River Road Potato Stew with Shrimp

Serves 12 to 15, over steamed rice. Recipe is from Jerry Folse: "This is a dish I've enjoyed ever since I was a kid. Daddy always had shrimp boxes in the river, and we grew lots of vegetables in the garden. We didn't have a lot of money, but we surely did eat as though we did. Most of our meals consisted of vegetables from the garden and seafood and/or game caught or killed within minutes of the house. Potato stew with shrimp was one of those dishes prepared with very little cost to the family. We caught the shrimp and picked the potatoes and vegetable seasonings from the garden. I've adjusted the recipe to use vegetable oil for the roux. In those days we used lard, produced from pig fat when we made boucherie. The only items we had to buy were salt, pepper, flour and rice. Sometimes one of Daddy's rice farmer friends gave him a sack of rice, so we didn't even have to buy rice. The rice and potatoes went a long way to fill eight hungry kids, and the shrimp went a long way to make it a delicious dish."


1. Peel and devein shrimp and season with Tony's, black pepper and granulated garlic. Put seasoned shrimp back in refrigerator.

2. In a heavy 12-quart iron pot, make a roux by combining oil and flour. Stir constantly over medium heat, until dark brown.

3. Add onions, bell pepper and celery and sauté vegetables in the roux for about 10 minutes. Add Shrimp Stock and allow to simmer for about 45 minutes. Add additional Shrimp Stock if stew is too thick.

4. Next, add diced potatoes and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Once potatoes are tender, add half the parsley and half the green onions.

5. Stir in shrimp and bring back to a boil. Adjust seasoning. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

6. Add remaining parsley and green onions.

7. Simmer 5 minutes more until the stew is done.

Shrimp Stock

Shrimp shells
1 gallon water
Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning, to taste
3 bay leaves
Black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup chopped onions
1 tbl. chopped parsley
1 tbl. granulated garlic

Make stock by boiling shrimp shells for 45 minutes in 1 gallon of water, with a little Tony's, bay leaves, black pepper, chopped onions, parsley stems and a tablespoon of granulated garlic. Strain out stock and set aside.

Source: The Advocate - Baton Rouge, La.