Butter Beans and Shrimp

These legumes are creamy and an ultimate comfort food, yet it’s healthy. It’s a Cajun dish that flies under the radar and I want to change that. Read as: Help me by cooking and eating butter beans and shrimp.

I was working on my 4th decade of life before I found out people put MEAT in their butter beans. Not only is this sacrilege to me, I literally never heard of it. I would be less surprised if Lorelai ended up marrying Kirk instead of Luke.

Come to find out butter beans and shrimp is a regional variation on an already complicated (in terms of definition not execution) cuisine. By regional in this term, I mean a small pocket in S. Louisiana. After some unofficial research (thanks Dad for his butter bean poll), it seems like butter beans and shrimp is a St. James Parish thing and made with fresh river shrimp. Those who eat it with shrimp not in St. James seems to either have grown up there or eaten it there. If you’re in the area (or not because they’re worth the drive) you can snag some butter beans and shrimp at Dru’s in Convent or Nobile’s in Lutcher. As a bonus, Nobile’s is in a beautiful old building in one of the last historic parts of town.

Major tip: make sure you cook your beans long and slow. If you rush them, they’ll start sticking to the bottom of the pot and causes the beans to darken – not what we want. It will be darker than white beans because this dish has roux in it which skews more towards a stew than a typical Louisiana beans and rice dish. As with many dishes in Louisiana, serve it over brown rice.

Ingredients
2 lb shrimp (or 1 lb peeled)
water
1 lb dried butter beans
¼ c whole wheat flour
1 c chopped onion
½ c chopped green bell pepper
½ c chopped celery
1 Tbl parsley
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne
4 bay leaves
½ tsp thyme
1 T garlic
chopped parsley or green onions (for garnish)

Directions
Peel shrimp. Add the shrimp heads, shells, and to 2 cups of water to a Dutch oven or other heavy bottom pot. Boil for 45 minutes. You can add more water if you have too much evaporation. Remove the shells with a slotted spoon or put a fine mesh strainer on top of a bowl and pour the contents into the strainer. Pour the water back into the pot.

While you’re making the stock, make a roux. Use a small heavy bottom frying pan and add the flour in a thin layer. Put on low heat. When you start smelling the flour, give the flour a quick stir. The underside should show a little color. Let it sit a couple of minutes and repeat. You’ll want to open a window because it’ll probably get smoky. After a few rounds of stirring, your flour will take on color quickly and you’ll need to stir constantly. You want the final look to be the color of peanut butter or a tad darker if you’re using whole wheat flour. If your pan is too hot or you don’t stir often enough, you’ll burn the roux. Throw it out and start over. It happens to the best of us and there is no saving burned roux. If the pan starts to get too hot, the easiest thing to do is lift it off the burner (gas or electric) and set it back down after 15 seconds or so.

Chop your trinity (onion, bell pepper, and celery). Add everything to the Dutch oven except the shrimp and garlic. You’ll want to have about a 1.5 quarts of water in the pot to start. Put the burner on medium high until the water boils, then reduce it to a simmer and cover.

Check on the beans every 30 minutes. When the beans are soft and are about to burst, stir in the shrimp and garlic. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. The final consistency should have intact beans with some thick liquid. You’ll eat it on a plate with a fork so keep that in mind.

Garnish with green onions or parsley.

Notes
If you started with peeled shrimp or don’t have time to make stock, add 1 Tbl chicken base and reduce the salt to the pot when you add the beans.

Use white flour if that’s what you have.

There’s not an official rice to “other” ratio in Louisiana. The ratio does vary depending on the dish. Keep in mind rice is neutral and mutes the flavor of your dish. Rice should never dominate. For this dish I like 2 parts butter beans and 1 part rice. You can use that as a starting point and adjust to see how you like it. The photo is misleading because it was staged so the rice would show.

Check out this post for my shrimp buying and peeling guide.

Butter beans are lima beans by a different name. My dad prefers the flavor of the baby butter beans which is what’s in this photo. I’m still working on refining my taste buds because I haven’t noticed a flavor difference. I like the texture of the large ones for some dishes but size doesn’t matter in this dish.