New twists on favorite foods. Innovative, international, fast and easy recipes with flare and dishing out humor along the way.
Showing posts with label cajun recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cajun recipes. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Awesome Cajun Barbecued Shrimp — New Orleans Style
Another version of delicious BBQ shrimp by scaredy_kat @ flickr
From Denny: Here's a seafood recipe that is quick, easy, incredibly delicious, a crowd pleaser and quite popular! What more could you ask for in a recipe? There are as many variations of this dish as there are "Down on the Bayou" cooks from Louisiana to Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Of course, you will want to use Louisiana shrimp. They are far superior to shrimp from the toxic heavy metal waters of China. They are also fresh.
This particular recipe came from a local person whose son has a delightful blog where he recounts his new food experiences. He is a nine year old food critic! Every kid is a food critic as any parent will know. This one writes about it and it's a good blog. I thought it would be fun to help promote his writing and his family's recipe he enjoys.
Barbecued Shrimp — New Orleans Style
From: Sean Prados whose 9 year old son, Michael, writes Junior Food Critic, a blog where he writes about his food discoveries and kid friendly restaurants.
Serves: 8 to 10
Ingredients:
2 lbs. (8 sticks) unsalted butter, divided
1 large onion, very finely minced
3 ribs celery, finely minced
5 to 10 cloves garlic, finely minced (roasted garlic best)
3 to 4 tbls. chopped parsley
2 tbls. chopped rosemary leaves
4 to 5 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
1 (12-oz.) Abita Amber Beer (full-bodied or dark beer if this is not available in your area)
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
4 lbs. shrimp, heads and shells on
Salt, pepper and Creole seasoning, to taste
1 lemon, cut in wedges
2 green onions, chopped
Directions:
1. Over medium-high heat, melt 2 sticks butter in large skillet or paella pan. Sauté onion and celery 3 to 4 minutes. Then add garlic.
2. Stir in parsley, rosemary, thyme and bay leaf; simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Melt remaining butter and add to pan with beer and Worcestershire sauce.
4. Submerge shrimp in sauce and add seasonings to taste. You may need to do this in batches. Over-seasoning works since shells prevent some absorption.
5. Squeeze lemon juice over shrimp after cooking. Garnish with green onions. Serve with French bread for dipping.
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
Labels: food,unusual-food,recipes,funny
barbecue shrimp,
BBQ Shrimp,
cajun recipes,
delicious recipes,
Louisiana food,
New Orleans food,
New Orleans recipes,
seafood recipes,
shrimp recipes
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Awesome Sauces 4 Spring and Summer Seafood
Boiled crawfish photo by adie reed @ flickr
From Denny: Spring is here in Louisiana and summer will be on its heels. The crawfish are in season and the shrimp, well, Gulf Shrimp are awesome any time from Louisiana to Mississippi to Florida. We prefer to eat local and are proud of our seafood. We are especially proud of our oysters for which we developed the pasteurization process to kill off potential dangerous bacteria. Because of this relatively new pasteurization process you can dine on raw oysters year round - if they are certified Louisiana oysters.
Compiled here are a number of simple seafood sauce recipes to enjoy on your seafood this spring and summer, whether you like raw oysters, boiled, fried, baked or broiled shrimp and crawfish. Remoulade, Creole and Cocktail sauces are very popular here. We will even take the last recipe of Beurre Creole sauce and layer it over a perfectly grilled steak. Lump crabmeat sauces are often combined with steak in our restaurants.
Recipes Featured:
Red Remoulade Sauce
Cajun Style Remoulade Sauce
Cajun Hot Sauce
Louisiana Traditional Creole Sauce
Louisiana Spicy Creole Sauce
Oysters Rockefeller Sauce
Shrimp Cocktail Sauce
Cocktail Sauce for large group
Cocktail Sauce
Beurre Creole
RED RÉMOULADE SAUCE
From: wafb.com (TV station)
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Yields: 2 Cups
This Creole-style rémoulade is thought to be the original Louisiana version. This sauce can be served over shrimp, lump crabmeat or salad.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
¾ cup Creole mustard
½ cup sliced green onions
¼ cup chopped parsley
¼ cup minced celery
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp paprika
salt to taste
Louisiana hot sauce to taste
DIRECTIONS:
In a large ceramic mixing bowl, combine olive oil, vinegar and Creole mustard. Whisk until well blended. Mix in green onions, parsley, celery and garlic. Add paprika for color. Continue mixing until well blended. Season with salt and hot sauce. Cover with plastic wrap, place in refrigerator and allow to sit overnight.
Shrimp Remoulade at Tujaques, photo by gary j wood @ flickr
CAJUN STYLE REMOULADE SAUCE
From: Wayne Allen @ Cooks.com
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 of a large red pepper
1/2 stalk of celery
1 green onion (including all the green)
1/4 cup of fresh parsley leaves
3/4 cup of mayonnaise
2 tbs of Dijon mustard
2 tbs of ketchup
2 tbs of horseradish
a couple shakes of worcestershire sauce (Lea and Perrins brand is best)
a couple shakes of Tobasco bramd hot sauce
2 tsp of paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Puree in food processor or blender until smooth.
CAJUN HOT SAUCE
From: Cooks.com
INGREDIENTS:
FOR 2 1/2 CUPS SAUCE:
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 1/2 c. onion, chopped
1 c. celery, chopped
1/2 c. bell pepper, chopped
1 green raw jalapeno pepper with seeds, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
SEASONING MIX:
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. white pepper
1 tsp. red (cayenne) pepper
1 c. fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 c. tomato sauce
1 bay leaf
1 1/4 c. seafood stock or shrimp stock
3/4 c. brown sugar, packed
DIRECTIONS:
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add onion, celery, bell pepper, jalapeno and garlic and cook about 3 minutes. Add the seasoning mix and stir well. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and bay leaf, cover, and bring to a boil. Add the stock and brown sugar and return to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook about 15 to 20 minutes.
Use this sauce for a shrimp and rice dish: Add the 1 lb. raw medium shrimp, peeled and deveined shrimp and bring the mixture back to a boil. Cover, cook about 5 minutes, and remove from heat. Serve the shrimp on top of a mound of rice surrounded with sauce. Serve with lots of cold beer.
LOUISIANA TRADITIONAL CREOLE SAUCE
Yield: 2 cups
INGREDIENTS:
2 tbsp. chopped green onion
2 tbsp. chopped green pepper
1/4 c. sliced fresh mushrooms
1 tbsp. oil
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. dried sweet basil
16 oz. can low sodium tomatoes, undrained
DIRECTIONS:
Saute onion, green pepper and mushrooms in oil over low heat 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and simmer 20 minutes. Serve with fish, chicken or beef.
LOUISIANA SPICY CREOLE SAUCE
For: Fish or roasted meat
From: Cooks.com
INGREDIENTS:
3 tsp. melted butter
2 bell peppers, chopped fine
1 finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove
1 (#2 1/2) can tomatoes with puree
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
4 diced chili peppers
DIRECTIONS:
Boil 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring with wooden spoon. Sauce is placed over meat in a flat dish in refrigerator overnight. Then, when ready, cook meat as desired.
COCKTAIL SAUCE for boiled shrimp
YIELD: 4 1/2 cups - for serving a large group.
INGREDIENTS:
2 c. ketchup
2 c. chili sauce
1/4-1/2 c. prepared horseradish (we like the cream variety at our house)
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. cider vinegar (we prefer fresh lemon juice)
6 drops Tabasco sauce (we like Louisiana Hot Sauce brand, less vinegary, and we use more since it is not as hot as Tobasco - about 2 Tablespoons)
1/4 c. finely minced celery
1/4 c. finely minced onion
DIRECTIONS:
Mix together and refrigerate. Use for all seafood cocktails.
SMALLER VERSION COCKTAIL SAUCE - or used as a BLOODY MARY DRINK MIX
SHRIMP COCKTAIL SAUCE
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 c ketchup
1/4 c. lemon juice (or less)
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. horseradish
6 tbsp. minced celery
3 tbsp. grated onion (or less)
1/4 tsp. salt
DIRECTIONS:
Chill. Yields 1 1/2 cups sauce. 1 cup sauce will serve 4 to 6 cocktails.
SHRIMP COCKTAIL SAUCE - tomato sauce version
INGREDIENTS:
1 small can tomato sauce
Dab of Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. brown sugar
Dab of Garlic salt
1/2 bottle cocktail sauce
Picante sauce to taste
Creamy horseradish to taste
DIRECTIONS: Mix all together.
Oysters Rockefeller Sauce
PREP TIME: 1 hour
SERVES: 6
This, the most famous of all oyster dishes in Cajun country, was first developed at Antoine’s Restaurant, by Jules Alciatore in 1899. Named Rockefeller because of its incredible rich flavor, the original recipe included no spinach.
INGREDIENTS:
1 dozen shucked oysters with liquid
1/4 pound butter
1/4 cup diced onions
1/4 cup diced celery
½ cup chopped green onions
2 tbsps diced garlic
1 cup cooked frozen spinach (thawed)
1 tbsp flour
1 pint heavy whipping cream
½ ounce Pernod or Herbsaint
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Louisiana Gold Pepper Sauce
salt and cracked black pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
In a two quart sauce pan, melt butter over medium high heat. Sauté onions, celery, green onions and garlic, approximately three to five minutes or until seasonings are wilted. Add cooked spinach, and using a metal spoon, chop well into the vegetable mixture. Cook until spinach is hot and well incorporated into seasonings. Add flour and blend well into mixture, being sure to remove all lumps. Add whipping cream and oyster liquid, stirring constantly until sauce is thick and bubbly. Add Pernod, sugar, Worcestershire and Louisiana Gold. Continue stirring until all is well blended. Season to taste using salt and pepper. To ensure a sauce-like consistency, additional cream or water may be added. Continue to cook approximately 10 minutes, add oysters and cook 5 minutes. Pour the contents of the sauce pan into a blender and puree on high speed. Serve 2-ounces of the Oysters Rockefeller Sauce with your favorite trout, chicken or veal dish.
Beurre Creole
PREP TIME: 15 Minutes
YIELDS: 1 Cup
This sauce is excellent over broiled or sautéed fish or grilled shrimp.
INGREDIENTS:
8 ounces unsalted butter, chipped
½ cup dry white wine
2 tbsps lemon juice
2 thin lemon slices
¼ cup jumbo lump crabmeat
¼ cup diced tomatoes
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp sliced green onions
8–10 whole peppercorns
1 whole bay leaf
3 whole basil leaves
1 tsp tomato sauce
dash of Louisiana hot sauce
salt and cayenne pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
In a sauté pan, combine wine, lemon juice, lemon slices, crabmeat, tomatoes, garlic, green onions, peppercorns, bay leaf and basil over medium-high heat. Sauté approximately 3 minutes or until juices are rendered into the pan. Add tomato sauce, blend well into mixture and continue to cook until juices have been reduced to approximately 2 tablespoons. Swirling pan constantly, add a few chips of butter at a time until all is incorporated. Do not use a metal spoon or wire whisk as hot spots may develop and butter will separate. Season to taste using hot sauce, salt and pepper. Serve as is, or strain if desired.
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
Labels: food,unusual-food,recipes,funny
cajun recipes,
cajun sauce,
cocktail sauce,
Creole recipes,
Creole sauce,
lafitte sauce,
Louisiana food,
Louisiana sauces,
oysters rockefeller sauce,
remoulade sauce,
seafood sauces
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Louisiana Crawfish Etouffee From Lafittes Landing
Boiled crawfish photo by adie reed @ flickr
From Denny: Crawfish are coming into season and besides the first crawfish boil of the season my tummy goes to thinking about crawfish etoufee, a savory stew served over rice. Traditionally, this is a Creole dish but is now found all throughout Cajun country. It's served in the most upscale restaurants which makes a lot of old timers chuckle. To them it's just a good ol' country dish that tastes good and not expensive to make when you live off the land.
"Etoufee" is a word that means to stew, smother (a favorite technique throughout the entire American South for everything from pork chops to crawfish) or braise. My Cajun father-in-law always talked about smothering his Mississippi Pork Chops. And, oh, were they good too! Anyway, call it smothering, stewing or braising, this method of easy slow cooking is used for shrimp, crab, crawfish, meats and game.
This is an easy version of etoufee for the beginner cook as it is made with the simple light colored roux, sometimes called white roux. You don't have to master the darker roux.
Lafitte's Landing is about 40 minutes outside of Baton Rouge, the capital city. Baton Rouge is an hour plus 15 minutes west of New Orleans. If you come to visit, come long enough to traipse across southern Louisiana, going from New Orleans to Baton Rouge and farther west to Lafayette in a horizontal bee line. Lafayette usually has an International Music Festival around Easter or early April which is great fun.
If you have never visited Lafitte's Landing at Bittersweet Plantation - the brain child and huge success and a bed and breakfast too - of Louisiana native Chef John Folse, then hike on over and pay them a visit! The food is top notch; bring your wallet too. It's worth the time and money every time. Take a look at their B & B Suites as they are in the process of adding new ones, go here. Call them for availability and pricing as they may not have updated their website.
This chef is quite enterprising. He has developed his products as frozen entrees and more, ready to ship from his website in case you get a craving for good Louisiana food. For the crawfish etoufee, check it out here.
Cajun sampler platter with crawfish etoufee (front right), photo by Wyscan @ flickr
Louisiana Crawfish Etouffee
From: Chef John Folse, Lafitte's Landing Restaurant in Donaldsonville, Louisiana
Yield: enough for your hungry friends and relatives
INGREDIENTS:
3 pounds cleaned crawfish tails (you can purchase these frozen)
1/4 pound butter
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 tablespoons diced garlic
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 cup flour
2 quarts crawfish stock (by boiling the shells in water to extract the seasonings and seafood flavor)
1 ounce sherry
1 cup sliced green onions
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons basil
2 tablespoons thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Louisiana Gold Pepper sauce
DIRECTIONS:
In a 5-quart cast iron Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat.
Add onions, celery, bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic and bay leaves. Saute 3-5 minutes or until vegetables are wilted.
Add half of the crawfish tails and tomato sauce and blend well into mixture.
Using a cooking spoon, blend flour into the vegetable mixture to form a white roux.
Slowly add crawfish stock or water, a little at a time, until all is incorporated. Bring to a low boil, reduce to simmer and cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add remaining crawfish tails, sherry, green onions, parsley, basil and thyme. Cook an additional 5 minutes.
Season to taste using salt and pepper. Serve over steamed white rice or pasta, adding a few dashes of Louisiana Gold pepper sauce.
*** To purchase any of Chef John Folse's products, check out his extensive offerings at his online store, go here.
*** For more recipes like this, please visit Comfort Food From Louisiana!
*** THANKS for visiting, come back often, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers - and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
Labels: food,unusual-food,recipes,funny
cajun recipes,
Chef John Folse,
crawfish etoufee,
crawfish recipes,
easy recipes,
Lafittes Landing Restaurant,
Louisiana food,
louisiana tourism,
Louisiana travel,
seafood recipes,
stew recipes
Friday, September 11, 2009
Make Your Own Cajun Blackened Seasoning for Fish or Chicken!
Photo of Cajun blackened drum fish from chef Paul Prudhomme at his New Orleans restaurant K Paul's by wallyg @ flickr
From Denny: Seasoning spices are a personal thing for cooks everywhere. We all have our own way of doing things. Some like a lot of spice, others tone it down. OK, so my middle name is practically "garlic" but who's noticing, right?
Seriously, whenever I've moved out of Louisiana it was the seasonings I first missed. Sometimes, you can't get a hold of your favorite brand. Worse, you've traveled in America, experienced yummy New Orleans or Lafayette racetrack food, go back to Europe and no proper seasonings to be had on the grocery shelves. Then that wonderful taste experience starts to dim in your memory... Well, we can't have that! :)
Here are a few recipes to get you started. Try making a few and adjusting after you try it, that's what I always end up doing, adjusting to personal taste. You should be able to find these ingredients anywhere in the world.
Cajun Blackening Seasonings RECIPES
Recipe #1
This is a more exotic version of the traditional Cajun seasoning.
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons ground paprika
4 teaspoons dried leaf thyme
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, or to your taste (if you can't find cayenne pepper then grind up and substitute red pepper flakes)
1 teaspoon dried leaf oregano
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Simple Directions:
Place all ingredients in a jar and store in a cool dark place. Shake jar well before each use.
Recipe #2
This recipe is the traditional authentic early version of Cajun seasoning - before more exotic spices from other cuisines were added, like the Mexican cumin or nutmeg.
I use this one and add spices like turmeric and/or mild curry powder (Sharwood's brand is awesome) and New Mexico Chipotle Morita chile powder (available from dagiftbasket.com) and ground fresh coriander and some dried basil, sometimes some white pepper too. Hmmm... maybe I should start selling the Dennys Cajun Spice Blend! :)
Ingredients:
1 heaping tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons salt
1 heaping teaspoon garlic powder
1 heaping teaspoon onion powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons black pepper
1/2 teaspoon leaf thyme
1/2 teaspoon leaf oregano
Directions:
Mix the ingredients well and funnel into a shaker. Seal well and store in a cool dry place.
Blackened Catfish Recipe
Serves: 6
Cook outdoors: 1/2 pound(2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted.
Seasoning Mix Ingredients:
3/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teasponn thyme
1 Tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon red pepper (cayenne)
Directions:
Now you can cook this outdoors as it can flame up and get really hot. How I get around that is to either use clarified butter, getting rid of and skimming off the milk fat makes it so the butter can stand to be used at a higher heat. It also has the added benefit of ridding you of artery-clogging cholesterol! (Yay!)
If you don't want to use butter or are concerned about flame-up in the house or outside, try using any oil that can withstand high heat like peanut oil, a favorite with chefs for deep fat frying.
Preheat well-seasoned cast iron skillet on outdoor-cooker or inside on gas burner at least 10 minutes, until a white ash forms in skillet bottom. Thoroughly combine seasoning mix in a small bowl. Dip fillets in melted butter so that both sides are well coated. Then sprinkle seasoning mix generously and evenly on both sides of fillets, putting it in the frying skillet by hand. (What I do is mix the seasonings while the skillet is heating, dip the fillets in oil and sit them on a plate ready to go. That way you keep your focus on that unusually high heat you are using so there are no accidents.)
Place in hot skillet and add 1 tablespoon of butter/oil over the top of fillets. (Caution - if using unclarified butter it will flame.) Cook 2 to 3 minutes on each side until charred. Serve with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. (We like fresh lime juice in our house!)
Good eating!
Labels: food,unusual-food,recipes,funny
Blackened catfish recipe,
blackened seasoning recipe,
cajun recipes,
Fish and Seafood
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