What I've Been Eating Lately

As I mentioned last week, I've been traveling fair bit for work and such.  It's hard when it's for work and I have to be away from The Hubs & Lil' Man, but I make up for it by trying new foods and new brews.

But first...EASTER!  Yes...that feels so long ago, but it really wasn't.  We did our whirlwind tour of the Lake to visit the grand-folks, and my mom made us her famous chicken & noodles.  Which always makes my belly happy.

THEN--the Hubs & I went on a KID-FREE VAYCAY, to beautiful PUNTA CANA! (*read in your best Rod Roddy "Price is Right" mental voice*)

Our resort was super nice, and we had LOTS of delicious food. I can't even start to share it all here, but here's a few highlights:

Breakfast: croissant, pastry, ham & pineapple, sausage, bacon wrapped sweet potato, churro, ham fritter, egg crepe, fruit, & watermelon juice

Another breakfast, with a fresh-made omelette from the beach-side omelette station.  Also, churro with chocolate sauce and chocolate filled croissant, because I love carbs. Note: I ate this exact same meal at least 3 times.

Beach-side lunch: roasted chicken, fried fish, potatoes, pineapple, cucumber, and cabbage slaw.

Note: There were also many, many drinks.

Then, we had an authentic shrimp & crawfish boil at my office, to celebrate one of my coworker's 20th anniversary with the company.  Shrimp & Bayou Classics supplied all the seafood, direct from Louisiana, and boiled up everything onsite.  It was AMAZING. (Note: brussel sprouts in a boil = GENIUS.)

I even brought The Hubs a go-cup.

Then, I had to head out of town for work for a week.  We stayed at a lovely little hotel in Farmington, MO called The Tradition Inn.  Anything it lacks in frills and fanciness, it makes up for in the attached restaurant, Spokes Pub & Grill, which sports about 40 craft brew taps.  The property is owned by the great folks who also own Crown Valley Brewing, and so you can find nearly all of the Crown beers and ciders on tap, along with a wide and ever-changing variety of local craft brews (Farmington is just south of St. Louis, so no shortage of great breweries.) 

Their food is also excellent, even down to the pepper bacon BLT.

For Mother's Day, the Hubs made me "Cloud Eggs";

How gorgeous is that?  The texture is a little weird, but still tastes like a normal over easy egg.

Then, I had to hop a flight down to Louisiana for work.  Yes...on Mother's Day.  So I treated myself in the DFW Airport to some Red Mango:

And picked up some boudin balls from Hebert's Specialty Meats:

In New Orleans, I hit up Frey's Smoke Meats with my cousin Primeaux. The meal was awesome, but a ton of food, so I had some leftover brisket.  So the next day for lunch, I swung by Martin Wine Cellar to pick up a few things to accompany it...

(Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog goat cheese, rosemary crackers, and cornichons)

...and then went down to the Pontchartrain Lakefront to enjoy a bit of sun before hopping on the plane back home.

And of course, as discussed last week, I've been eating a lot of breakfast, and sharing them on Instagram.  Not all of those breakfasts are interesting, but I try to remember to capture them all.  But the ones I didn't?  Probably look a lot like this. :)

(cereal, yogurt, & soft boiled egg.)

Boudin Crusted Jumbo Shrimp

So, this idea was inspired by St. Patrick's Day and a delicious sounding recipe from Raised on a Roux.  The St. Paddy's idea was a boudin Scotch egg, while Genet made an andouille crusted shrimp.  Both sounded delicious, but think I started wondering--has anyone ever made a boudin-crusted shrimp?  After a quick Google search, it appears the answer is "no"...

UNTIL NOW.

Heads up--this is a messy recipe, and the boudin can get a bit crumbly, so prepare to get a little frustrated.  Also--PREP NOTE: You need to chill the crusted shrimp in the fridge for about 30 minutes to an hour to help the boudin crust set up, otherwise it will start to crumble when you're pan-frying.  But the end result is SO tasty.

INGREDIENTS: (makes 8 jumbo shrimp)
2 links boudin, removed from the casing (we use Zummo's with is the most common one found outside of Louisiana)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/2 cup panko
8 jumbo shrimp, peeled, tails on
olive or coconut oil for frying (add as needed)

DIRECTIONS:
Combine the boudin and egg in a small dish and mix well. In a separate dish, combine the breadcrumbs and panko. 
Then grab a handful of the boudin mixture, place a shrimp in the middle, and then squeeze your palm lightly to wrap the boudin around it.  Add more if needed to fully cover the shrimp.  If too loose, squeeze some of the egg out.  Then gently set into the breading mixture, shake the bowl to coat the sides, and then use a spoon to make sure the shrimp is fully coated.  Then gently place onto a sheet pan.  Repeat until you run out of shrimp or boudin.  Then place the coated shrimp in the fridge for about 30 minutes to an hour to help them set up.

Meanwhile, heat up a small skillet and add your cooking oil of choice. (I like to use a small skillet because it takes less oil to get about a 1/4 inch of oil in the pan.  You can cook up to 4 shrimp at a time with the small skillet.

Once the oil is hot, place up to 4 shrimp in the pan (again, gently--the boudin always seems to want to crumble because the rice is only par-cooked) and fry until golden, then flip.  Once golden on both sides, you can brown on the "back" side of the shrimp.  Then remove from the pan and place on paper towels to remove the excess oil.
These would make a great appetizer, or you can have them for dinner like we did.  Serve with "shrimp boil style veggies"--we did fresh Missouri sweet corn and red potatoes, but you could do mushrooms, onions, etc.

Crawfish Boil Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

A few weeks ago I posted about making bacon-wrapped crawfish stuffed jalapenos using leftovers from a crawfish boil.  We didn't quite use up the filling we made with the jalapenos, so I decided to use the rest to make this side dish!

We added some sweet corn to the filling to round out this dish and make it truly reminiscent of a crawfish boil.

INGREDIENTS (makes 4 servings):
2 medium sweet potatoes
1/2 cup crawfish tails
1.5 Tbsp low fat cream cheese
1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 green onion, sliced
1/4 cup sweet corn
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella

DIRECTIONS:
Heat the oven to 350F.
Wash the potatoes, stab with a fork and nuke in the microwave for 3-4 minutes or until tender.
Combine the rest of the ingredients, minus the mozzarella, in a small bowl.
Cut the potatoes in half, then mash the guts with a fork, pressing the potato flesh to the sides to make a hollow for the filling.  Fill each of the potato halves with 1/4 of the crawfish filling, and then sprinkle the cheese over the top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is browned & melted.

Serving suggestion: baked or grilled chicken and a green salad.

Daniel Fast Day 13: Bruschetta & a Cajun Veggie Boil!

Today’s Devotion:  “Day 13- Heirs Of Salvation-- Hebrews 1: 13-14  ‘But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?’
Romans 8: 16-17 ‘The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.’

When we entered into covenant relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ we became partakers of His glorious inheritance. As heirs everything He has belongs to us & we have access to it at any time. This is so powerful at work in His saints that He will dispatch angels to go ahead of us & prepare the way for his purposes to be fulfilled in his saints. I believe that at our command we can release an angelic host over cities or nations to prepare atmospheres for the presence of the Lord. Principalities & powers are already submissive to the Lord because of His victory over them at Calvary. So if there are some changes that need to take place or doors that have been closed that need to be opened for you, remember you’re an heir of God so release this angelic host by your decree & see the Salvation of God.”

Powerful words, especially when you find yourself feeling out of control and at the end of your rope.  All you have to do is ask.  Though I think it’s also important to spend time focusing on the blessings you’ve already been given, and thanking Him for those, lest we end up being unappreciative.  So many times we only find the time to pray when we need something.  I try to make sure to find time to just spend time thanking him for having a job I love, having a great family and friends, an awesome husband, paid off debts, surviving the first season of The Scoop…

Today was a nice day—we got to sleep in a little bit, I finished reading two books that I’ve been working on for a while.  Then I helped the Hubs bottle up his homebrew that he started 3 weeks ago:

48 bottles of American bock.  Can’t wait to try it!

Aaaaand after that… we were pretty lazy.  And it was AWESOME.

Breakfast: Leftover veggie minestrone

Lunch:  a small serving of leftover salsa rice, and then some yummy homemade bruschetta with Triscuits!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Roma tomato, diced
• 1/4 cup minced red onion
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp minced basil
• 1 tsp minced oregano
• salt & pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS: 

Mix all of the components together, and let rest for 30 minutes or overnight so the flavors can come together,  Then serve!

 

Dinner:  Again…this is a CAJUN food blog… and we’re still tired of beans.  So, I decided to have a SHRIMP BOIL!!!  …without the shrimp. 

Yup, a dinner of just the sides.  YUM.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3-4 large red potatoes, halved or quartered
• 8 oz white mushrooms
• 4 ears corn, halved
• 1 onion, quartered
• 4-6 garlic cloves, halved
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 1 bag Crab Boil
• 1 tbsp Liquid Crab Boil
• 1 tsp cayenne (optional – you can add more or less to your taste)
• Cajun Seasoning

DIRECTIONS:

Fill a large pot with about 3 quarts of water, place over High heat, and add both of the crab boils, garlic, lemons, and onions.  When the water starts to simmer, add the corn & potatoes & cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.  Add the mushrooms when you have about 5 minutes of cook time left.

Serve up on newspaper, and sprinkle with Cajun seasoning.  Dig in!  (and wash your hands after you finish eating—lest you end up with capsaicin in your eye.)

Shrimp Boil Salad (Guest Post)

Hey there FeauxReaders!  Today, I am thrilled to present you with a guest post from none other than my cousin Primo from New Orleans.  He dreamed up a delicious-looking warm (or cold) salad that I can’t wait to test out!

---

I enjoy cooking. I enjoy challenges and experimenting with new recipes. I’m the kind of guy that watches shows like Chopped, Cutthroat Kitchen, and other game-type shows on Food Network and honestly thinks he could do well.

For my company Christmas party, we decided to do a pot luck lunch. As we were divvying up the assigned dishes, I deferred to making whatever dish wasn’t claimed since I don’t have a “signature dish”. In my office, that translates to “I can only make *insert item here*” Low and behold, the category I ended up with was… SALAD. What a slap in the face. Not only do I feel like that’s a cop-out dish for any pot luck, but I’m a meat and potatoes guy that doesn’t normally like traditional salads.

I had to make a salad that not only wowed my coworkers but would also be something new and exciting for me. After a couple hours of pondering and a quick brainstorming phone call with Prima, (aka Ms. FeauxCajun, herself) the shrimp boil salad was born.

Ingredients:

• Shrimp/Crab boil to taste (If you are unfamiliar with seafood boil seasoning, premeasured boil in bag versions are available at most grocers)
• 3 pounds of baby red potatoes cut in halves or quarters
• 1 pound smoked link sausage, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 pack of frozen corn on the cob (fresh Missouri/Iowa sweet corn on the cob would be best but it wasn’t available to me in Louisiana in December)
• 2 pounds peeled beautiful Louisiana shrimp  (if you’re unable to buy fresh gulf shrimp, any fresh or even frozen [then thawed] UNCOOKED shrimp will probably work with this recipe)
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 3 tablespoons Creole mustard
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
• 2 local beers (for the chef while cooking)

Essential cooking tool.

Directions:

1. 1. Bring 10 cups water and boil seasoning to a boil in a large stock pot over high heat.

2. Add potatoes and sausage; return to a boil, and cook 13 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

3. While your potatoes are cooking, combine lemon juice, EVOO, parsley, Creole mustard, horseradish, garlic, and paprika and whisk together well.

4. Remove potatoes and sausage and set aside in your large salad bowl

5. Add corn to stock pot and return to a boil. Cook 3 minutes. Add shrimp; cover, remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink.

Now THAT is a beautiful sight.

6. Drain and peel shrimp. Cut kernels from cobs. Discard cobs. Stir together corn kernels, shrimp, potatoes, sausage, and lemon juice mixture in a large bowl.

7. Serve hot or cover and chill to serve cold the next day.

NOTE: While this dish is fantastic fresh out of the pot, it is equally as fantastic served chilled. The flavors remain strong. I think the new twist on a COLD shrimp boil combined with the lemon juice dressing made for an unexpected surprise.

A Good Ol’ Cajun Shrimp Boil

When the weather starts getting warm down in Louisiana, it’s time to break out the 10-gallon boiler pot and fire up the outdoor burner:

FLAME ON! [Don’t try this at home.]

Well, you can try a boil at home, but just use caution if you’re using an outdoor flame boiler…or if your hand spontaneously combusts.

For my husband & I’s first wedding anniversary, I decided it was high time to bust into the new potatoes I’ve been growing in my garden:

I was hoping to have “hundreds of potatoes” based on the promises of this Pinterest project, however, this is the entirety of my haul.  Apparently, only certain types of potatoes grow well using the barrel method…and apparently, I didn’t plant any of those types.  But here’s what I have!  A large-ish bowl of some lovely lil’ potatoes.

And I dunno about you, but my absolute FAVORITE way to eat new potatoes is in a crawfish boil.  However, I’m in Missouri, and I has no crawfish.

But I DO have shrimp (frozen, but domestic), and delicious Missouri-grown sweet corn.

SO…BOIL IT IS!!!

(Image pilfered from the interwebz.  I do not own a crawfish pot or an outdoor burner.  Nor to I regularly stir my food with lumber.)

I typically use either theZatarain's dry mix, or the concentrated oil; however, I found this spice bag at a thrift store, so I figured I’d give it a whirl.  



If you’re on a sodium restriction, you should use the bag or the oil, as the dry mix is primarily made of salt.  With the oil & the bag you control how much salt & how much cayenne you add.
Since we’re not making a big batch, we don’t need a huge boil pot or an outdoor burner.  I just use a big sauce pot & my stovetop.

Ingredients:
1 lb shrimp, thawed or fresh (I prefer heads removed & deveined but with the rest of the shell on)
4 ears corn, cut in half
One big pile o’ tiny potatoes (probably about 3-4 cups worth)
1 bag crab boil
2-3 tbsp Cajun seasoning
1-2 tsp cayenne pepper, ground
Other optional items: fresh mushrooms (washed & halved), lemons (halved), onions (halved or whole if small)

Directions:
Fill your pot 1/2-2/3 way with water, add your seasoning bag, corn, potatoes, seasonings, and other Optional items to the pot, and bring to a boil.




Once boiling, lower the heat to medium until the potatoes are close to done (can pierce with a fork, but not easily or doesn’t go all the way in [that’s what she said]) and then add in your shrimp.  The shrimp should cook in just a few minutes, and you don’t want to overcook them.
Then drain the pot, and serve the goods in a 9x13 pan for communal eating (learning to share is important!)

(I wanted to line the pan with newspaper for a more authentic look, but we just took all the papers to the recycling center.  Lesson learned.)

Feel free to shake on a little extra Cajun seasoning if needed (never necessary if you use the bag mix—you’ll be lucky to get that stuff off your fingers):

(My friend Em, at a crawfish boil circa 2007.  Dem’s sum dirty hands. But a super awesome person.)

And whatever you do…please…for the love of all that’s holy…DO NOT TOUCH YOUR EYES.  Unless you hate yourself and your eyes and feel like you need a good cry.  Capsacin & eyeballs DO NOT MIX.

In the words of my friend JoJo, once you’re done eating, “Wash your d*mn dirty hands.”

Makes four moderate servings, or two big servings.  NutriFacts are based on 4 servings.

NutriFacts:

Calories 309.6
  Total Fat 2.3 g
  Saturated Fat 0.5 g
  Polyunsaturated Fat 1.0 g
  Monounsaturated Fat 0.5 g
  Cholesterol 221.0 mg
  Sodium 667.4 mg
  Potassium 449.3 mg
  Total Carbohydrate 69.1 g
  Dietary Fiber 10.4 g
  Sugars 2.9 g
  Protein 30.6 g

Crawchos!!! (aka Crawfish Nachos)

This is an invention of my cousin Primo’s, that he dreamed up back in the day when we were still roommates in Lafayette.  Of course, back then, it was just an idea, a loose concept.  But since that time, Primo’s had a chance to perfect it into a pretty tasty dish.  And while I was down in Louisiana for work last week, he was cool enough to teach me his recipe.  This makes a pretty big batch, so it’s great for a party, and a great way to use up leftover crawfish tails after a boil!


Ingredients: (this has been slightly health-i-fied from the original)
32 oz block of Velveeta (2%), cubed
8 oz fat free cream cheese, cubed
14 oz can sweet corn, drained
2 tbsp jalapeno slices, diced
1 tbsp Cajun seasoning
10 oz can of Mexican Rotel, drained
4-6 oz light beer (I’ll recommend Abita Light to keep it Cajun)
1 lb crawfish tails (preferably leftover from a crawfish boil so they have some good spice)
1 tbsp dry Crab Boil seasoning
Tortilla chips
Sliced green onions or cilantro (optional—we didn’t have them, but I think it would make a nice garnish & add another pop of flavor)

Directions:
In a large skillet, heat the corn over medium-low heat & season with the Cajun seasoning.  Stir occasionally.  This is to pull some of the moisture out of the corn, to give it a crunchier texture.  After about 5 minutes, add the jalapenos & continue to stir.

P.S.  Now’s a good time to have one of these:

(My favorite time of year—Strawberry Lager season!)

And of course, what’s an episode of FeauxCajun Kitchen without some canine sous chefs?

(“Furreals Dad…just ONE piece of cream cheese.  But don’t try stickin’ that heartworm pill in there again. I’m on to your schemes.”)

In a large pot, combine Velveeta, cream cheese, rotel, crab boil seasoning, and beer over medium heat. 

Stir periodically until smooth & creamy, then add crawfish & corn mixture.

Continue to cook until crawfish are heated through, stirring frequently to make sure the bottom doesn’t scorch.

Arrange your chips on a plate and then pour the crawfish cheese sauce over the chips.

Proceed to chow down!!!

Nutrifacts (makes 12 servings):

Calories 370.2
  Total Fat 13.7 g
  Saturated Fat 6.3 g
  Polyunsaturated Fat 1.0 g
  Monounsaturated Fat 2.9 g
  Cholesterol 88.0 mg
  Sodium 1,869.9 mg
  Potassium 359.8 mg
  Total Carbohydrate 34.0 g
  Dietary Fiber 2.4 g
  Sugars 8.1 g
  Protein 26.7 g