomatoes; an experiment which failed miserably. The sauce was too watery and the attempt to thicken it up with a corn starch and water mixture simply destroyed the consistency. On Michael's advice, last night I tried canned plum tomatoes (brand: Rienzi) and pureed them in the blender for about 10 seconds before adding them to the mix. By far, my best Shrimp Creole yet! The sauce was just the right thickness, and I also achieved the right level of spice (at least according to my tasters).
Posted by Jennifer at May 23, 2003 10:08 AMI was quite glad that my suggestion turned out so well, especially since I got to enjoy the results.
I'll still never quite understand why every can of stewed tomatoes now needs to have bell peppers and onions added to it though.
Posted by: Michael at May 25, 2003 8:31 PMShrimp creole... Yummm...
I have a good recipe for this. I never thought about the crock pot, though. Good idea.
Last time I made this, I used tomatoes that I had frozen from the summer - I let them warm up a bit and then popped them out of their skins. That worked well for mine...
Posted by: jenn at June 2, 2003 9:14 PM