My family in New Orleans is going to laugh at me because I was raised in Chicago and know very little compared to them about cooking up a Cajun Shrimp Boil.  But last week-end I was missing them all and craving the Crawfish Boil they treated me to last time I was there.  It was soooo good. 

Tub-O-Crawfish

Pile-O-Crawfish

Getting a lesson from my cousin on how to eat Crawfish

Unfortunately, us yankees up north don’t have access to Crawfish and/or Zatarain’s crab boil seasoning.   Therefore I did some research and came up with this recipe for a Cajun Shrimp Boil that at least helped curb my appetite for mud bugs.  Here’s how I made it:

Ingredients:

10 cups water

1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning

1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 bay leaf

1 clove garlic, smashed

4 whole cloves

2 lemons, halved

8 baby red potatoes

4 small whole onions, peeled

2 ears fresh corn, halved

1/3 lb smoked sausage, sliced (Cajun sausage or Keilbasa sausage)

1 lb raw shrimp (e-z peel aka deveined with shell on)

Instructions:

1)  Place first 7 ingredients into a large pot, with two lemon halves, the potatoes, and the onions.

2)  Bring to a nice rolling boil.  Cook potatoes and onions for 45 minutes or until they start to get tender.

3)  Throw in the corn and cook for 5 minutes.

4)  With tongs remove potatoes, onion, and corn from the pot and place on a platter.

5)  Toss in the sausage and the shrimp.  Cook for a 2 or 3 minutes or until the shrimp turn pink and curl.

6)  Remove from heat, strain out the shrimp and sausage, and place on platter with the veggies.

7)  Serve with tabasco sauce and remaining lemon halves. 

If any Louisiana natives can offer any advice on how to improve on this recipe, your comments are most welcome! 

A special family member recently introduced me to Coconut Oil and its health benefits.    I’ve been using it topically on my skin, but it’s supposed to be very good for you when consumed. 

In an effort to find a tasty way to incorporate it into my diet, I decided to make this recipe.

I love salmon.  My daughter loves salmon.  We eat it once or twice a week.  Salmon is extremely good for you because of its Omega 3′s and other health benefits.  However, it’s a lot like chicken in that it’s very plain.  I like to make it with a condiment on the side, such as a fruit salsa, pesto, or sauce.  However, this coconut panko crust gives it so much extra flavor, that nothing else is needed. 

Ingredients:

4 skinless salmon portions, about 6 oz. each

Jamaican jerk seasoning

2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs

3 tablespoons virgin unrefined organic coconut oil

salt and pepper

Instructions:

1)  Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

2)  Melt coconut oil in a skillet on very low heat.

3)  In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs, salt, and pepper.  Add 2/3 of the melted coconut oil and stir to coat the crumbs.  Set aside.

3)  Sprinkle salmon portions with jamaican jerk seasoning.  Turn up the heat in the skillet with remaining coconut oil to medium.  Sear each side until golden, about a minute or two.  Remove from skillet.

4)  Top each salmon portion with equal amounts of bread crumbs.  Place in oven for 12-15 minutes, until the bread crumbs are golden.  Remove from oven, cover with foil, and set aside to rest for a couple of minutes.

I served the salmon with my Fiesta Rice and a mango “gastrique,” aka sauce.  The mango sauce made the dish too sweet in my opinion, so I am leaving that out of this post.  The coconut oil adds enough sweetness to the salmon and the rice, so I decided nothing else is needed.  The mango sauce would have been a great addition if I was just using plain white rice.

Fiesta Rice

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon virgin unrefined organic coconut oil

1/2 cup green onions, sliced

1/2 cup carrots, diced small

1/2 cup red pepper, diced small

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt and pepper

2 cups cooked rice (cooked in chicken broth)

2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

1 tablespoon lime juice

Tabasco sauce

Instructions:

1)  Melt coconut oil over medium heat in a medium saucepan.

2)  Add onion, carrots, red pepper, jalapeno, garlic, salt and pepper.  Saute until slightly tender and bright.

3)  Mix in the cooked rice, cilantro, and lime juice, and a few drops of Tabasco.

4)  Serve as a side dish or add grilled shrimp for a complete meal.

My ex husband introduced me to Pho after he went to lunch with one of his coworkers who happened to be Korean.  While Pho is a Vietnamese dish, his friend was more familiar with asian cuisine and brought him to a small restaurant in a nearby town (near where the Fireside Roller Rink used to be, for you locals).  Pho is an asian soup, but I’m calling this a main dish because of its heartiness.  The broth is light yet flavorful containing a unique mix of exotic spices which includes whole coriander, whole cloves, and star anise. 

It was a bit difficult to find whole cloves and star anise, at least for me.  I got lucky and found some at a local grocery store with the intention of one day making this dish one day.  There are many different kinds of Pho, but my favorite is chicken.  Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds

4 whole cloves

2 star anise

1 onion

1 3-inch chunk of ginger

8 cups (64 oz.) prepared chicken broth (homemade or store-bought)

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

2 chicken breasts, bone in

1 package linguine style rice noodles, cooked according to package instructions

Bean sprouts

Fresh cilantro

Fresh basil

Fresh jalapeno peppers, sliced

Onion, very thinly sliced

Lime wedges

Instructions:

1)  Place one half of the onion (reserving other half for slicing later) and the chunk of ginger under the broiler for 15 minutes.  Turn each over half way through to char on both sides.  Remove from broiler and allow to cool slightly. 

2)  Meanwhile, toast the coriander, cloves, and star anise in a frying pan over medium heat.

3)  Pour the chicken broth into a large pot.  Add toasted spices, fish sauce, sugar and chicken.  Peel the onion and ginger, cut into chunks and add to the pot.

4)  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

5)  Remove chicken and shred or slice the meat.

6)  Strain and discard the solids from the broth.

7)  In a soup bowl, place desired amount of noodles and chicken.  Top with desired amount of remaining ingredients and ladle in some broth. 

 This recipe is adapted from:  http://www.healthy-delicious.com/2009/10/daring-cooks-quick-and-easy-chicken-pho-pho-ba/.

There is no story behind this recipe.  I’m just on a mini pie kick.  I bought this cool mini pie pan over the week-end for my mini blueberry pies (http://maggiesmile.com/mini-blueberry-pies/).

It makes super cute little pies, plus I had left over pie crust, plus my body must be craving lycopene because I wanted tomatoes.  I used these little cuties because they are larger than cherry tomatoes but smaller than regular ones…  I’m on a mini everything kick!  You can use any tomato you like.

 Ingredients:

Pie crust dough for 1 single pie (you can use my pie crust recipe from (http://maggiesmile.com/mini-blueberry-pies/) if you like.  That’s what I used.

 1 lb tomatoes

2 tablespoons onion, very finely chopped

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup mayonnaise

Salt

Instructions:

1)  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2)  Slice tomatoes.  Place in a colander and sprinkle with salt.  Allow to drain over a bowl while preparing other ingredients (approximately 10 minutes).

3)  In a separate bowl, combine cheese and mayonnaise.

4)  Line 4 mini pie shells with pie crust dough.  Crimp edges if desired.

5)  Layer bottom of pies with one layer of tomatoes and a small sprinkling of diced onion.  Repeat once, and again if you have room.  Careful not to pile too high, the cheese mixture still needs to go on top!

6)  Place a quarter of the cheese mixture on top of each of the pies and spread so it covers the circumference.

7)  Bake for 30 minutes.  Allow to cool slightly and serve!

Looks pretty good!

Ooey gooey deliciousness!

Wow…

I hadn’t planned on eating it, but holy shiznit this was good!  I ate the salad and half the pie but wanted desperately to eat every last crumb.  What is your favorite pie flavor?