February 16, 2008
New Orleans Barbecued Shrimp!
This is one of the easiest New Orleans dishes to make, and it's fantastic if you're not afraid of butter. Unlike "shrimp on the barbie," when New Orleanians think of "barbecued" shrimp, they really mean baked with lots of butter and pepper. The dish was invented at Pascal's Manale Restaurant, uptown on Napoleon Ave., and it's their signature entree to this day.
OK, let's get started.
The ingredients are simple:
The original recipe from Manale's calls for using a bit of olive oil as well as butter, add a bit of thyme, and to use lemons instead of an orange. I'm more of a purist. Food critic and local radio personality argued for doing it simpler on his radio show one time, I tried it and liked it.
A note about butter: use it or just don't cook this dish. It's about the butter flavor and making a buttery dipping sauce. If your diet doesn't include butter for whatever reason, take a pass on this and do boiled shrimp. I'll do boiled shrimp soon and you'll see that they are tasty goodness when done right as well.
Raw shrimp from a good seafood place are usually sitting in clean ice water, but i like rinsing them off at home, anyway.
Spread the shrimp out in a baking dish with sides to it. Don't just use a pizza pan, or the sauce will be uncontrollable.
Slice up the butter and place it on top of the shrimp. This 5-pound batch of shrimp made two pans, so two sticks for each. Sprinkle a lot of black pepper on top. Don't skimp! Be a little more careful with the cayenne, but remember, liberal is a good word.
Zest the orange and sprinkle the zest over the shrimp. Squeeze the juice of half an orange over each of the two pans.
You're going to want some good french bread to go with the shrimp, the better to soak up the butter sauce with!
Voila! To serve, either just plop the pan down and let everyone reach in, or dish the shrimp up into large soup bowls. Serve with cold beer or a crisp, dry, white wine.
Posted by YatPundit at 6:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 27, 2007
Crabmeat au Gratin!
This is one of my favorite dishes, and it's really very easy. Tonight was a variation on the basic theme.
The Brother Martin - St. Augustine football game was this afternoon. We stopped at the grocery on the way home, and I saw some great portobello caps in the produce section. I thought, instead of using a soufflee' ramekin for the crabmeat au gratin, what if I spooned it into a 'shroom? And off we go...
Da Stuff:
1lb lump crabmeat
1/2 pint heavy cream
1 cup white wine
3tbsp flour
yellow onion
green onion
garlic
creole seasoning
white pepper
salt
olive oil or butter for sauteeing
cheddar cheese
Usually a recipe such as this would call for the "holy trinity" of onion, celery, green pepper, but I made some veal with the trinity earlier in the week, so I went with just onion and green onion tonight.
Told ya, these portabello caps were nice! I sliced off the stems, chopped them, and tossed them into the mix.
Sautee the onions, green onion, and mushroom in a bit of olive oil. You can use butter here, but my contriubtion to limiting my development of clogged arteries is to go with olive oil.
Add a bit more butter or olive oil, then sprinkle the flour on top of the translucent onion. This is a quick-and-dirty roux, because we don't need the flour to brown since the finished product is essentially a white sauce.
While making the white sauce, I tossed the 'shrooms under the broiler for a couple of minutes
Add the wine and heavy cream to the onion/flour mixture, then fold in the crabmeat. Remove from the heat.
Taste the finished crabmeat filling for heat content. Add salt, creole seasoning, and white pepper to taste. Be careful with commercial creole seasoning--both Zatarain's and Tony Cachere's are high in salt. If you're sensitive to salt, make your own, or work with the components directly.
spoon the filling into the ramekins, or, in this case, the 'shroom cap.
Now, this is why the people who work with my wife don't like me. I spooned some of the filling into a microwavable dish and then topped it with the cheese, which is what I did with the mushroom and the ramekin. Now she's got lunch for a day next week.
Bake in a 350F oven for 10 minutes to melt the cheese and re-heat the filling.
Wife didn't want the other 'shroom, so I chopped it up and sauteed it in some white wine. Add an ear of white corn and a Binder's pistolette, and eat!
The wine was a bit unusual for this dinner, a Moselle Riesling. It worked.
Posted by YatPundit at 11:05 PM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2007
Crawfish Enchiladas
Your first reaction to seeing the title for this dish is that it's something that's come up post-storm, but that's not the case. Mike Anderson's Seafood (Bourbon Street and out in Metairie) as well as the Palace Cafe (Canal Street) have done this dish for years, as have other restaurants in town.
The Ingredients
White corn tortillas, 8" size
1 lb peeled crawfish tails
green bell pepper
yellow onion
garlic
green onion
jalapeno peppers (canned, sliced)
whipping cream
sour cream
sharp cheddar cheese
Monterey jack cheese
Italian seasoning
salt
white pepper
chili power
cayenne pepper
The filling
saute the yellow onion, green pepper, and green onion in a little olive oil until the onion becomes translucent
saute the crawfish in a little olive oil and the liquid from the package for 3-5 minutes.
add 8oz of heavy cream, 2oz sour cream, and the jalapenos (to taste--remember, these things are hot), to the sauteed onions and bell pepper. Add the crawfish and Monterey Jack cheese. Mix and simmer.
spoon the filling into the tortillas, roll, and place in a baking dish. Cover with cheddar cheese.
Bake for 10-15 minutes, to thoroughly melt the cheese.
Serve them up, Modela Negro for me as a beverage.
Posted by YatPundit at 7:28 PM | Comments (0)
December 27, 2006
Crawfish Pasta!
After all the weeks I've been away from home, one of the first things I did was make something uniquely New Orleans for dinner last Friday night. A lot of local places do a variant on crawfish pasta with a cream sauce, and I'm constantly experimenting with my own version. I told daysinger
The Basic Ingredients
In the photo, you see a pound of frozen crawfish tails, 1 cup heavy cream, Manda tasso, some pre-cut "Holy Trinity," and bow-tie pasta.
Getting Started
The "Holy Trinity" of Creole cooking is, of course, onions, green pepper, and celery. I cheated for this dinner and bought pre-chopped veggies. Now they're sauteeing in about 3tbsp of olive oil. Some folks use butter here, but I'm trying to be responsible. Of course, that's like drinking a diet coke with a big mac, given the cream sauce.
Tasso!
Tasso is smoked, spicy pork loin. It's VERY spicy, to the point that you really don't need a lot of additional pepper in a dish that includes tasso. Usually I'd sprinkle some creole seasoning on the sauteeing veggies, but here I just added a cup or so of diced tasso.
Making the sauce
When the onions get transparent, sprinkle 3tbsp of white flour over the top. This is the quick-and-dirty way to thicken a sauce. Since we're not looking for a dark roux here, we can get away with doing things more-or-less in reverse. When the veggie-tasso-oil-flour mix gets all thick and starts to ball up, add 1/2 cup of chicken (or fish) stock (I used chicken), and 1/2 cup of wine, stirring constantly. Continue to add stock and/or wine to thin the sauce out a bit more if necessary. To this, add the 1 cup of heavy cream, again stirring constantly. Simmer on low heat.
Shrooms...
Just to be a bit different this time, I added about a cup of sliced "baby bella" mushrooms.
Crawfish...
The crawfish are already cooked, so they go in last. Continue to simmer and cook the pasta.
Dinner!
When the pasta is al dente, drain and toss with the sauce. Serve with lots of french bread, and some dry white wine.
Posted by YatPundit at 12:46 PM | Comments (0)
August 10, 2006
BBQ shrimp!
My teen is one week away from being a "Ramblin Wreck from Georgia Tech," and hopefully also "a hell of an engineer!" As such, we've been allowing him a bunch of "last request" meals. He specified Bud's Broiler, shrimp po-boy, grilled steak, and bbq shrimp.
I did the bbq shrimp tonight. 5 pounds of jumbo (15-count) shrimp, spread out on pizza pans. slice up two sticks of butter for each pizza pan. liberally sprinkle each with black pepper, lemon pepper, cayenne, and sage. Bake for 25-30 minutes until shrimp are pink and tender. Serve with french bread for dipping in the butter.
I brought home a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from Starke's, but it was bad. Which is a shame, because we've got a bunch of wine in the restaurant...plan b was a bottle of woodbridge sauvignon blanc that was just fine. all is good in the world...
Posted by YatPundit at 9:34 PM | Comments (0)
June 27, 2005
Podcast: Summer Creole Recipes
We're back after vacation! Technical difficulties forced us to cancel the podcast last week (mainly because we were in Boston and the internet connection was problematic). But we're home and hot, so it's time for more cooling Summer Creole Recipes:
Marinated Shrimp
1/2 cup olive oil or salad oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1-2 clove garlic, peeled and halved
1/2 sweet red pepper, cored,seeded and cut into short fine strips
1 teaspoon drained capers, chopped
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced crosswise
2 lbs cooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 lettuce leaves (optional)
1. Combine the oil, vinegar, lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, salt, peppers and cayenne in mixing bowl.
2. Lightly beat together with a wire whisk.
3. Add the scallions, garlic, sweet peppers, capers and celery and stir to mix.
4. Fold in the shrimp.
5. Cover closely and marinate in the refrigerator for atleast 3 hours.
6. Discard the garlic before serving (unless you can eat garlic like I can).
7. If desired, serve in lettuce leaf cups.
Poached lemon chicken
Makes 12 servings
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut lengthwise into one-inch-wide strips
3 leeks, washed, trimmed and cut lengthwise in half
2 to 3 cups chicken broth
Salt, cayenne and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Put the chicken breasts, leeks and broth in a large saucepan. Cover with chicken broth and season with salt, cayenne and black pepper. Simmer until tender. Cool. Pack in an airtight container with some of the broth to keep the chicken from drying out.
Serve with crème fraiche flavored with fresh lemon juice and chopped fresh dill, or this curry mayonnaise.
Curry mayonnaise
Makes about 1 cup
1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon curry powder (try the Madras curry powder if you can find it)
1 teaspoon horseradish
1 teaspoon tarragon vinegar
1 tablespoon minced onions
¼ teaspoon hot sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Combine all of the ingredients in a small mixing bowl and whisk to blend well. Store in an ice chest until ready to serve.
Double or triple the next recipe, store it in an airtight container and bury it in ice in an ice chest.
Shrimp and orzo salad
Makes 4 servings
6 cups water
2 teaspoons (or more to taste) salt
1 ½ teaspoons cayenne
2 pounds large shrimp, deheaded
½ cup orzo pasta
2 cups mayonnaise
¼ cup Creole mustard
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ pint cherry tomatoes
Freshly ground black pepper
Hot sauce to taste (optional)
Put the water, salt and cayenne in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add the shrimp, allow water to come back to a boil and cook for three to five minutes. Remove the shrimp from the pot and spread the shrimp on a large platter to cool.
Add the orzo to the water in the pot and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and cool.
Shell and devein the shrimp, and cut into bite-size pieces. Combine the mayonnaise, mustard, dill, parsley and lemon juice in a large bowl and whisk to blend.
Fold in the shrimp, the orzo and the cherry tomatoes. Season with more salt if needed, the black pepper and the hot sauce if using. Store in an airtight container and chill.
Barbecued Shrimp Tangipahoa
Ingredients:
36 (16–20 count) shrimp, head-on
½ pound butter
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup minced garlic
¼ cup minced purple shallots
½ cup sliced green onions
3 tbsps chopped basil
3 tbsps chopped oregano
3 tbsps chopped rosemary
2 tbsps chopped thyme
½ cup Worcestershire sauce
1 cup beer
salt and cracked black pepper to taste
Creole seasoning to taste
Louisiana hot sauce to taste
Method:
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a 13" x 9” baking dish with a 2-inch lip, spread shrimp out evenly. In a 1-quart saucepot, heat butter and oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic, shallots, green onions, basil, oregano, rosemary and thyme. Sauté 3–5 minutes to flavor butter with herb mixture. Blend in Worcestershire and beer. Pour hot mixture over shrimp. Season with salt, pepper, Creole seasoning and hot sauce. Overseason because shells will prevent meat from absorbing most flavors. Place in oven and stir shrimp once during cooking. Cook 15 minutes or until shrimp are pink and curled. Do not overcook, as shrimp will become hard to peel. Place 6 shrimp in each of 6 soup bowls and top with equal portions of herbed-butter sauce. Serve with New Orleans French Bread.
Creole Cream Cheese Cheesecake with Praline Sauce
Makes One 9” cheesecake
½ lb Butter
4 C Graham cracker crumbs
2 ½ lbs Cream cheese
8 oz Creole cream cheese (*must be made 3-4 days in advance)
6 ea Eggs
2 C Sugar
2 T Vanilla
2 C Pecans
2 C Praline liqueur
1 ½ C Dark karo syrup
½ lb Butter
½ C Corn starch
1 ½ C Water
1 T Vanilla
Pinch of salt
To make Graham Cracker Crust:
Melt butter and allow to slightly cool. Pour melted butter over graham cracker crumbs in a large bowl. Mix butter and graham cracker crumbs with a wooden spoon until incorporated. Spoon graham cracker mixture into a 9” spring form cheesecake pan. Firmly press the mixture across the entire bottom of the pan and about half way up the sides of the pan. Use a small measuring cup or juice glass to tightly pack the crust against the pan if necessary. Crust should be about ¼” thick to avoid crumbling.
To make Creole Cream Cheese Filling:
Preheat oven to 300°. Mix cream cheese, Creole cream cheese, eggs, sugar and vanilla in food processor until smooth, occasionally scraping down the sides of processor bowl to ensure that ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. Depending on the size of your food processor, you may need to do this in two batches. Spoon filling into graham cracker crust lined pan. Bake for 2 hours, or until set. Chill for at least 6 hours, ideally overnight, before cutting to serve.
To make Praline Topping:
Evenly spread pecans on a sheet pan and lightly toast in a 300° oven. Bring praline liqueur, karo syrup and butter to a simmer. Make a slurry (culinary term for a thin paste) with cornstarch and water. Temper slurry with a small amount of the hot liqueur, syrup and butter, then add the slurry to the remaining hot liquid, whisking continuously. Continue cooking until mixture begins to thicken. Add toasted pecans, vanilla and salt. Allow topping to cool to room temperature. Spoon over each slice of cheesecake immediately before serving.
Posted by YatPundit at 3:53 PM | Comments (0)
June 13, 2005
Podcast: Seafood Summer
Simple Summer Seafood
Sauteed Shrimp with Creole Mustard Sauce
2 pounds fresh frozen shrimp (30-count, head-off) or 4-5 pounds head-on raw shrimp
3-4 tbsp olive oil
creole seasoning
Rinse off the shrimp and peel them. Butterfly the shrimp by slicing them lengthwise, 1/2 to 2/3 the length of the shrimp. Saute in a medium-hot pan with the olive oil, 4-5 minutes. Sprinkle creole seasoning on the shrimp while sauteeing. Serve with Creole Mustard Sauce.
Creole Mustard Sauce
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup Creole mustard
1/2 teaspoon prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
Whisk all of the ingredients together until thoroughly blended. Serve as a sauce for fried soft-shell crabs or crawfish, or any fried shellfish.
Cajun Risotto Cakes With Bayou Sauce
1 package Zatarain's Jambalaya Mix
1 lb Andouille sausage, diced
½ lb crabmeat
½ cup onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 egg
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
4 cans chicken broth
½ stick butter
Flour
Peanut oil
Sauté sausage, onion, celery, green pepper for about 8 minutes over medium heat. Add chicken broth and Jambalaya Mix and cook for 25 minutes. Add crabmeat and continue to cook and stir occasionally for 5 minutes. Stir butter into mixture and remove from heat. Store mixture in refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Add egg and mayonnaise to mixture. The mixture should be thick by now. Sprinkle flour about ¼ inch thick on a cutting board. Spoon about a tablespoon of the mixture onto the flour to make one cake. Flatten the cake with a spatula, and flip it to dredge the other side in the flour. Heat nonstick skillet and add about ¼ inch of the peanut oil over medium heat. If the oil starts to smoke, it's too hot! Fry the cake until golden brown, about 4 minutes for the first side and 3 minutes for the second. Mix sauce ingredients and serve over cakes.
Serve with Creole Mustard Sauce
Crawfish and Artichoke Risotto with Crispy Eggplant
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 3/4 cup chopped onions
* 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
* 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
* 2 cups Arborio or Carnaroli rice
* 1 cup dry white wine
* 5 to 6 cups shrimp or chicken stock, simmering in a saucepan
* Juice of half a lemon
* 2 teaspoons salt
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 1/2 cup chopped green onions
* 2 cups artichoke hearts, cooked, trimmed and quartered
* 1/2 pound cooked crawfish tails, with fat if possible
* 1/2 cup heavy cream
* 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
* 1/4 cup chopped parsley
* 1/2 cup flour
* 2 tablespoons Creole seasoning
* 1 large egg
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1 cup yellow cornmeal
* 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch batons
* 1/2 cup olive oil
In a large saucepan heat oil over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add butter and then onions, bell pepper and garlic and cook until vegetables are wilted. Add rice and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until grains begin to look opaque. Add wine and cook until evaporated, stirring constantly. Add 3/4 cup of the stock, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Continue to stir constantly, adding additional stock in half-cup increments as liquid is absorbed by rice. After rice has cooked for 10 minutes, add green onions and artichoke hearts and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add crawfish tails, heavy cream, half of the parmesan cheese and parsley, and stir well to combine. Remove from heat, let sit for 5 minutes before serving, garnished with CRISPY EGGPLANT and remaining parmesan cheese.
In a bowl, combine the flour with 1 tablespoon of the Creole seasoning. In another bowl, whisk egg together with the milk. In a third bowl, combine cornmeal with remaining tablespoon of Creole seasoning.
Dredge eggplant batons in the seasoned flour. Transfer to the eggwash, then to the seasoned cornmeal, shaking off any excess.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat olive oil until very hot. Add eggplant and fry, turning occasionally, until golden-brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove eggplant to absorbent towels, and sprinkle with salt. Serve immediately on top of CRAWFISH-ARTICHOKE RISOTTO, garnished with remaining grated parmesan cheese.
Yield: 4 servings
Posted by YatPundit at 5:15 PM | Comments (0)
May 31, 2005
Cedar planks for grilling...
Going through some of my e-mail, I noticed a flyer from Williams-Sonoma. They sell cedar planks for grilling, four for $19.
These are perfect for doing Emeril's Cedar-Plank Trout.
Posted by YatPundit at 10:50 AM | Comments (3)
May 16, 2005
Podcast: Creole Appetizers
Creole Appetizers are easy ways to really jazz up a simple meal. They often require minimal preparation, but give maximum effect on the table.
Shrimp Bread, Crawfish Carolyn, Stuffed Mushrooms Dominique Youx, Shrimp and Andouille Cheesecake.
The Recipes:
Shrimp Bread
PREP TIME: 45 Minutes
SERVES: 4–5
INGREDIENTS:
* 2 cups of peeled shrimp
* 1 loaf French bread
* 1/2 stick butter
* 1/2 cup onions, chopped
* 1/2 cup celery, chopped
* 1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped
* 1 tbsp garlic, minced
* 1/2 tsp dry mustard
* 1/2 cup mayonnaise
* 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese
* 1/3 cup cheddar cheese
METHOD:
Cut top off of French bread. Scoop inside out of loaf and set aside. In a large skillet, melt butter and cook onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic and shrimp for 15 minutes. Add dry mustard and mayonnaise. Mix all together, then mix in all cheeses and blend until melted. Put shrimp mixture into bread. Butter top and wrap in foil. Bake on barbecue pit or in 350°F oven for about 20–30 minutes. Cut into slices and serve.
Note: May substitute crawfish for shrimp. (this substitution gives you something close to JazzFest's "Crawfish Bread")
Crawfish Carolyn
This dish comes from the menu of Christian's Restaurant, although it's been quite a few years and I'm not sure if they still serve it. It's still mighty good, though, and quite rich. You can vary the amount of cayenne pepper to suit your own palate; be careful not to overdo it, but the cream will help take the bite off it somewhat.
* For the cream sauce:
* 3 cups heavy whipping cream
* 2 cups shellfish stock or water
* 1/4 cup brandy
* 1 cup grated Parmagiano Reggiano cheese (or domestic Parmesan, but for God's sakes don't use that crap from the green can)
* 1-1/2 cups blonde roux (3/4 cup oil, 3/4 cup flour)
* For the crawfish:
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1/2 small onion, chopped finely
* 1/4 green bell pepper, chooped finely
* 1/2 stalk celery, chopped finely
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
* 1/4 cup green onion, thinly sliced
* 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
* 1/2 to 1-1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (to your taste)
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
* 1 pound crawfish tails
Heat the cream with the stock or water, then add the cheese and brandy and bring to a boil. Stir in the roux and simmer for 15 minutes; keep warm.
Heat the butter in a skillet, then add the finely chopped onions, garlic, bell pepper and celery. Sauté for about 5 minutes until soft, translucent and fragrant. Add the crawfish, salt, thyme, red and black peppers. Cook uncovered for about 5 minutes, then mix in the cream sauce.
Divide the crawfish mixture into four small gratin dishes, then top with more grated Parmesan cheese. Place under the broiler for a minute or so until the top gets slightly browned and bubbly, and serve immediately.
YIELD: 4 servings.
Stuffed Mushrooms Dominique Youx
PREP TIME: 45 Minutes
SERVES: 6
COMMENT:
Dominique Youx, a notorious general for Jean Lafitte—some say his half brother—went on to become one of New Orleans' leading politicians. He was quite a cook, and this recipe is dedicated to his memory.
INGREDIENTS:
* 24 jumbo fresh mushrooms
* ¼ pound melted butter
* 1½ cups chopped mushroom stems
* ½ cup finely diced green onions
* ¼ cup finely chopped parsley
* 1 tbsp finely diced garlic
* ¼ cup diced tasso
* ¼ cup diced red bell pepper
* ¾ cup white crabmeat
* 1 ounce sherry
* 1 tsp lemon juice
* Salt and black pepper
* Louisiana Gold Pepper Sauce
* ½ cup seasoned Italian bread crumbs
* ¼ pound melted utter
* 4 ounces sherry
* 2 ounces dry white wine
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 450ºF. Wash mushrooms well and remove stems. In a sauté pan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add mushroom stems, green onions, parsley, garlic and red bell pepper. Sauté until vegetables are wilted, approximately 3-5 minutes. Add white crabmeat, sherry and lemon juice. Continue cooking an additional 2-3 minutes. Season mixture to taste using salt, pepper and Louisiana Gold. Add bread crumbs, a little at a time, until stuffing is of proper texture but not too dry. Using a teaspoon, fill each mushroom cap with generous serving of stuffing. Place 6 mushrooms in each of 6 au gratin dishes and top with melted butter, sherry and white wine. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until mushrooms are golden brown.
Shrimp and Andouille Cheesecake
With Creole Mustard-Tomato Coulis,
from Emeril's Restaurant
Just one of the many culinary innovations created by Chef Emeril Lagasse (one of my heroes) is his penchant for taking sweet, dessert-type dishes and turning them into savory dishes. On his menu at Emeril's and NOLA, you'll see savory bread puddings, cheesecakes and sabayon sauces. Last time I dined at Emeril's I was hoping to see this dish on the menu, but I happily settled for the savory lobster cheesecake he offered that night.
I learned to make this by watching Chef Emeril make this on the brilliant "Great Chefs" TV show on PBS and taking copious notes, and lemme tell ya ... it's fantastic.
For the crust:
* 1 cup plain, unseasoned bread crumbs
* 1 cup Parmagiano Reggiano cheese, coarsely grated
* 1/4 teaspoon Creole seasoning
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly warm
Combine the cheese, bread crumbs and Creole seasoning in a bowl. Add the melted butter and mix together just until the butter is evenly incorporated and the mixture is moist. Spread around the bottom of a 9-inch springform cake pan, and press down with your hands to form the crust.
For the filling:
* 1 pound andouille, diced
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 cup onion, chopped
* 1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced
* 1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
* 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
* 1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning
* 1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined and roughly chopped
* 1-1/2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
* 1-1/2 cups smoked Gouda cheese, grated
* 1/2 cup heavy cream
* 4 whole eggs, beaten
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* About 16 turns freshly ground black pepper
In a large skillet, sauté the andouille until slightly browned. Drain off the rendered fat, and reserve. In another skillet, heat the olive oil and sauté the onions, peppers and garlic until the onions are translucent, about 3 or 4 minutes. Add the shrimp and sauté lightly -- the shrimp will bake in the cheesecake, and you don't want them overcooked and tough. Add the andouille and incorporate.
In the bowl of a mixer (a nice KitchenAid makes this easy), mix the cream cheese, smoked Gouda cheese and cream. Use the paddle attachment and beat until smooth. Add the andouille-shrimp-vegetable mixture. Add the eggs and mix them in. Scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple fo times during mixing. Add the salt and pepper.
Pour into the springform pan over the crust. Prepare a bain marie in a baking dish with 1 inch of warm water, seal the bottom and sides of the pan with aluminum foil to prevent leakage, and set the pan in the bain marie. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 65 minutes, or until the cheesecake has set. It should be browned on the top and feel firm to the touch.
For the coulis:
* 1 teaspoon olive oil
* 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
* 2 tablespoons shallots, minced
* 8 Roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced, with their juice
* 1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning
* 3 tablespoons Creole mustard
In a saucepan, heat the olive oil and saute the garlic and shallot until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the Creole seasoning and Creole mustard, stir. Purée in a food processor or blender, and strain. Let cool to room temperature.
Presentation
Place a pool of about 1/4 cup coulis on each plate. Place a slice of cheesecake on the coulis. Sprinkle freshly chopped chives over and around the cake. Top the cheesecake with about a tablespoon of coarsely grated Parmagiano Reggiano cheese. Garnish the back of the cheesecake slice with an edible flower, and place a few smaller edible flowers around the coulis. Sprinkle Creole seasoning around the rim of the plate. Enjoy!!
Serves 12.
Posted by YatPundit at 5:42 PM | Comments (0)
April 25, 2005
Podcast - Crawfish Etouffee
Crawfish Etouffee is one of the classic Creole/Cajun dishes from New Orleans and South Louisiana. You'll hear a bit of discussion/debate as to whether this is a "Cajun" or a "Creole" dish, but it's really a French dish, so it's essentially both. "Etouffee" is the French word for to stew or smother, so we're talking about "crawfish stew," and that sort of cooking is common to both city and country cuisine.
Here's a great etouffee recipe from Chef John Folse's website. If you can't get crawfish tails, you can use this same base recipe with two pounds of shrimp and make Shrimp Etouffee, or you could substitute boneless, skinless chicken breasts and make Chicken Etouffee. While doing the podcast, it dawned on me that a Chicken Etouffee might even be made as a Kosher dish. I'm not familiar with the ins and outs of keeping kosher, so if anybody who is would like to comment on this possibility, please do.
The Podcast (28:38, 26.2MB)
The recipe:
Louisiana Style Crawfish Etouffee
PREP TIME: 1 Hour
SERVES: 6
INGREDIENTS:
* 2 pounds cleaned crawfish tails
* 1/4 pound butter
* 1 cup onion, chopped
* 1/2 cup celery, chopped
* ½ cup green bell pepper, chopped
* ½ cup red bell pepper, chopped
* ½ cup tomatoes, diced
* 2 tbsps garlic, diced
* 2 bay leaves
* 1/2 cup tomato sauce
* 1 cup flour
* 2 quarts crawfish stock or water
* 1 ounce sherry
* 1 cup green onions, chopped
* ½ cup parsley, chopped
* salt and cayenne pepper to taste
* Louisiana Gold Pepper Sauce
* 2 cups white rice, steamed
METHOD:
In a 2-gallon stock pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic and bay leaves. Sauté until vegetables are wilted, approximately 3-5 minutes. Add crawfish tails and tomato sauce and blend well into mixture. Using a wire whip, blend flour into the vegetable mixture to form a white roux. Slowly add crawfish stock or water, a little at a time, until sauce consistency is achieved. Continue adding more stock as necessary to retain consistency. Bring to a rolling boil, reduce to simmer and cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add sherry, green onions and parsley and cook an additional 5 minutes. Season to taste using salt and cayenne pepper. Serve over steamed white rice using a few dashes of Louisiana Gold Pepper Sauce.
Posted by YatPundit at 3:37 PM | Comments (0)