Don’s Creole Sauce

With slightly cooler weather amongst us Sunday night, I cooked up one my favorite heart-warming meals, Creole Sauce served with Pan Seared Rockfish.

I worked up this recipe about 10 years ago after having a delightful Creole sauce in Aruba. It is very simple to make and packed with flavor. You can serve it with any fish, pan seared, broiled, poached or grilled. Grilled shrimp is also great with this. As a bonus, all of the ingredients are usually in my pantry or fridge, so today all I had to do is swing by Shady Lane Seafood for the Rockfish.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 chopped celery stalk
1 cfup diced red, yellow or orange bell peppers
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 can of fire roasted diced tomatoes (any kind of tomato will do, I always keep a few cans of diced around)
1/2 cup chopped basil leaves
1/2 tablespoon chopped oregano
1/2 teaspoon dry thyme
Cayenne to flavor, I used about a teaspoon
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

Directions

In a saucepan, with a lid, over medium heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions, celery, and green peppers. Season with salt and pepper. Saute the vegetables for 2 to 3 minutes or until the vegetables start to wilt. Stir in the garlic, tomatoes, and herbs. Continue to saute for 1 minute. Season the vegetables with salt, pepper and cayenne. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and stock. Bring the liquid to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally. Stir in the green onions and stir in the butter.

To make it smoother, I separated half of the sauce and hit it for a minute or so with an immersion blender, then re-introduced this back with the rest of the sauce.

You’ll want some bread on hand to sop up the sauce.