Seafood Gumbo Recipe

Seafood Gumbo Recipe

Shrimp, oysters, and tomatoes come together in this gumbo to give it a bright, fresh flavor.

Ingredients

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup chopped sweet onion

¼ cup chopped celery

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 cups canned crushed tomatoes

2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided

1 cup seafood stock

2 teaspoons liquid crab boil

2 teaspoons filé powder

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound large fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 (8-ounce) container shucked oysters, drained

1 cup dry white wine

Garnish: chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

In a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, melt ¼ cup butter. Add flour, and whisk vigorously until combined. Cook, stirring frequently, until a light brown roux forms, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside.

In a large skillet, melt ¼ cup butter over medium high heat. Add onion, celery, and pepper, and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Stir mixture into the roux.

Stir tomatoes, 1 teaspoon salt, and seafood stock into roux, and simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes. Stir in crab boil and filé powder.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Add garlic, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add shrimp, and cook until pink, about 2 minutes per side; add oysters, and cook about 2 minutes. Add white wine, and simmer 2 minutes. Stir seafood mixture into vegetable mixture, and serve immediately. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley, if desired.

Shrimp Étouffée Recipe

Shrimp Étouffée Recipe

2 1/2-3 pounds medium shrimp (51-60 count), peeled, deveined and tails off 

2 tablespoons Creole seasoning, 2 total tablespoons throughout recipe, 1 tablespoon for seasoning the shrimp and 1 tablespoon for seasoning the roux

1 cup diced yellow or sweet onion

3/4 cup diced celery

1/2 cup finely-diced green bell pepper

2 large garlic cloves, run through a garlic press

7 tablespoons unsalted butter 

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups shrimp stock, (canned seafood stock may be substituted

1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained

2 fresh bay leaves, or 3-4 dried bay leaves

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon Louisiana Gold hot sauce, more or less, to taste

6 cups of cooked or steamed white rice 

minced fresh parsley and/or parsley sprigs, for garnish

~ Step 1. Prepare the shrimp stock by boiling your shrimp hulls/shells and set aside. Toss the shrimp with 1 tablespoon of the Creole seasoning and set aside. Prep the onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic and set aside. Prepare the rice as directed or your favorite way, and set aside.

Things are ready to rock and roll:

~ Step 2. In 12" skillet, melt butter over low heat, increase to medium, add flour and whisk until the color of peanut butter...

~ Step 3. this will take 3-4 minutes depending upon the heat of your stove. Add the onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic and remaining 1 tablespoon of Creole seasoning to the roux. Using a large spoon, stir to form a paste. 

~ Step 4. Adjust the heat to medium and add some hot shrimp stock, 1/2 cup at a time until 2 cups of total stock has been added, allowing the mixture to thicken each time you add the stock. This will only take 20-30 seconds after each addition. Add the tomatoes and continue to cook for about 30-60 more seconds. The mixture should look like gravy, not too thick and not too thin. Stir in the bay leaves, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce.

~ Step 5. Add the last 1 cup of shrimp stock. 

Adjust heat to a gentle, but steady simmer and continue to simmer until the mixture is once again thickened to the consistency of gravy and reduced by about one-third, about 25-35 minutes.

Optional Note. At this point turn the heat off, place a lid on the skillet and allow the mixture to steep for 1-2 hours. Besides the obvious benefit of better flavor, this also gives you the opportunity to prepare etoufee in advance of serving, 

~ Step 6. Add the seasoned shrimp to the gently simmering sauce. Continue to cook until pink and just cooked through. In the case of medium-shrimp, this will take about 4-5 minutes.

Note: Some folks like larger shrimp, but, in our family, we prefer them slightly smaller (not too small), just bite-sized, succulent shrimp in each and every last bite of our etouffee!

~ Step 7. Make a bed of rice on each plate. Smother rice with etouffee. Top with a bit more rice and some minced parsley!

Photo Collage made by Crazy Cajun Living only for a quick visual of the recipe http://kitchenencounters.typepad.com/blog/2013/05/index.html

Shrimp and Grits Recipe

Shrimp and Grits Recipe

These cheese grits topped with gulf shrimp, browned bacon and mushrooms, garnished with shreds of green scallions make an elegant presentation

1 pound unpeeled, medium-size fresh wild gulf shrimp

2 tablespoons lemon juice

¼ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

4 strips of bacon

2 tablespoons canola or other neutral oil

6 ounces sliced mushrooms, about 3 cups

1 garlic clove, finely minced

¼ cup chopped onion

¼ cup finely chopped sweet red bell pepper

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

¾ cup shrimp stock or chicken broth

Green tops of scallions thinly cut on diagonal for garnish

Peel & de-vein shrimp, saving peels. Combine shrimp, lemon juice, salt, and ground red pepper in a small bowl; set aside for 10 minutes and no longer than 20 minutes or the citrus will begin to cook the shrimp. To make the shrimp stock (which is really better than chicken broth), boil the shrimp shells in lightly salted water for a few minutes and strain; discard shells and retain the broth.

Place the bacon in a 10” non-stick skillet and cook over medium heat until it browns. Remove bacon from skillet, leaving 3 tablespoons drippings in the skillet. Reserve skillet for later. Crumble bacon when cool and set aside.

In a separate 10” non-stick skillet, pour in canola oil and heat over medium heat. Add the mushrooms to the hot oil and cook, tossing and stirring, until the mushrooms give up their liquid. Salt and pepper to taste, add the garlic and cook briefly, stirring. Turn the off heat and set aside.

Cook the onion and sweet red bell pepper in bacon drippings in the reserved skillet over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle flour over vegetables; cook, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes or until flour begins to brown. Add shrimp & shrimp stock; cook, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes or until shrimp turns pink and the gravy is smooth. Do not overcook the shrimp. If gravy is too thick, add water or broth as necessary. Add the mushrooms, crumbled bacon and stir to blend.

To serve, place cheese grits in individual bowls, top with shrimp mixture in the center and sprinkle thinly sliced green scallion tops around the edges of the bowl. Serves 4.

http://mycarolinakitchen.blogspot.com/2009/07/low-country-shrimp-and-grits.html?m=1

Buffalo Chicken Salad Recipe

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Serves 4

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 5 mins

Ingredients:
1 pound of Boneless Skinless Chicken Tenders
1 Tbsp of Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbsp of Olive Oil
2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
1 Tbsp of Grill Seasoning 
Salt and Pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp of Unsalted Butter, melted
Hot sauce of your choice and as much as you would like (I used Crystal hot sauce and about ¼ cup)
1 Head of Romaine Lettuce, washed, dried and chopped
2 Carrots, peeled and shredded
2 Stalks of Celery, sliced thin
1 Cucumber, sliced in half moon pieces

Instructions:

1) Preheat a grill pan over medium high heat.

2) In a bowl, toss together the chicken tenders with the garlic, oil, grill seasoning, vinegar, salt and pepper. Place them on the hot grill and cook them for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until fully cooked through.

3) Set aside on a plate to cool slightly. Chop the chicken into bite size pieces and set aside for a few seconds.

4) In a bowl, whisk together the melted butter and hot sauce, add the chopped chicken and stir to make sure the chicken pieces are fully coated in the hot sauce mixture.

5) Place the chopped romaine on a platter and scatter the celery, cucumber and carrots evenly over the top. top it all off with the hot sauce coated chicken and enjoy!

Recipe By: Laura Vitale

Vegetarian Jambalaya Recipe

Vegetarian Jambalaya Recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 ribs celery, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 1/2 cups uncooked rice

1 6 oz can tomato paste

5 cups vegetable broth

2 zuchinnis, sliced

1 1/2 cups okra, fresh or frozen)

1 can diced tomatoes OR 4 large tomatoes, diced

1 cup mock meat, such as Gimme Lean or Morningstar Farms Crumbles (optional)

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne (or to taste)

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp dried parsley

1/2 tsp seasoned salt

PREPARATION

In a large bowl, mix tomato paste with vegetable broth until smooth and set aside. In a large pot, sautee onion, garlic, celery and green pepper until slightly soft, about 5 minutes. Add uncooked rice and allow rice to toast for one minute, stirring. Add tomato and broth mixture. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a separate skillet, sautee the okra, zucchini and mock meat until just barely cooked, about 3-5 minutes.

After the rice has cooked about 10 minutes, add the sauteed mock meat and veggies, spices and diced tomatoes, stirring well. Cover, and allow to simmer 10-15 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until veggies are fullly cooked and rice is soft. Serve with hot sauce if desired, and enjoy!

Crawfish and Stone-Ground Grits Gratin Recipe

Crawfish and Stone-ground Grits Gratin Recipe

“Most grits casseroles are high in fat and calories because they’re typically made with heavy cream and lots of butter. This Crawfish and Stone-Ground Grits Gratin is a bit lighter yet no less flavorful. I suggest cooking the grits in seafood stock and using chopped fresh herbs and garlic to enhance the sweetness of the crawfish. Additionally, use goat cheese, which is creamy and rich but lower in fat and calories than cow’s milk cheese.”—Virginia Willis

Ingredients

4 cups homemade seafood stock or 1 (8-ounce) bottle clam juice and 3 cups water

1 cup stone-ground grits

2 teaspoons salt, divided

1 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided

1 (8-ounce) log goat cheese

1 tablespoon canola oil, plus more for greasing

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 stalk celery, finely chopped

1 small jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped, optional

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 pound cooked crawfish tail meat (about 2 cups) or small raw shrimp

¼ cup white wine

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

¼ cup chopped green onion

Instructions

In a large saucepan, bring seafood stock (or clam juice and water) to a boil over medium-high heat. Slowly whisk in grits, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Decrease heat to low, and simmer until creamy and thick, about 45 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in goat cheese.

Preheat oven to 350°. Brush a 12-inch round baking dish with canola oil, and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon canola oil over medium heat. Add shallot, celery, jalapeño, and garlic; cook until shallot is soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add crawfish or shrimp, wine, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper; cook 4 minutes.

Pour half of crawfish mixture into a medium bowl, and set side. Add remaining crawfish mixture to grits, along with eggs; stir to combine. Spoon grits mixture into prepared baking dish. Top with remaining crawfish mixture, parsley, and green onion.

Bake until bubbly and golden brown, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

By Virginia Willis

Dinner Mint Cake Recipe

DINNER MINT CAKE Recipe

Okay, we are heading straight into the home stretch of Tis The Season, and one of things I am always doing this time of year is looking for the perfect combo of show-stopper and easy when it comes to that big holiday dinner dessert.  You know, the one that is going to get you a round of oohs and aahs when you bring it out, and then has your dining room settle down to delirious quietness because everyone is eating in happy holiday bliss…but also the one that is not going to keep you in the kitchen for hours.  Welcome to that dessert!

Ingredients

One 13x9 pan of brownies, baked, cooled and cut in half (line the pan with non-stick foil to make lifting the brownies out as easy as possible!)

For the glaze

10 ounces dark or bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

1 cup heavy cream

¼ cup light cane syrup (Karo)

4 tablespoons butter, softened

¼ teaspoon peppermint extract

For the filling

12 tablespoons butter at room temperature

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

1½ cups confectioner's sugar

Instructions

1. Make the glaze first so it has time to cool: Put the chopped chocolate in a medium sized mixing bowl. Stir the cream and the corn syrup in a small heavy pot over medium heat until it reaches a low boil.

2. Pour the hot cream mixture over the chopped chocolate and whisk until smooth. Add the 4 tablespoons butter and ¼ teaspoon mint extract and whisk again until smooth. Cover and put in the fridge until it is spreadable, about 60 minutes.

3. When the glaze is set, make the filling: beat 12 tablespoons butter with 2 tablespoons cream and 1 teaspoon mint extract on medium until well-combined. Add confectioner's sugar and beat on low until it is mixed in. Now rev the mixer up to high and beat until everything is nice and fluffy, about 3 minutes or so.

4. Time to assemble! Put the one brownie half bottom side down on a cooling rack that is place on a rimmed baking sheet. Spread all the filling evenly over it. Pop the other half on top, bottom side up (to give you a smoother spreading surface). Take 1 cup of the glaze and spread it in a thin layer over the sides and the top (if you have an offset spatula this is the time to break it out!).

5. Save a couple tablespoons of the remaining glaze and set aside. Put the rest in the microwave for a minute until it is melted. Pour it over the top of the cake, using a spatula to spread it along the top and to help it drip down the sides.

6. If you like, put the 2 tablespoons you saved into a ziplock bag, snip off a corner and pipe decorative squiggles over the top.

7. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, then transfer the cake onto a platter (I use two spatulas for this) and serve!