Recipe: Shrimp Creole

Shrimp Creole

1 1/2 lbs. medium shrimp (peeled and deveined)
1 green bell pepper (cubed)
1 sweet onion (cubed)
4 ribs of celery (cut into bit size peices)
2 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp. Old Bay seasoning
2 tbsp. garlic (chopped)
4 cup white rice (cooked)
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. cayenne pepper

Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Saute onions, peppers, bay leaves and celery for 4-5 minutes. Add garlic, Old Bay, salt, pepper, hot sauce and tomatoes. Boil for 10 minutes. Add the shrimp, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the shrimp turns pink. Serve over the rice.

*Johnna's tip: For Christmas, the boyfriend brought the fab gift of (*drum roll, please)....a cooking class! Trust that I was not excited about the gift upon first glance (*I was like: "Are you trying to say we can't cook?!"...he assured me this wasn't the case.) I went and to my surprise...it was pretty cool. So the low down on cooking classes are: they basically cook the food in front of you, you get to ask as many questions about the cooking as you want and you get to taste all of the food that they prepare. We learned a few tricks and got to pick Chef Zan Dial's brain about some of his secrets in the kitchen.

Here is a clip from the Chef Zan Dial's cooking class "Cheap & Easy in the Kitchen" which features today's shrimp creole recipe. I tried this recipe at home and it came out pretty darn tasty for the cheap. One of the questions I asked Zan Dial was where he suggested we go for these cheap and easy ingredients and he mentioned a grocery store named Wegman's. Not the first time I heard about this store, sounds like it might be the foodie haven for the cheap...shall we take a trip up Route 1??

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