Shrimp Creole in the Style of the High-Hat Club

Just a little recipe that has very little to do with Thanksgiving

Nov 27, 2024

For the past several weeks I have had a very strong craving for shrimp creole, that 1950s and 60s favorite that lingered on into my 80s childhood at home cooking kind of places and Cajun restaurants. That my friends is a dish that I cannot find for love or money in the Chicago area. At least not anywhere that is easily googleable. I even thought about a trip to the “Here Be Dragons” part of the suburbs to eat at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen, a Texas-based Cajun chain, but they don’t seem to carry shrimp creole any longer. I remember liking their rendition, but picking out the slimy pieces of okra it contained and giving them to my then-girlfriend to eat. I like okra exactly one way—hard-fried to the point of almost burning it, but she loved it—slime and all—blech! It’s probably a mitzvah that they don’t serve shrimp creole any longer because the closest Papadeaux to Chicago is an almost three-hour trip by public transit! I kid you not:

Chicagoland on Google Maps with a dragon and "Here Be Dragons" emblazoned on it. — There is a 1.2-mile walk after taking a subway, two buses, and a railroad train.

Now I’m a reasonably good cook, but my cooking mojo has been rather low since I lost my job in late September. Three weeks ago I did not even want to cook a Thanksgiving dinner, but along with my desire to write again a couple of weeks ago came my desire to clean the house—especially the kitchen and to start cooking in earnest again. While making room for groceries in the freezer the other day, I came upon some forgotten frozen shrimp—kismet! After consulting a few cooking websites, the 20th-century stalwart The Joy of Cooking, and my hazy memories of making this as a special a few times when I was the chef de cuisine at the High-Hat Club ten years ago, I cobbled together the recipe below. Jennifer enjoyed the meal so much that she bragged about me on BlueSky and someone asked for a recipe drop. Jennifer suggested that I make it a blog post, and here we are. It’s not a Thanksgiving staple by any stretch—not even in New Orleans I imagine, but if you use a green bell pepper, green onions, and parsley, you can have the colors of Christmas on a plate. I did not take a photo of the plate yesterday so here is the best mid-century cookbook picture that I could find, Crisco’s Favorite Family Foods Cookbook:

A picture of shrimp creole from a circa 1960s Crisco cookbook. — You can compare recipes.

Shrimp Creole in the Style of the High-Hat Club

The Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 ribs of celery, small dice (about ¼”)

1 bell pepper, small dice

1 large onion, small dice

½ teaspoon (or to taste) of Creole seasoning (I use “Slap Ya Mama”)

4 cloves of garlic, crushed and minced

2 tablespoons of tomato paste

2 bay leaves

2 teaspoons of dried thyme

¼ cup of dry white wine (I use sauvignon blanc)

1 ½ cups of low-sodium chicken or shrimp stock

2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce

½ teaspoon (or to taste) of Louisiana-style hot sauce (I use Crystal or Louisiana Brand)

1 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes or tomato puree

The Shrimp:

1 tablespoon of olive oil

2 pounds of cleaned and deveined raw shrimp (medium or larger)

Creole seasoning and fresh ground black pepper

Optional Garnishes:

Green onions white and green parts, thinly sliced

Chopped fresh parsley

Louisiana-style hot sauce

Heat a large saucepan, skillet, or chicken fryer over medium heat and sauté the celery, bell pepper, and onion in the butter and olive oil.
.Sprinkle the vegetables with the Creole seasoning and sauté for about ten minutes, or until some browning occurs.
Add the garlic and continue to sauté for about a minute being careful not to scorch the garlic.
Add the tomato paste and cook for about a minute stirring constantly to avoid scorching.
Add the bay leaves, thyme, wine, stock, Worcestershire sauce, Louisiana-style hot sauce, and tomatoes stirring to incorporate thoroughly.
Bring to a slow simmer for 30 minutes covered (this sauce will decorate your stovetop with rusty red spots otherwise).
Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering.
Season the shrimp with a very light dusting of Creole seasoning and a few grinds of black pepper.
Sauté the shrimp for 2 to 4 minutes or until pink and firm to the touch (the size of the shrimp will determine the cooking time).
Put the shrimp into the sauce and stir to incorporate.
Remove the bay leaves.
Taste the sauce and check the seasoning; add more Creole seasoning if you wish for a saltier dish.
Serve with white rice and the optional garnishes.