The Nifty Foodie

I find myself completely stoked about this year’s Superbowl. While the Saints aren’t in it, it’s going to be held in New Orleans, which is where I’m from (well, a suburb of New Orleans, but close enough). Every time New Orleans is on the nation’s radar (for a good thing, at least), I feel a small sense of pride. New Orleans has been through a lot, and it’s just wonderful to see New Orleans back to being a prime tourist city again. Seven years ago, I remember going home for the Mardi Gras holiday, and going to my first post-Katrina parade. New Orleans (months later, mind you) still had a mildew-y smell. You could still see those “X”s spray painted on searched homes, as well as the water line stains on homes from the flooding.

While it was a sad sight to see, I think Mardi Gras that year allowed everyone to temporarily take their minds off of the damage and just simply enjoy New Orleans the way we all knew how. Stand on the neutral ground (or sidewalk), wave your hands in the air, take in the high school marching band music and catch/wear beads until your neck ached. Mardi Gras (the family version, at least) is the best!

Now, New Orleans is doing a LOT better than it was in February 2006, obviously. It’s mostly back to normal, but if you drive to certain parts of the city, there’s still some rebuilding happening. I’m so happy to see New Orleans hosting it’s first Superbowl since Katrina. With Mardi Gras being the week after, this whole shin-dig is being called Super Gras. I mean, these tourists have it made…they can have a hurricane in one hand and king cake in the other with their jerseys and face paint on, and no one will give them a second glance. New Orleans is really the best. (hint hint: food blog conferences take notes please?)

Since my husband and I have been counting calories, I haven’t been cooking much Louisiana cuisine. I still enjoy gumbo and jambalaya from time to time, but to have a full pot of that in our house? I just can’t do it lol! However, not ALL Louisiana cuisine is heavy in the calories. Let me introduce you to a wonderful dish called shrimp creole. It’s a wonderful tomato-based dish that is commonly served over plain rice. Now, I know…tomatoes can be boring, but there are layers of flavor in this dish. You start with making your own shrimp stock (using the heads and shells),  and I swear, it’s worth it. Just make it. When it comes to cooking the dish, it starts with the “holy trinity” (as every good Louisiana dish should…except for bananas foster…who wants that in their bananas foster? ha!) and then tomatoes/fresh shrimp stock/white wine. Are you hungry yet? I’m tempted to take the leftovers out of the freezer as I’m writing this post!

Now, fair warning…this is a SPICY dish. If you need to tone it down, feel free. You can play around with the spices if you want it a little milder. I swear, it will still taste great!

Shrimp Creole
adapted from NOLA Cuisine

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. peeled and deveined Shrimp (save the shells and heads to make the stock)
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp.vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 1 small green pepper, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. cajun seasoning (I use Tony Chachere’s)
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste
• 20 oz. of canned fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 cups shrimp stock (recipe)
• 2 tbsp. minced garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• cayenne pepper, to taste
• kosher salt, to taste
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. white pepper
• 1 bunch fresh thyme
• 2 tbsp. tabasco sauce
• 1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup green onions, green tops thinly sliced
• 1/8 cup chopped fresh leaf parsley

Directions:

1. Melt the butter, along with the vegetable oil, in a dutch oven over medium high heat. When the butter begins to foam, add 1/2 cup of the onions. Cook the onions, stirring often, until the onions are a golden brown color. Add the remaining onions, as well as the celery, bell pepper, 1 tbsp. of the cajun seasoning and a pinch of salt, and reduce the heat to medium. Cook the vegetables until they are soft.
2. Add the tomato paste to the vegetables, stirring constantly, until the paste begins to brown. Then, add the diced tomatoes and another pinch of salt. Stir everything together, and cook the mixture until the tomatoes are starting to break down a good bit. Add the wine and turn the heat until high, until most of the alcohol burns off (a couple of minutes). Add the shrimp stock, remaining tbsp. of cajun seasoning, garlic, bay leaves, black pepper, white pepper, a little bit of cayenne (to taste), as well as the thyme. Bring the mixture to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Continue simmering the mixture on low for another 45 minutes.
3. Add the hot sauce (you may want to add less if you’re sensitive to spice) and worcestershire sauce. Season the sauce to taste with salt. At this time, season the shrimp with 1 tbsp. kosher salt and a pinch of cayenne. Bring the sauce to a boil again, and then reduce the heat to low, adding the shrimp in. Let the shrimp cook in the sauce until cooked through, which will only take a few minutes at the most. Add the green onions and parsley just before serving. Serve over plain rice and enjoy!

 

 

 

My husband is not a big pasta person. He could eat rice for days, but pasta? He has to be in the mood for it. I’m the opposite. If you told me I had to eat pasta every day for the rest of my life, I would think I died and went to heaven. I LOVE pasta. I’m all about it. So, when crawfish went on sale on weekend, instead of making the usual etouffee, I hoped that my husband would be in a pasta-loving mood that day, because crawfish fettuccine was on my mind.

Well, as you can see, we had crawfish fettuccine that evening. And it was every bit as delicious as I had hoped. We ended up halving the recipe, since the original recipe would make way too much food for just my husband and I.

I do want to note that this recipe does contain Velveeta. If you aren’t OK with using processed foods, you may be able to substitute freshly grated cheese, since this recipe’s directions reminded me a lot of making a bechamel sauce. However, I personally didn’t try that to tell you if it works out the same way.

Crawfish Fettuccine
Source: adapted from Holly Clegg

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb. fettuccine
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup skim milk
• 1 lb. light Velveeta, cut into small cubes
• 1 lb. crawfish tails (make sure they are cleaned)
• 1 tbsp. chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup green onions, chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp. worcestershire sauce
• pinch cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Cook the fettuccine in boiling water until al dente. Do not add oil or salt to the pot. Drain the pasta, wash in cool water to make sure the pasta doesn’t stick together as it sits, and set aside.
2. In a large pot, melt the butter and saute the onions, green bell peppers, and garlic until translucent and tender. Add the flour and stir well until everything is mixed.
3. Gradually add the milk, stirring at the same time, until the mixture is smooth. Add the cheese cubes, stirring the sauce until all of the cheese has melted.
4. Add in the crawfish tails, parsley, green onions, worcestershire sauce and cayenne pepper and mix everything together gently.
5. Add in the pasta, and using tongs, toss everything together until well-combined. Heat the fettuccine well and serve.
   
   

Part of me cannot believe that the Superbowl is Sunday. I mean, that’s the end of football season until next Fall. I have to wait at least six months to watch another game after this. Sad.  (If you know me, you know I’m being dead serious about how sad this is to me. Crazy football fan here!) A perk of Superbowl Sunday? Watching Millie run up to the TV when I randomly switch over to the Puppy Bowl.

To mourn celebrate the end of another football season, here’s some great recipes that will definitely disappear if you serve them at your Superbowl parties.

Restaurant Style Queso Blanco

Restaurant Style Salsa

Crawfish Pies

Crawfish Cheesecake

Pork and Sausage Jambalaya

Berry Mash Bruschetta

Sugar Cookie Bars

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownies

Oreo Cupcakes

Oh, and if you have an occasional puppy bowl break, I’m pretty sure the dogs at your party would love you for these!

Peanut Butter and Pumpkin Dog Treats

For our party, we knew we wanted to do something summery and fun. Skewers/kabobs were our main meats and ended up a hit! We had shrimp skewers, because we knew that shrimp prices would be shooting up any day now, because of the oil “spill”, and wanted to make sure we enjoyed Gulf shrimp at least one more time. This shrimp skewer was delicious and very easy to put together.

Spicy BBQ Shrimp Skewers
Source: Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup vegetable or olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves, plus more, for garnish
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon light brown sugar or honey
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 pounds large shrimp, peeled

Directions:

If using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for about an hour before starting on the recipe.

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except the shrimp and the relish mix well to combine. Add the shrimp to the seasoning paste, and toss to thoroughly coat with the seasoning mixture. Let the shrimp sit in the seasoning mixture while you prepare the grill.
2. Prepare a grill and thread the shrimp onto 4 or 6 skewers, depending on their size. Place shrimp skewers on the grill and cook for about 3 minutes on each side, or until the shrimp turn pink and are lightly charred on both sides. Do not overcook!

Summer officially started last Monday. However, being in Louisiana, we’ve been feeling summer-like weather since May. With the heat index hitting 110 degrees sometimes, we wanted to throw a summer party that was most definitely indoors!

I watch entirely too much Food Network. If it wasn’t for Food Network and reading food blogs, I’m fairly certain my husband and I would be living off of Hamburger Helper and take-out. One of my favorite shows lately has been The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Every show has a theme, and it features the cooks/hosts on Food Network and their favorite eats in that theme. So, when Foodbuzz emailed about this month’s 24×24 proposals, I figured it would be a fun party to feature the best things our families have eaten! Thanks so much to Foodbuzz for sponsoring this party!

To come up with the menu, I sent out an email to our families asking for their favorites in each category.

• On the Grill (recipes that are done on the BBQ)
• Dangerously Cheesy (major cheese in a dish)
• No Utensils (finger foods/apps)
• Keep it Comfy (comfort food)
• Frozen Treats (any dessert from the freezer)
• Mix it Up (a food that requires using a mixer—doesn’t have to be a sweet)
• Louisiana’s Best (Louisiana food)
• Cold and Colorful (like a salad or cold app with lots of veggies or fruit)
• Under the Sea (favorite seafood dish)
• Classic American (with 4th of July approaching, tell me a dish that screams American)

After getting many responses, here is the menu we came up with:

Drinks:
Strawberry Lemonade
Strawberry Daiquiris

Appetizers:
Cheese Fondue with Vegetables/Bread*
Bruschetta*
Boudin Balls

Entrees:
Steak Skewers with Chimichurri, Onion Cheese Sauce and Compound Butter*
Spicy BBQ Shrimp Skewers*

Sides:
Crawfish Fettuccine
Macaroni and Cheese
Vegetable Skewers*
Grilled Corn
Lettuce Greens with Honey Lime Vinaigrette

Desserts:
Strawberry Cake*
Assorted Cupcakes
Cinnamon Crumb Apple Pie
Fresh Berries with Ice Cream

* recipes will be featured in the blog in future posts

I will admit, I’m still getting the hang of entertaining for a large number of people. Despite doing a lot of prep, I felt fairly stressed in the last hour. Since the party was for family, though, I had loads of help at the last minute. Whew!

The fondue was an absolute hit. I was nervous to make this myself, but this recipe came together beautifully! I served the fondue with day old po’boy bread, carrots and broccoli.

We purchased the boudin balls at a local joint, since they are pretty much my husband’s favorite. The bruschetta was a lighter alternative to the other appetizers. I was super excited to use basil from our garden for this dish!

I need to thank the hubs for braving the sweltering disgusting heat to cook up this magic on the grill. The steak, especially was a real winner to family!

We made 3 sauces available for people to dip/cover their skewers in: a chimichurri, onion blue cheese (not pictured) and a worchestershire chive butter. The chimichurri ended up being a huge hit (and I used parsley from the garden for it)!

Here is some lovely grilled corn that survived a few flare-ups on the grill.

Here is a semi-decent picture of the crawfish fettuccine before everyone digged in. The hubs’ parents made this dish and it was delicious. Perfect flavor with a little Louisiana kick!

This is some macaroni and cheese that is my mother-in-law’s favorite. It was definitely pretty tasty (not to mention, cheesy).

After enjoying some serious eats, we waited a good while before putting out desserts and just chatted, watched TV and played some games.

I will say the desserts were absolutely amazing.

Fresh berries (and ice cream, not pictured)

Strawberry Cake (inspired by a local bakery). I would have just purchased one, but I had no idea an 8″ cake was over $30. What the heck?! I guess I’m just used to baking my own cakes to realize how expensive cakes have gotten!

This was a welcomed surprise. A local cupcake bakery occasionally has giveaways on Twitter, and I won some cupcakes! They were seriously delish! Thank you Sweet Wishes Cafe!

Here is the cinnamon crumb apple pie. This is one of those frozen pies you can find in the grocery store, but has quickly become a favorite with my hubs’ family.

Of course, our puppy was very excited to get all of the attention she got at the party, and thanks to my mom, she tried a piece of steak for the first time. I think she enjoyed it.

And of course, it wouldn’t be a party without family! Here are some pictures of our family.

It was a great time to be had by everyone, especially in the milder indoors. Thank you so much to Foodbuzz again for the party! Everyone had a blast!