Trying out new recipes!

Ever since I bought this cookbook: 

I've wanted to make the Gumbo Casserole with Creamed Garlic Shrimp. It seemed like a two-person job so Christopher and I thought it would be fun to make it together. It was so yummy and we've already decided what we want to do differently next time we make it.

Ingredients:
2 pounds unpeeled, medium-size fresh shrimp
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning (we used Tony Chachere's... my favorite. Chris keep shaking more on the shrimp when I wasn't looking, so no clue how much we actually used.)
2 tablespoons bacon drippings
3 tablespoons all-purpouse flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1/3 cup finely chopped celery
2 garlic cloves, minced (we're both big garlic fans - so we used three)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper (Christopher accidentally put a full teaspoon of pepper - so we used a full teaspoon of salt too)
4 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth or water (we used chicken broth)
2 cups whipping cream
1 pound uncooked spaghetti, broken in half and cooked according to package directions
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Peel and devein shrimp, if desired. Combine shrimp and Creole seasoning in a medium bowl; set aside.

Cook bacon drippings, flour, and oil in a large skillet over medium heat, whisking constantly, 20 to 25 minutes or until roux is the dark brown color of pecan shells.

I was proud to say I knew how to pronounce "roux" from my dedication to the food network, but I couldn't believe how long it took to make!

Add onion, pepper, celery, and garlic and cook 5 minutes or until under. Add thyme, oregano, salt, and pepper and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add shrimp and green onions and cook over medium-high heat 3 minutes or until shrimp are almost done. Transfer to large bowl.

Add broth to skillet, scraping bottom of skillet to loosen browned bits. Add whipping cream. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes. Chris started boiling the pasta when I got to this step and it worked out perfectly.

Add sauce to shrimp. Stir in cooked pasta; toss well to combine. Pour into a lightly greased 13" x 9" baking dish.

Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Garnish, if desired. Yield: 8 servings

Enjoy!!

 Overall, the recipe was a big success. It said it yielded eight servings, but four of us at almost the whole casserole. Who knows, maybe we're just fatties. :)

The things Christopher and I decided we would do differently next time:

- Not cook the shrimp so long. We forgot to turn up the heat immediately and I'm so paranoid about undercooked food that we ended up cooking them in the skillet for about 6 minutes.

- I would not use as much spice. Christopher likes spicy food and went a little crazy with the seasoning and my mouth was on fire!!

- Use fresh parmesan. We wanted to use what we had so we used some Kraft grated parmesan that was in the fridge, but it would be a lot yummier with fresh cheese. 

- I might use regular spaghetti next time. I usually like thin spaghetti so we used it, but I think regular spaghetti would work really well for this casserole.

Highly recommended for all the shrimp lovers out there!