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BON APPÉTIT! What Are You Eating?


Strider

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All of the above sits perfectly in our kitchen Sean. I could do all of these if I search for a few of the ocean prowlers and the smoked ham. I always find it tricky If i make for 2 though. Maybe I'll do one of these for the Masters in April and ask some golf buddies round?

Anyway, had some magnificent food in Portugal last week. Plenty from the ocean but the highlight was a Uruguayan meat restaurant. Oh boy we had some little patties of smoked cheese and Calamari for starts, followed by a rack of lamb for me and a rib eye steak for Mrs CP served with braised veg and a potato gratin but the total knockout was a bottle of red from the Douro:

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Our excellent owner gushed when I chose this. It was quite possibly the finest bottle of red I've ever had. I don't often have a desert but he brought us a glass of vintage Port which was historic. Total cost of the meal was under 100 notes !You can buy this wine on line for @ £14 a bottle. I may order a case - but only if Mrs CP agrees

So glad you had a good trip! And thanks for the vino suggestion. It looks like I can actually find it here...yay!!

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These all look awesome, Strider, thank you for sharing! :) I love seafood and Cajun dishes, and looking at the ingredients of the recipes you posted, they all look like winners to me! I will give def give these a try. Many Cajun recipes call for a roux which, depending on how light/dark you make it, will determine the basic taste of the dish. I prefer it not too thick or too dark. I try gumbo just about every place I go that serves it, and there are a few that make a 'perfect' roux (to my taste). I have a shortcut which gumbo purists would sneer at, and that is to brown the flour in the oven until it reaches a nice caramel brown color. You have to stir often and be careful not to let it burn. You can then use the flour in your liquid (broth/stock/water) without using any oil. It's a little healthier and you can store the flour to use later which cuts down on the preparation time. You can also purchase a roux base (which is basically browned flour) in stores although I haven't tried that.

If you've tried any of these recipes, I'd love to know which one is your favorite. Thanks again!!

I've tried both the Prudhomme recipes and the Cooks.com Crab Seafood Special. Prudhomme's were my favourite. The Cooks.com recipe wasn't as spicy as I like.

I also have a new Marcus Samuelsson New Orleans cookbook that has a nice oyster and andouille sausage dish. I'll transcribe when I get the time.

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Hi Dd! Here are the results of my search. Since it is Mardi Gras time and you love New Orleans, I started with a couple of Paul Prudhomme cookbooks I have, "Louisiana Kitchen" from 1984 and "Always Cooking!" from 2007.

From "Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen":

Cajun Seafood Gumbo with Andouille Smoked Sausage

Ingredients:

2 cups chopped onions

1 ½ cups chopped green bell pepper

1 cup chopped celery

Seasoning mix (see recipe)

¾ cup vegetable oil

¾ cup flour

1 tablespoon minced garlic

5 ½ cups seafood stock (see note)

1 pound andouille smoked sausage or other, such as Polish sausage, cut into ½-inch pieces

1 pound peeled medium shrimp

1 dozen medium to large oysters in their liquor, about 9 ounces, or canned clams

¾ pound crabmeat (picked over; see note)

2 ½ cups hot cooked rice

Preparations:

In medium-size bowl, combine onions, bell peppers and celery.

Prepare seasoning mix.

Seasoning mix:

2 whole bay leaves

2 teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon white pepper

½ teaspoon ground red pepper (preferably cayenne)

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves

¼ teaspoon dried oregano leaves

In small bowl, mix all ingredients well.

In large heavy skillet, heat oil over high heat until it begins to smoke, about 5 minutes. Gradually add flour, whisking constantly with a long-handled metal whisk. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until roux is dark red-brown to black, about 2 to 4 minutes, being careful not to let it scorch or splash on your skin. Immediately add half the vegetables and stir well (switch to a spoon if necessary). Continue stirring and cooking about 1 minute. Add remaining vegetables and cook, stirring, about 2 minutes. Stir in seasoning mix and continue cooking about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic; stir well, then cook and stir about 1 minute more. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, place stock in 5 ½-quart saucepan or large Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Add roux mixture by spoonfuls to the boiling stock, stirring until dissolved between each addition. Bring mixture to a boil. Add andouille and return to a boil; continue boiling 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes more. Add shrimp, undrained oysters and crabmeat. Return to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and skim any oil from the surface. Serve immediately.

To serve as a main course, mound ¼ cup rice in the middle of each serving bowl. Spoon 1 cup gumbo over the top, making sure each person gets an assortment of the seafood and andouille. For appetizer servings, serve half this amount in a cup.

Notes: Seafood stock is available at high-end food stores and larger supermarkets. Crabmeat can be omitted without sacrificing flavor. More shrimp can be added in its place.

From "Chef Paul Prudhomme's Always Cooking!"...this has crawfish, shrimp and oysters, Dd!:

Seafood Jambalaya

Ingredients:
3 tablespoon vegetable oil
1½ cups onions, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
¾ cup green bell peppers, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons, plus 1 1/2 teaspoons Chef Paul Prudhomme's Seafood Magic®
1½ teaspoons minced garlic
4 cups tomatoes (about 4 medium size), chopped
¾ cup tomato sauce
2 cups seafood stock
½ cup green onions, chopped
2 cups uncooked rice (preferrably converted)
1 pound peeled crabmeat, crawfish or firm-fleshed fish filets (cut into bite-sized pieces), or any combination of your favorite seafood, that equals 1 pound
1½ dozen oysters in their liquor (medium size) (about 10 ounces)
1½ dozen peeled medium shrimp (about 1½ pound)
How to prepare:

Drizzle the oil on the Tasso, Andouille, onions, celery and bell peppers; and evenly mix each with your hands. Heat a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the Tasso, Andouille and sauté until browned, about 5 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the onions, celery and bell peppers; sauté until tender but still firm, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping pan bottom well. Add the bay leaves, Prudhomme's Seafood Magic and garlic. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly and scraping the pan bottom as needed.

Add the tomatoes and cook about 7 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the tomato sauce and cook for 7 minutes more, stirring often. Stir in the stock and bring to a boil. Then stir in the green onions and cook about 2 minutes, stirring once or twice.

Add the rice and seafood; stir well and remove from the heat. Transfer mixture to an ungreased 13x9-inch baking pan. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake at 350°F until rice is tender but still crunchy, about 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven. If you still have liquid in the pan bottom, let pan sit a few minutes, still covered, to allow rice to absorb the liquid. Remove bay leaves and serve immediately.

To serve, mold rice in an 8-ounce cup and place 2 cups on each serving plate as a main course and 1 cup as an appetizer.

From an old Sunset Seafood cookbook:

Cajun Crawfish and Shrimp Étouffée

"An authentic Louisiana recipe with a rich and spicy fresh tomato based roux with fresh garlic, bell peppers, celery and onions mixed with crawfish and shrimp. A little time consuming but well worth it!! Serve over steamed rice with hushpuppies and/or crackers on the side."

Ingredients:

1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 small green bell pepper, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons Louisiana-style hot sauce
1/3 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
(optional)
2 tablespoons seafood seasoning
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup fish stock
1 pound crawfish tails
1 pound medium shrimp - peeled and
deveined
Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Gradually stir in flour, and stir constantly until the mixture turns 'peanut butter' brown or darker, at least 15 or 20 minutes. I use a large fork with the flat side to the bottom of the pan in a side to side motion. This is your base sauce or 'Roux'. It is very important to stir this constantly. If by chance the roux burns, discard and start over.
2. Once the roux is browned, add the onions, garlic, celery and bell pepper to the skillet, and saute for about 5 minutes to soften. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and fish stock, and season with the seafood seasoning. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Season the sauce with hot pepper sauce and cayenne pepper (if using), and add the crawfish and shrimp. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the shrimp are opaque.

From the Food Network...

Deep-South Shrimp and Crawfish Stew

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons dried thyme, ground to a powder with a mortar and pestle

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon dried basil, ground to a powder with a mortar and pestle

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 pound crawfish, rinsed well in several changes of cold water and eviscerated

1 pound (31 to 40 size) shrimp, deveined

Sauce:

1 large clove garlic, lightly crushed with the side of a knife blade and minced

4 to 6 scallions, white and tender green parts only

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, optional

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1/2 cup grated Cheddar

1/2 cup grated Gruyere

White pepper

Salt, if needed

Topping:

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves (from about 3 large sprigs)

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

2 tablespoons grated Cheddar

1 teaspoon Irvine Spices Cajun Seasoning

2 teaspoons prepared horseradish

4 hard boiled eggs, peeled while still warm, and chopped

Directions:

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan.

To a 1-gallon plastic bag add paprika, ground thyme, salt, ground black pepper, basil, and chili powder, and shake to combine. Add the crawfish and shrimp to the bag in batches and shake to coat. Add the crawfish and shrimp a little at a time to the boiling water so as not to stop the boil, and let cook until pink and the crawfish is curled. As they are cooked, use a slotted spoon to remove the crawfish and shrimp to a platter and set aside until they are cool enough to handle. Remove the shells from the crawfish and shrimp and add the shells back to the pot of cooking liquid, and allow to reduce by two-thirds. (The shells of crawfish are removed by cracking the tail with both hands and forcing it back out through the curve of the tail.) Reserve the crawfish and shrimp meat until needed. When reduced, strain the cooking liquid into a bowl.

For the sauce:

In another saucepan, combine the garlic, scallions, bay leaf, nutmeg, if using, and butter over medium heat. Add flour to make a roux and allow it to cook until blond, then begin whisking in the milk. Into the bowl of reduced seafood cooking liquid, whisk the Cheddar and Gruyere cheeses. Add this to the milk mixture and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove saucepan from heat, season sauce, to taste, with white pepper, and salt if needed. Remove and discard bay leaf. Immediately put a sheet of plastic wrap on top of the sauce to prevent a skin from forming.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Make a topping by adding bread crumbs, parsley leaves, Parmesan, Cheddar, Cajun seasoning, horseradish, and hard boiled eggs to a small bowl and combining with a wooden spoon.

Fold the crawfish and shrimp into the sauce a little at a time so you can control the amount of sauce to the amount of seafood. (Do not feel compelled to use all of the sauce.) Spread the mixture into a 3 quart casserole dish. Sprinkle with the topping and heat about 5 minutes in the oven until the topping is browned. Serve family style, garnished with parsley sprigs.

Robert Irvine 2007 All Rights Reserved.

From Cooks.com...

Crab Seafood Special

Ingredients:

2 lbs. shrimp, cleaned

2 lbs. crawfish tails in shell

2 lbs. catfish, cut in chunks

1 lb. crab meat, finely chopped

6 crabs, broken in half

1 jar oysters

1 lg. can stewed tomatoes

1 lg. can tomato paste

1 lg. onion, chopped

1 lg. bell pepper, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1/3 c. fresh parsley (or dried)

1/3 c. garlic (chopped)

2 cooking spoons of plain flour

1/3 c. cooking oil

1 level tsp. cayenne pepper

Salt to taste

Directions:

Brown flour in oil until brown. Add all chopped seasonings and tomatoes, fry until grease begins to show around edges. Add 2 cups boiling water and stir well. Cook over low fire for 1/2 hour. Add 3 cups boiling water and all of the seafoods. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve over hot rice. Serves 12.

Wow you are hardcore!! Congrats on doing that

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I've tried both the Prudhomme recipes and the Cooks.com Crab Seafood Special. Prudhomme's were my favourite. The Cooks.com recipe wasn't as spicy as I like.

I also have a new Marcus Samuelsson New Orleans cookbook that has a nice oyster and andouille sausage dish. I'll transcribe when I get the time.

Well then I will try the Prudhomme's recipes first! If the cooks.com recipe wasn't spicy enough for you (and a teaspoon of cayenne is pretty spicy for a recipe!), you can always add more cayenne or hot sauce (I prefer Crystal brand hot sauce). It's also good to allow for adding the hot sauce to your individual serving in case others can't take the heat. :)

Btw, anything that includes andouille sausage is likely to be awesome!!

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Salad from the salad bar downstairs. No croutons on mine, either, but there is cheddar cheese and sunflower seeds. In addition to all the veggies and a couple slices of hardboiled egg. I love a good salad bar!

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Well then I will try the Prudhomme's recipes first! If the cooks.com recipe wasn't spicy enough for you (and a teaspoon of cayenne is pretty spicy for a recipe!), you can always add more cayenne or hot sauce (I prefer Crystal brand hot sauce). It's also good to allow for adding the hot sauce to your individual serving in case others can't take the heat. :)

Btw, anything that includes andouille sausage is likely to be awesome!!

Yes Dd, that's a rule I always follow, especially as my personal tastes run to a higher spice level than most people. So I follow the recipe to the letter and then if I find the spiciness insufficient, I will add some more heat to my personal serving.

I learned my lesson in embarrassing fashion decades ago when I made a jalapeno macaroni and cheese casserole for a potluck dinner that was so hot I was the only one who could eat it. What a waste.

One of my quirks is that I always travel with my own Tabasco and/or Sriracha sauce...just in case.

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I learned my lesson in embarrassing fashion decades ago when I made a jalapeno macaroni and cheese casserole for a potluck dinner that was so hot I was the only one who could eat it. What a waste.

Or...a good strategy. ?. Sounds yummy, I would have been able to eat it!

Scrambled eggs and boudin sausage over stone ground grits. Whole wheat toast, coffee. Very yummy but a lot of food, could not finish it.

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Thanks Dd. We have porridge but from Oates. Don't think yours will catch on here though. I think the name "grits" is a complete turn off. Sounds like something you squeeze off your chin or have a dose of after a dodgy curry !

Fridays fayre is Jerk Chicken and french fries. Loads of wine and some of the Cali Orange grow which gets better and better :D

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