Cathie’S Shrimp Creole

• The Sauce
• 1/2 pound brown sugar hickory smoked or good quality country bacon
• 2 red or yellow peppers - (no green) - chopped
• 2 large sweet onions - chopped
• 3 bunches green onions - chopped
• 4 stalks celery - chopped, including leaves
• 4 fresh cloves garlic - minced
• 2 boxes or cans (28 ounce cans, 26 ounce boxes) of crushed Roma tomatoes. Use the best quality!
• 15 ounces -- 1 can of quality tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• thyme - several sprigs of fresh
• fresh basil - 3-4 leaves chopped
• oregano - several sprigs fresh
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 4 tablespoons good quality Creole Seasoning - if you don't remember how long that seasoning has been in your cabinet, throw it out and buy some more!
• several shakes of hot sauce
• 2 tablespoons Worstershire Sauce
• Adding all the good stuff: Seafood, Port, Olives and bacon
• 1/2 cup good quality Port
• 3 1/2 pounds shrimp: peeled and deveined, large or medium (not jumbo)
• 1 1/2 pounds grouper or any mild white fish- cut in 1 inch cubes
• 12 ounces jar of small pimento stuffed green olives - drained
• the crumbled bacon that you set aside earlier

1. Start by cooking 1/2 pound of brown sugar hickory smoked or good quality country bacon in a very large heavy pot - preferably an iron stove top and oven safe pot. Crumble the bacon and set aside and reserve 2-3 tablespoons of the bacon grease in the pot and saute the veggies: peppers, onoins, green onions, celery, and garlic in the bacon grease.
2. Add the boxes/cans of tomatoes, tomato sauce, paprika, thyme,basil, oregano, bay leaves, pepper, creole seasoning, hot sauce, and Worstershire sauce into the pot with the sauteed veggies, turn the heat up to medium high until it is good and hot and then turn it down to low or medium low with the lid off, stirring periodically to keep the sauce from sticking on the bottom. Let it simmer as low as possible for one hour to 1 1/2 hours; you can't hurry it:
3. Now add all the good stuff: the Port, the shrimp, fish, olives, and bacon, turning up the heat and bringing it ALMOST to a boil stirring GENTLY after adding the seafood . When the shrimp JUST turns pink and begins to curl (3-10 minutes depending on your stove), stir well being careful to not break up the fish into flakes, and remove from the stove, cover with the lid, and put the pot in a barely warm oven (150 - 200 degrees) for 20-30 minutes before serving to let it rest and the flavors blend.
4. Don't take off the lid until you are ready to serve, then remove lid and stir gently, but well. rnrnServe over Spanish or white rice, with a side of Focaccia bread, Cuban bread, crusty rolls or cornbread.

brown sugar, red, sweet onions, green onions, stalks celery, garlic, tomatoes, tomato sauce, paprika, thyme, fresh basil, oregano, bay leaves, ground pepper, salt, creole seasoning u, hot sauce, worstershire sauce, bacon, shrimp, grouper, pimento, bacon

Taken from food52.com/recipes/11530-cathie-s-shrimp-creole (may not work)