Shrimp Casserole

Haven't left The Gasparilla Cookbook yet -- one final recipe before I move on. The finished dish was a surprise  and a disappointment.  I think it could be much better with some changes; any and all suggestions will be appreciated.  But first the original recipe and my substitutions.

Shrimp Casserole

2 pounds raw shrimp
1/3 cup finely chopped onions
1/3 cup celery
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 or 2 cloves garlic
1 cup raw rice
1 No. 3 can tomatoes
2 cups chicken bouillon or canned consomme
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1 teaspoon chili powder
Dash Cayenne
1 tablespoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Shell and clean raw shrimp.  Brown onion and celery in butter or margarine with garlic cloves.  Into a casserole that holds at least 2 1/2 quarts, put the onion, celery, garlic, shrimp, raw rice, tomatoes and chicken bouillon or canned consomme.  Add remaining ingredients and stir.  Cover tightly and cook 1 1/2 to 2 hours at 350 degrees.  Stir once with a fork during cooking period so that all flavors are blended more fully.
Serves 6.  (The Gasparilla Cookbook, recipe submitted by Mrs. Victor B. Yeats.)

I didn't used fresh shrimp, but substituted a thawed 24-ounce bag of Publix's frozen, cleaned raw shrimp.  I assumed that the celery was also chopped and the garlic was minced, and I always use butter.  Also, I used boxed chicken broth instead of consomme.  More about the rice later; I used Mahatma long-grain enriched rice.  And I assumed at all of the herbs were dried and not fresh.

The No. 3 can of tomatoes was confusing and I pulled out my Joy of Cooking.  I actually have six Joy of Cooking cookbooks, all of which have different publication and/ or printing dates, from a reprint of the original to a 75th anniversary copy.  What I found was that a No. 3 can has changed over the years.  Currently it refers to a can of approximately 50 ounces and a No. 303 is about 16 ounces, but it used to refer to a can of about 16 ounces.  Given the amount of rice and the 2 cups  broth called for, I opted for a 14 1/2-ounce can of diced tomatoes.

I loved the taste of this dish!  What I didn't like was hard to get past -- cooking aroma and mouth-feel of the dish.  I'm not sure if I should have used 3 tablespoons of fresh parsley or decreased the dried amount to the 1 tablespoon equivalent.  The cooking odors were just too strong, and I think it was the parsley.  In addition, I did not like what happened to the rice; it became mushy and just didn't feel good in my mouth.

I'd like to try to modify this recipe -- first by changing the herbs, maybe basil, oregano, and thyme instead of or in addition to the parsley; second by substituting a converted rice for the enriched -- something that might stand up better to the cooking time.  So all in all, this attempt was disappointing.