6/3/2018, Sunday – Both pieces of meat turned out good. The meat was moist likely due to the long dry brining. The combo rub of Jeff’s Texas Rub and 5POGS–different on each–added good flavor. Added more Jeff’s between the smoke and the braising in the oven. This system has now worked well several times on beef. Continue reading
Shrimp Creole like JUSTIN DEVILLIER inspired by his recipe here.
Ingredients
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 rib celery, diced
1/2 jalapeno, minced
1 C white wine
Kosher salt
ground white pepper
3 C tomato purée
2 lb American wild shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 lemon
3 Tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 Tbsp Chives, minced
Cooked long-grain white rice, to serve
- In a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and sweat until tender and very aromatic, about 5 minutes.
- Add to the pot the red pepper, celery, and jalapeño and continue to cook until tender. As soon as you notice the vegetables starting to caramelize, add white wine to deglaze. Lightly season with salt and white pepper. Reduce the white wine until it has almost completely evaporated; then add the tomato purée and stir to combine.
- Lower the temperature as much as you can, and add the shrimp. Keeping the heat on low, continue gently stirring to poach the shrimp in the sauce, scraping the sides of the pot to keep them clean. (The low-and-slow cooking will keep them tender.)
- Once the shrimp are cooked through and opaque, add the juice of one lemon, chives, and parsley; stir to combine. Season to taste with more salt and white pepper and serve over hot rice.
5/1/2018 – I chopped and Mary cooked. She saute the veggies per the recipe and they had some crunch where served and event the next morning cold from the refer. We made changes as follows due to lack of ingredients.
- only put in one pound of shrimp along with one large pattie of Chorizo and a handful of chopped ham.
- used diced canned tomatoes rather than puree.
- Instead of a jalapeno, we added 1/2 of a fresh serrano without the seeds. Those serranos were very hot but it was not even noticeable.
It was good but since the tomatoes were in small chunks and not a sauce it did not have the overall red color and the tomato taste was not the same.
Inspired by the recipe here. Note it uses the three peppers and the trinity.
Ingredients
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. freshly ground white pepper
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. dried basil
1?2 tsp. dried thyme
3?4 cup canola oil
3?4 cup flour, sifted
1?4 cup finely chopped onion
1?4 cup finely chopped celery
1?4 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
3 cups seafood or chicken broth
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed
2 lb. peeled crawfish tails or peeled medium shrimp
1 cup finely chopped scallions
Cooked white or yellow rice, for serving
Instructions
In a small bowl, combine salt, cayenne, white pepper, black pepper, basil, and thyme; set spice mixture aside. In a 4-qt. heavy-bottomed pot, heat oil over high heat until it just begins to smoke. Sprinkle in flour, whisking constantly, and cook for 30 seconds. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, whisking constantly, until roux is the color of dark chocolate, about 30 minutes. Add onions and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until onions soften, about 5 more minutes. Remove pot from heat and stir in 1 tbsp. reserved spice mixture, along with celery and bell peppers. Continue stirring until roux has cooled and darkened slightly, about 5 minutes; set aside.
In a 2-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat, bring 2 cups broth to a boil. Gradually add roux and whisk until incorporated. Reduce heat to low and cook for 2 minutes more. Remove pan from heat; set broth mixture aside.
In a 4-qt. saucepan, melt 8 tbsp. butter over medium-high heat. Stir in crawfish tails and scallions and cook, about 1 minute. Add remaining spice mixture and reserved broth mixture, along with remaining broth and butter, and stir the pan to combine until glossy. Remove pan from heat and serve etouffee with rice.
5/29/2018 – We had put a vac-packed frozen, 2-bone Prime Rib Roast in the refer to thaw two days ago. Removed it this morning and salted with Kosher salt and let set out in the vacuum bag for about an hour to thaw more. About 2 PM, seasoned it with cracked black pepper and inserted garlic slices into slits in the top of the roast. Mary read and followed Bobby Flay’s recipe. It was good and the simple prep was nice. Continue reading
From the video by Chefs Kristen Essig and Michael Stoltzfus of Coquette here.
2C water
2C milk
18 tbsp firm, not hard, butter
S&P to taste
————–
14 eggs in a bowl
————–
4 potatoes, riced*
Combine all in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Mix with a wooden spoon until blended and dough comes together and the thin layer on the bottom of the pan forms a crust. Add to a stand mixer with a paddle blade on medium low and blend until smooth and cooler…comfortable to touch with your bare hand.
As the mixer turns on medium-low pour in one egg yolk and white at a time as the previous one blends in.
While still warm fold the riced potato mixture into the dough that is still warm.
Using a small scope drop scopes of the dough into 2″-3″ of 350-degree canola oil.
Fry 2-3 minutes per side, remove and S&P to taste.
Serve on a pool of Egg Yolk Mousse. Pair with Gumbo as the entre.
Egg Yolk Mousse
12 egg yolks from hard-boiled eggs. Mashed in the food processor with all the following until smooth.
1/2 C mayo
1/2 C Sour Cream
a few splashes of hot sauce
juice of 1 lemon
S&P to taste
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* From gnocchi with a grater is the following extract with a way to rice potatoes without a ricer.
- Preheat your oven to 400°F. Prick the potatoes all over with a fork, and bake them on a baking sheet for 45 minutes to one hour, or until they are fork-tender. For best results, turn the potatoes over halfway through the baking time. Let the potatoes cool slightly.
- Peel the potatoes, and then pass them through a potato ricer, food mill or grate them over the large holes of a box grater into a large bowl.
Peeled one pound of headless shrimp and shook on Kit’s Creole seasoning, covered with plastic and let marinate in the refer for an hour.
5/25/2018 – Turned out good after it aged a day or so. Had a lighter taste that our typical southern potato salad and worth trying again. Later preparations were with several substitutions/simplifications and turned out great. Tagged as a Favorite. Continue reading
Inspired by the Black Iron Blog.
Ingredients
6 x 6-8oz. catfish fillets
peanut oil for frying
marinade for catfish – 1 cup buttermilk + Louisiana hot sauce to taste
marinate catfish for at least 2 hours prior to frying.
2 cups seasoned corn flour (masa harina, 1 TBsp cayenne, 1 tsp. paprika, salt&pepper to taste, and a pinch of garlic and onion powders)
Method:
In a large black iron skillet pour peanut oil to a depth that will cover fish by 1/2 inch. Preheat oil to 365°F.
Remove fish from marinade and dredge in seasoned corn flour, shaking off excess. Fry until fish pieces are golden brown. Do not overcook. Remove from skillet and drain on a cooling rack.
Inspired by Chef Folse here.
Comment: The original jambalaya of New Orleans was tomato based and flavored with a combination of sausages, ham and chicken. Often, the dish was “thrown together” at a moment’s notice when unexpected friends dropped by and a quick entrée was needed. In such a case, sometimes heavy-smoked sausage and tomatoes were the only ingredients needed for a great spur-of-the-moment meal.
Ingredients:
6 thin-cut, bone-in pork chops
2 pounds smoked sausage, sliced
salt and cracked black pepper to taste
granulated garlic to taste
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup diced onions
1 cup diced celery
½ cup diced red bell peppers
¼ cup minced garlic
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup petite diced tomatoes
4½ cups chicken stock
3 cups long grain rice
½ cup sliced green onions
¼ cup chopped parsley
Method:
- Season pork chops to taste using salt, pepper and granulated garlic.
- In a 7-quart Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown pork chops on both sides then remove and set aside.
- In the same Dutch oven with pan drippings, sauté onions, celery, bell peppers and minced garlic 3–5 minutes or until vegetables are wilted, stirring often.
- Mix in smoked sausage and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Blend in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and chicken stock. Bring to a rolling boil then stir in rice. Return mixture to a rolling boil then reduce heat to low. Season to taste with salt, pepper and granulated garlic.
- Add green onions and parsley, stirring to incorporate. Carefully place pork chops on top of mixture and gently press into liquid.
- Cover and cook 45 minutes. Do not stir or remove lid.
- Remove from heat and allow to sit 15 minutes before serving.
Comment paragraphs below and inspiration for the recipe is from Chef John Folse here.
Andouille Sausage
PREP TIME: 6 Hours
SERVES: 5 (12-inch) links
COMMENT:
Andouille is the nationally famous Cajun smoked sausage of Louisiana. Made with pork butt, shank and a small amount of pork fat, this sausage is seasoned with salt, cracked black pepper and garlic. The andouille is then slowly smoked over pecan wood and sugar cane. Andouille is stuffed into the beef middle casing, which makes the sausage approximately 1 1/2 inches in diameter. When smoked, it becomes very dark, almost black in color. It was not uncommon for the Cajuns to smoke andouille for seven to eight hours at approximately 175 degrees F.
Traditionally, the andouilles from France were made from the large intestines and stomach of the pig, seasoned heavily and smoked. In parts of Germany, where some say andouille originated, the sausage was made with all remaining intestines and casings pulled through a larger casing. The sausage was seasoned and smoked, and it was served thinly sliced as an hors d’oeuvre.
It is interesting to note that the finest andouille in France comes from the Brittany and Normandy areas. It is believed that over half of the Acadian exiles who came to Louisiana in 1755 were originally from these coastal regions.
INGREDIENTS:
5 pounds pork butt
1/2 pound pork fat
1/2 cup garlic, chopped
1/4 cup cracked black peppercorns
2 tbsps cayenne pepper
1 tbsp dry thyme
2 tbsps salt
6 feet beef middle casing (see butcher or specialty shop)
METHOD:
- Cube pork butt into 1 1/2-inch cubes. Using a meat grinder with four, 1/4-inch holes in the grinding plate, grind pork and pork fat. If you do not have a grinding plate this size, I suggest hand cutting the pork butt into 1/4-inch square pieces.
- Place ground pork in a large mixing bowl and blend in all remaining ingredients.
- Once well blended, stuff meat into casings in 1-foot links, using the sausage attachment on your meat grinder. Tie both ends of the sausage securely using heavy gauge twine.
- In your home style smoker, smoke andouille at 175-200 degrees F for approximately 4-5 hours.
- The andouille may then be frozen and used for seasoning gumbos, white or red beans, pastas or grilling as an hors d’oeuvre.