Quick Crawfish Etoufee

So I was in the mood for something Cajun, but I didn't want to spend a lot of time on supper.  Wednesday night was one of the first chill nights in a long time, where I didn't have to spend it alone or snowed in.  

So I started with the basics, and I sauteed onions, sweet red peppers, and garlic in  my sauce pan, and began mixing in my spices as the veggies began to caramelize.  I usually don't use kit spices, because they never really have the flavor that I am looking for.  I then added about a cup of heavy cream, I don't use a lot of oil like the real Cajun recipes, because its just too fatty and spicey.  The cream cuts the heat and gives it a sweet heat flavor, and is easier on the stomach and digestive tract.  Once the sauce was starting to set and thicken.  I added red pepper flakes, more pepper and cajun seasoning, and a bunch of tobasco, and 1lb of crawfish tails.  I am happy that the packaged crawfish tails are available in Nashville, but these were some real one from NOLA.

I simmered the Etoufee until it was thickened and a nice bright orange color with the red oil rising to the top.  I am not a big rice person, so I sauteed some frozen potatoes and drowned the potato cubes in the Etoufee.  I plated the dish, garnished with parsley flakes and pepper.

And there it its!!

I hate taking pictures with my phone, and they really just don't do the food the justice it deserves.  So if anyone wants to donate to my "Buy Dannychef an SLR fund"  feel free to contact me and make a donation.

Catch Up Megapost

So I have been neglectful over the past few weeks.  However, I have also been cooking up a storm.  I have experimented with some baking and desserts, which is not my forte.  So I am simply going to post some pictures of some of the dishes I have prepared, and I am going to post the remaining pics to my companion flickr.  Flickr.com/photos/dannychef

 Banana Creme Pie with Kahlua Whipped Cream.  It was AWESOME!! Just not the perfect consitency.

.Chicken and Broccoli.  This was a quick and easy boxed lunch meal.  A steam bag of broccoli and noodles, can of cream of broccoli soup, some grilled chicken breasts, and a lot of cheese.  About 15 mins.

Classic Chicken spaghetti.  This was Brandelynn's choice for dinner.

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Kahlua whipped cream.  A great way to use the leftover supplies from the pie.  Find new ways to use your groceries, and don't waste food.

 

BBQ T-bone pork chop, pan friend okra, lima beans, and Parmesan corn muffins.  This was a very southern dish, I was supposed to make the porkchops on my new grill, (to be blogged about later).  However, the propane line leaked out the last of my gas.  I used the mustard based BBQ sauce that I made for the spare ribs, see below.  It tasted even better after it set in the fridge for a few days.  These are 12 inch plates, and that was a 14oz pork steak.  David ate this whole plate with ease, which is about 2.5 lbs. This was today's Sunday Dinner.

Just a little mixed green salad I made to try to compensate for the party fries, which you can see in the corner, but I still fattened it up with some bacon.  This was not the healthiest of meals.

 These are the boneless spare ribs sauteed in the mustard based BBQ sauce, green peas, and five cheese potatoes.

My famous party fries.  Simple, delicious, and probably one of the most fattening things I make.  However, they are means to warms the souls of your party guest.

Grilled Chicken panini.  Again use your leftovers.  This sandwhich was made from the remnants of the surf n turf and slider dinners.

Turkey sliders on wheat rolls with spinach, tomatoes, and pepperjack cheese.  These turned out great, but as I have mentioned before, I'm not the best baker and I burned my bun.  Brandi really enjoyed these.

 Shrimp Quiche.  I didn't have any cornmeal so I had to do a biscuit crust, which I didn't really like.  My cat, Harry, jumped on the counter and ate the shrimp off the top of the slice I was saving for breakfast the next morning.  He got his butt beat for that one, but I had to applaud how stealthily he did it.

This is my versions of an all out Surf N Turf dinner.  Grilled chicken thigh, citrus grilled shrimp, deviled eggs, Sante Fe potatoes, fancy green beans, and creamed corn.  This was a special dinner to celebrate David's competition, and Amanda and Brandelynn's visit.

Honey Mustard Chicken and Fancy Green Beans

This is my take on classic oven fried chicken, and this recipe does really well with chicken drumsticks, which are relatively inexpensive.

First you want to preheat your oven to 375.  Next you need to make the wet ingredients, in you bowl mix: 1 egg, spicy mustard, fancy mustard, honey, and a tiny pinch of salt.  Then to the dry ingredients:  1 part cornstarch, 1 part flour, 2 parts bread crumbs; spice with pepper, poultry spice, parmesean cheese, and sage.

A great tip to remember when breading anything is "wet hand, dry hand"  Take a chicken leg with your left hand and roll it in the honey mustard egg wash.  Then Take you right hand, dry hand, and roll the leg in the bread crumbs and sprinkle the dry mixture for an even coat.

Arrange the chicken on the pan so that the drippings won't contaminate another piece of chicken, you want a crisp crust, not a black blood stained crust.

Put the chicken in the oven for about an hour.  If you want the crust to be even you can turn it. We don't have the greatest oven, so I chose not to turn it to insure that the chicken wouldn't stick.  Let the chicken cook for about an hour, when you notice the  meat and skin is starting to break away from the bone it is done.

About a half an hour later, I started the green beans.  I used frozen green beans and pearl onions.  I broiled them on the stove, until the were firmly soft.  While the green beans were boiling, I microwaved some turkey bacon until crispy, and sauteed some mushrooms in about an teaspoon of oil and black pepper.  Once the beans were done, I drained the beans, crumbled the bacon, and added the mushrooms into the mixture.  I spiced with black pepper and garlic powder, and coated the beans with a couple tablespoons of blue agave syrup, and dusted them with Romano cheese.  

I also prepared some box mac and cheese, garnished with black pepper and parsley, and then I plated our dinner.  

Eating healthy and well is important.  It is sometimes hard to balance convenience, price, and nutrition.  One way to do this is to eat a well balanced proportioned mean with cheaper ingredients.  This meal had starches from the macaroni and breading, healthy fat from the dark meat and cheese sauce.  Dairy from the romano and cheese sauce, two servings of veggies from the fancy grean beans, and protein from the turkey bacon and chicken.  However, this meal is high in sodium, so beware when preparing a meal like this.  I didn't add salt to anything but the egg wash, and when you buy your spices try to get them with no sodium added (NSA).  This entire meal cost about 8 dollars.

The other way to save money is by taking your lunch to work with you, since I am not able to leave the building to buy food this is a requirement for me.  Preparing a meal like this one, which can render 2 warm meals and two plate lunches, is a good way to keep proportions under control.

And doesn't this look more appetizing than a tv dinner box, or a fast food bag?

Thai Ribs and Stir Fry

This was my first attempt for the Thai style ribs.  I used spare ribs which are the ribs cut from the lower side of the pig, close to the sternum.  These ribs are usually cheaper because they have a high bone content.  This was the reason I bought these.  I couldn't afford the baby backs the week I bought these.

Always attempt to tendorize your meat, especially for these because my normal routine didn't really work out.  I took a fork and stabbed up and down repeatedly until it was looking kinda holey.  Next, you should also dry rub or marinade your meat.  I removed the sinews from the back of the ribs by trying to peel it back.  Sometimes you can peel it back by getting the start of the film, and then push it up with the back of a knife.  Once removed, I dried rubbed the ribs with paprika, pepper, cajun seasoning, and crushed pepper.

Next, I made the sauce.  I combined water, soy sauce, fish sauce, a little bit of Dale's marinade, spicy mustard, chili sauce, minced onion, garlic, cajun seasoning, cilantro, sage, crushed red pepper, etc.  Bring the contents to a simmer then add the spicy contents until your eyes start to water or your nose starts to burn a bit.  Next, add brown sugar or pure can sugar to the sauce and cook it down until a thin syrup consistency.

I waited a bit  for the sauce to cool down.  Once cooled.  I coated the ribs in the sauce and left them to marinade for a few hours.  I preheated the oven to 300, and cooked the ribs in a roasting pain for 2 hours.

While the ribs were roasting, I heated a large round skillet, and added oil, soy sauce, garlic salt and pepper in the pan.  The trick to making a good stir fry is to get the oil hot before putting the veggies in.  Once in the pan, stir them around and flip the veggies.  You should hear the veggies crackle and pop a little.  If you don't feel like chopping fresh veggies, you can use some stir fry veggies in the bag, just let them thaw in a colander to allow the water to drip.

Spare ribs are known to be tough, I usually am known for making tender meaat.  However, this was my third attempt at spare ribs recently. I have grilled, broiled, and now baked.  Next time I will try to boil them and see how it turns out.  If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.