Recipe(tried): Shrimp Creole (Not vegetarian but you said your guest would eat fish.) for Sheil

This is a recipe that I have been making for years, Sheila. You can make the roux way, way ahead of time if you want. It keeps just about forever, tightly covered and refrigerated. If you want to freeze this ahead of time, I would suggest that you make the Creole sauce without the shrimp and freeze it. Then when you want to serve it, thaw the sauce, heat, adding water to thin it, if necessary. Just before you are ready to eat, add the shrimp since they only takes 4 or 5 minutes to cook.

SHRIMP CREOLE

1/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup flour
1 lb. fully peeled, deveined raw shrimp
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup onion, minced
1/2 cup green pepper, minced
1 cup water
2 tsp. salt
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, minced

To make the roux, combine oil and flour in a heavy skillet (black cast iron if you have one.) Heat to medium-high heat, stirring constantly until it is light brown (the color of a copper penny). Transfer the roux to another large (12 inch) skillet. (The reason I suggest this is because of the tomato sauce in the sauce. Since it is acidic, I don't like to make the entire dish in the cast iron pan.)

Heat the roux to medium heat and add the garlic, onion, and green pepper. Cook 3 or 4 minutes. Gradually add the water, tomato sauce, cayenne and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook, covered 20 to 30 minutes.

Uncover and raise the heat to medium. Add the shrimp and cook 4 or 5 minutes, depending on the size of shrimp you use, turning the shrimp over halfway through cooking.

Stir in the chopped parsley and serve over hot rice.

Note: You can double the roux, using half for the recipe and refrigerate the other half until the next time you need it. It will keep a long time, tightly covered in the refrigerator.