:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/31629153/cam00602.0.jpg)
I don't really know if the term is ubiquitous around the country or not, but in my neck of the woods Mamere is a grandma or great-grandma nickname. In my family's case, my maternal grandmother's mother, who died long before I was born.
This is not her recipe however. How's that for a fun digression? This one comes from the John Folse Encyclopedia, which we've used a bunch of times in the past. It's relatively simple, however.
Ingredients
1.5 lbs shrimp, peeled & deveined (the book calls for river shrimp, but good luck finding that)
6 potatoes, cubed
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup flour
2 cups diced onions
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced bell peppers (I mixed some red & yellow in with the green for some color)
1/4 cup minced garlic
1.5 quarts shellfish stock (I substituted chicken stock, feel free)
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1 tbsp chopped parsley
salt, pepper & granulated garlic to taste
Instructions
1. What else in a Cajun stew? First you make a roux. Heat the vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over whatever heat you're comfortable with, add the flour and stir constantly until you get a good, rich, dark brown.
2. Add your diced onions and stir for a couple of minutes as they wilt. If you used low heat for the roux, increase it to at least medium if not slightly higher.
3. Add the bell peppers and garlic and sauté until wilted. I like to do this step a little after the onions so that the pepper and garlic maintain their flavor better. Over-browned garlic can taste kind of bitter.
4. Add the stock in small portions at a time while stirring, to keep the mixture from separating and staying at a nice, sauce-like consistency. From there, add your potatoes.
5. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes or so, or until the potatoes are fork tender. Make sure to check them with a fork every so often, as you don't want to overcook.
6. Check your seasonings and adjust with salt, pepper, granulated garlic or Cajun seasoning to taste. Keep in mind that potatoes absorb a lot of salt. Fold in the shrimp, green onions and parsley and cook for another 5-10 minutes until the shrimp are pink and curled.
This'll serve about 4-6 people well, maybe more even.