Things That Make You Go "Mmm": Shrimp, Crawfish, & Grits

Ingredients:

14 oz. of Shrimp (Tail-On)

12 oz. Crawfish Tail Meat

1 Cup of Yellow Corn Grits

1.5 Cups Water

1.5 Cups Heavy Cream

1.5 Cups Chicken Stock

1 Cup of Dry White Wine

1/4 Cup of Lemon Juice

3/4 Cup of Butter

1/2 Cup of Canned Finely Diced Stewed Tomatoes (Set Juice Aside)

1/4 Cup of Finely Diced Red Bell Pepper

1/4 Cup of Finely Chopped Green Onions

2 Tablespoons of Minced Garlic

1/4 Cup of Parsley Flakes

1/4 Cup of Chives

1/2 Tablespoon Dried Thyme

Salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste.

(Makes 6-8 servings depending on how hungry you are.)

Here's What You Do:

Shrimp: 

Season shrimp and crawfish with salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste. 

Melt 2 tblsp butter in a large skillet.

Add 1/4 cup green onions and 1/4 cup red bell better; sauté 30 seconds.

Add shrimp and crawfish, and cook for about 7-10 minutes.

Remove shrimp/crawfish mix from skillet with a slotted spoon.

Add 1 cup dry white wine and cook over medium heat until you have a nice glaze in your pan.

Reduce heat to low; whisk in remaining butter, 1 tblsp at a time.

Stir in 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1/2 cup diced tomato, 1/4 cup chives and 1/4 cup parsley.

Add shrimp/crawfish mix back to skillet.

(If you need to thin out your sauce, you can pour the tomato juice you reserved into your skillet.)

Keep this on low/medium heat, stirring occasionally, while you prepare your grits. 

Grits:

Melt 2 tblsp butter in a large saucepan.

Add 2 tsp garlic and 1/2 tblsp thyme; sauté 1 minute.

Add 1.5 cups stock, 1.5 cups cream, and 1.5 cups water.

Turn heat to med/high and let this liquid get very hot, but not boiling; gradually whisk in 1 cup of grits.

Reduce heat to low; cook 10 minutes or until done, stirring frequently.

Season with salt and pepper.

When you're ready to serve, pour grits into a shallow bowl and top it with your shrimp/crawfish mix.  I like to sprinkle it with more parsley to make it pretty.  :-)

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Seafood Linguine

Ingredients

500g (1 lb) Linguine pasta

⅓ cup butter

2 large shallots, finely diced

2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced

1½ cups whipping cream (35% milk fat)

½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp chopped parsley

1 can frozen lobster pieces, thawed and broken into pieces (alternately, you could use a cup or so of fresh cooked and cut up lobster meat.)

12 -15 large scallops, foot removed

2 cups frozen, pre-cooked shrimp, thawed

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

 

Melt butter in large frying pan.

Add shallots and saute until clear, add garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute then transfer to a bowl.

Add more butter if necessary,cook scallops until lightly browned on both sides (approximately 2-3 minutes per side)

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions, until al dente, drain and reserve ⅛ cup pasta water.

Add lobster, shrimp, cream and shallots/garlic mixture to pan with scallops.

Heat over medium/low temperature until cream comes to a low simmer.

Add Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and parsley to seafood mixture, keep warm.

Add cooked linguine and pasta water to seafood mixture, stir and serve immediately.

*TIP* – Heat dinner bowls/plates and serving bowl

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Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

For the chicken pot pie crust:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup cold buttermilk
• 1-2 tablespoons cold water
• 1 large egg, beaten, for the egg wash

For the pot pie filling:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup diced onion
• 2 medium carrots, sliced (about 1 cup)
• 1 stalk celery, sliced (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh Italian parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 and 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3 cups shredded chicken or turkey
• 1 cup frozen peas

Directions:

1. First, make the pie crust. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the cubed butter and toss to coat. Dump the mixture out onto a clean surface and use a rolling pin to roll the butter into thin sheets, combining it with the flour. Use a bench scraper to scrape the rolling pin and to bring the mixture back into a pile as necessary. Continue until all of the butter is incorporated into the flour. Mixture will be very flaky. Return mixture to the bowl and place in the freezer for 15 minutes to chill the butter.
2. Remove from freezer and add the buttermilk. Use a spoon and then your hands to stir the mixture until it comes together into a ball. If mixture is too dry, add the water a tablespoon at a time. Divide the dough in two and flatten into disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge while you make the filling.
3. To make the filling, heat the butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook until tender, stirring occasionally.Whisk in the flour, salt, black pepper, thyme, parsley, chicken broth, and heavy cream. Whisk until there are no flour lumps and then simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Stir in the shredded chicken or turkey and frozen peas. Remove from heat and set aside while you roll out the pie dough.
4. Preheat oven to 400°F.
5. Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into a 12-inch circle. Dough should be about 1/4 inch thick. Transfer dough to a 9-inch pie pan. Pat with your fingers, making sure it is smooth. Trim the extra overhang of dough with a knife and discard. Fill pie with filling. Roll out the second disk of dough and carefully cover the pie. Trim the extra overhang off the sides. Seal the edges by crimping with a fork or your fingers. With sharp knife, slice a few small slits in the center of the top crust. Using a pastry brush, brush crust and edges with beaten egg.
6. Bake for 45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. I use a pie crust shield to protect the edges from browning too much too soon. Cool for 10 minutes, cut into slices and serve.

Note-we love making this recipe when we have leftover rotisserie chicken or turkey. This pot pie freezes well. Cool completely and freeze for up to 1 month. You can freeze the whole pie or slices.

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Easy Homemade Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil

4 chicken thighs, bone in (or 4 bone-in or boneless chicken breasts)

2 medium onions, diced

2 cups diced carrots

2 cups diced celery

1 cup dry white wine

1/2 tablespoon salt (plus more to taste)

1/2 tablespoon fresh ground pepper (plus more to taste)

6 cups chicken stock

4 frozen biscuits (such as Pillsbury Grands! Frozen Biscuits), thawed enough to cut into pieces

Preparation

1. Pat the chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat half of the olive oil (1/8 cup) in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken, turning the pieces so that all sides are slightly brown, about 3 to 4 minutes for each side. Remove the chicken pieces and place on a paper towel-lined plate.

2. Add the remaining 1/8 cup of olive oil to the pot, along with the onions. Saute the onions until they're soft, about 6 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, and white wine. Scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Saute, stirring frequently, for another 6 minutes.

3. Add the chicken back to the pot. Cover the meat and vegetables with chicken stock. Bring to a boil.

4. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, for 90 minutes. (This step is especially flexible. If your liquid is reducing too much, you may need to add more chicken stock. If the dish is too liquidy, turn up the heat and to reduce the stock more. The idea is to end up with a consistency of a very thick stew.)  If the broth is not as thick as you would like, remove one cup of the broth into a measuring cup and whisk in 1 tablespoon of corn starch. Return the broth to the pot and stir. 

5. Remove chicken pieces with tongs and allow them to cool. Debone the chicken and shred the meat into small pieces. Return to the pot. 

6. Cut the frozen biscuits into thirds. Drop the pieces onto the top of the chicken and vegetable mixture. Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 8-10 minutes, until the dumplings are cooked through. Serve immediately.

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Fall-Off-The-Bone Ribs

Ingredients:

one rack of pork baby back ribs

juice of one lemon

1/4 cup dry rub (your own or my recipe)

1/2 cup barbeque sauce (your own or my recipe)

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours

Instructions:

 

Preheat oven to 300° F.

Remove excess fat from ribs. Peel the silver skin off the back of the ribs - lift with a sharp knife and grab with a paper towel to remove.

Cut ribs apart into individual pieces.

Rub ribs all over with lemon juice.

Coat ribs with dry rub. Place meat side down in large baking pan, & cover tightly with foil, shiny side out.

Bake in the oven for 2 1/2 hours.

Remove from oven & pour off liquid.

Brush bbq sauce over all sides of ribs.

Grill: To finish ribs on the grill, remove from the pan and place ribs on the grill (I use a basket over direct but low heat) basting and turning a few times for about 10 minutes.

Oven: To finish ribs in the oven, set oven to broil and return ribs to the same oven rack, uncovered, basting and broiling about 5 minutes per side, watching so they don’t burn. They will be so tender, it’s best to turn them using gloved hands.

Note: For my rub and sauce recipes, just use the handy links provided above.

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Creamed Chipped Beef & Toast

Ingredients

4 tbs Butter

1/3 c Flour (all purpose)

3 c Whole Milk

Cracked Black Pepper, to taste

4.5 oz Dried Beef, sliced

Toasted Texas Toast Bread Slices 

How to make it

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add butter.

When the butter is melted and begins to bubble add the flour and mix to combine. This makes a roux.

Simmer the roux for 2-3 minutes to cook away the raw flour taste.

Add milk and stir or whisk to combine. This makes a white sauce known as Béchamel. 

Add cracked black pepper and the chipped beef to the white sauce and simmer 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened.

Serve over toasted bread (shingles) , biscuits, or hashbrowns.

Cooks Note: No salt was added to the recipe because the dried beef contains enough salt to flavor the dish.

 

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French Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze – Tuesdays with Dorie

 Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup ground almonds (or, if you’d prefer, omit the almonds and use another 1/2 cup all-purpose flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup plain yogurt
3 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup flavorless oil, such canola or safflower
For the Glaze :

1/2 cup lemon marmalade, strained
1 teaspoon water

Getting Ready:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter an 81/2-x-41/2-inch loaf pan and place the pan on a baking sheet.
Whisk together the flour, ground almonds, if you’re using them, baking powder and salt.
Put the sugar and zest in a medium bowl and, with your fingertips, rub the zest into the sugar until the sugar is moist and aromatic. Add the yogurt, eggs and vanilla and whisking vigorously until the mixture is very well blended. Still whisking, add the dry ingredients, then switch to a large rubber spatula and fold in the oil. You’ll have a thick, smooth batter with a slight sheen. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top.
Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the cake begins to come away from the sides of the pan; it should be golden brown and a thin knife inserted into the center will come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes, then run a blunt knife between the cake and the sides of the pan. Unmold, and cool to room temperature right side up on the rack.
To Make the Glaze:

Put the marmalade in a small saucepan or in a microwave-safe bowl, stir in the teaspoon of the water and heat until the jelly is hot and liquefied. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the cake with the glaze.

Playing Around:



Layered and Round French Yogurt Cake

For a cake that’s just a little dressy – a cake like the ones my French friends make for their children’s birthdays – make the cake in a buttered 9-x-2-inch round pan, baking it for 35-40 minutes. When the cake is cool, use a a serrated knife to cut it horizontally into two layers. You can fill and frost the cake with whatever strikes your fancy, but it’s lovely filled with Lemon Cream (Page 461) or spread with jam or curd and frosted with sweetened whipped cream. Or turn the cake into a strawberry shortcake: Spread the cut layer with strawberry jam, cover it with sweetened whipped cream and top with cut berries. Place the remaining layer atop the berries, and finish the cake with clouds of shipped cream and a circle of big, beautiful whole berries.

Riviera Yogurt Cake

Replace the whole-mild with the same of thick strained yogurt. (To strain, line a sieve with a double thickness of dampened cheesecloth, add the yogurt, put over a bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight.) I use Total Greek Yogurt with 2% fat, which doesn’t need to be strained. Substitute olive oil for the vegetable oil. And, to complete the Riviera flavors, add 1/2 tablespoon finely minced fresh rosemary of 1 tablespoon finely minced mint to the bowl when you are rubbing the sugar and zest together.

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