Homemade Tartar Sauce

Homemade Tartar Sauce is a great addition to any seafood dinner. Goes great with fish, shrimp, oysters, you name it. There’s no need to buy a jar of tartar sauce at the grocery store that’s full of preservatives and other chemicals when it’s so easy to make fresh. Your Cajun cooking education couldn’t be complete without knowing how to make your own Tartar Sauce.

Ingredients for Homemade Tartar Sauce (Serves 2-4):

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
1 teaspoon Creole mustard
Dash of each:
Lemon juice
Tony’s Creole Seasoning
Tabasco hot sauce

Mix all ingredients well.

(If expecting a crowd, double or triple the tartar sauce recipe.)

Serving Suggestions for Homemade Tartar Sauce

Best served chilled in small dipping cups.

Tartar sauce is great for dipping most any seafood into (shrimp, fish, you name it).

It’s also a great sandwich spread.

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Recipe

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp is a quick and very easy Cajun recipe that can be either an appetizer or main course.  A variety of sauces or glazes can be made for topping and dipping.  For this demonstration we made a honey glaze sauce.  You can experiment with many other combinations such as olive oil and Italian seasoning or butter and Tony’s Creole Seasoning.  Anything you want – give it a try.  And now let’s make Bacon Wrapped Shrimp.

Ingredients for Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

12-18 fresh jumbo or large shrimp
Bacon
Lemon juice
Orange juice
1 cup brown sugar
¼ – ½ cup honey
Tony’s Creole Seasoning
Cooking spray
Toothpicks
Non-stick baking sheet

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Recipe

Turn your oven on Broil and keep the rack in the middle.  Peel the shrimp leaving the tail on.  Carefully slice the top of the shrimp and remove the black vein and discard on a paper towel.

In a small saucepan and on medium-low heat, mix the lemon juice, orange juice, brown sugar and honey.  Simmer on low while the shrimp are prepared and cooked.

Cut bacon sliced into 2-3 inch pieces.  Wrap around the shrimp overlapping and secure with a toothpick.  Place on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.

Broil for 4-5 minutes.  Turn the shrimp and broil 4-5 minutes more.  Remove from oven.  With a basting brush, cover each shrimp with the honey glaze.  Broil for another minute.

Serving Suggestions for Bacon Wrapped Shrimp:

Serve 4-6 shrimp per person.  Goes well with potato salad, pasta tossed in olive oil or a rice pilaf.  Don’t forget to sprinkle some Tony’s Creole Seasoning for a bit of spice.

Enjoy and Happy Eating!

Note: Honey Glazed Shrimp can also be cooked in the same manner on the grill.

Shrimp Creole Recipe

Shrimp Creole is another favorite Cajun/Creole dish.  Traditionally, Shrimp Creole is a Creole recipe from New Orleans.  Shrimp Creole only differs slightly from Shrimp Etouffee in that tomato sauce is added to the Roux and great big jumbo Gulf of Mexico shrimp of course. When it comes to recipes for shrimp, this is about as easy a Cajun recipe as you’ll ever find. Let’s get cooking!

Shrimp Creole Ingredients

2 pounds large shrimp (peeled and de-veined)
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 (10 ounce) can Rotel tomatoes
1 stick of butter
½ cup all-purpose flour
4 cups Cajun Trinity with minced garlic
6-8 cups vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
1 cup rice
Olive oil
Green onions chopped for garnish
Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
Tabasco sauce to taste

How to Make Shrimp Creole

As with all Cajun recipes, you start with a Roux. But, first we need to sauté our Cajun Trinity and garlic.

Place 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large Dutch oven or 6 quart pot.

On medium heat, sauté the Cajun Trinity until vegetables are wilted and tender.

Pour into a side bowl and set aside.

For the Roux – melt 1 stick of butter on medium heat.

Gradually add ½ cup flour and stir constantly until a light golden color.

Carefully mix in Cajun Trinity and stir as to not stick or burn.

Add 6-8 cups stock. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add Rotel, tomato sauce, and Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning.

Simmer another 10-15 minutes.

Add shrimp. Cook another 10 minutes.

Make rice according to package directions.
1 cup rice + 2 cups water + 20 minutes = cooked white rice.

Serving Suggestions for Shrimp Creole

Serve Shrimp Creole over mound of rice in a deep plate or bowl. Garnish with chopped green onions. Also, Shrimp Creole is wonderful with crusty French bread for dipping.

Remember cooking from scratch is so easy and very rewarding. Bon Appétit!