Craving Mardi Gras

March 8th is Fat Tuesday this year.  I have been polishing up my Cajun culinary skills in preparation.  A couple weeks ago I made a giant pot of gumbo.  Yesterday, I made shrimp etouffee.  This is my variation of a recipe that a friend gave me years ago.  I hate most one pot dishes, but I loved this shrimp etouffee.  My only problem was that I didn't make enough to have any leftovers for another meal.

Shrimp Etouffee
4 servings

Ingredients

4 teaspoon Hot Sauce
1 Small Bell Pepper, Diced
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
1/4 cup Flour
1 Onion, chopped
2 Clove Garlic, Minced
2 stalks Celery, Diced
2 Tomatoes, Chopped
1 cup Clam Juice
1 cup Chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon Dried Basil
1/4 teaspoon Dried Thyme
1 Bay Leaf
to taste Pepper
1 pound Shrimp, Cleaned & Peeled
1/2 cup Scallions, Chopped
Instructions
To make the roux, heat oil in a heavy skillet until hot. Then gradually stir in the flour and stir constantly until the mixture turns brown but does not burn. If you burn the roux, start gain. Should just be slightly brown. Add the onions, garlic, celery, and bell pepper to the roux, and sauté for about five minutes until vegetables are soft. Add the tomatoes, clam juice, stock, basil, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring the roux mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat and simmer for fifteen minutes or until it thickens to a sauce. Add the hot sauce, shrimp, and scallions and simmer for an additional five minutes or until the shrimp are cooked. Remove the bay leaf and enjoy over white rice.

Ribs Again?!?!?

At least once a month I have to make ribs for my family.  Tonight  I did a variation of the rib recipe I previously posted. See recipe. I added a tablespoon of both instant coffee granules and cocoa powder.  The ribs were good, but I like them much better without the coffee and cocoa.

Alongside the ribs, I served creamed corn and caramelized sweet potatoes.  The creamed corn was just the stuff from a can mixed with a can of whole kernel corn, drained.  I used a recipe from Emeril Lagasse for the guidelines to my sweet potatoes.

Caramelized Sweet Potatoes

Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 large sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds), peeled and diced to 1" squares
spiced glaze (see below)

For spiced glaze:
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup molasses
1/8 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoons ground cloves
1/8 teaspoons ground allspice
1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 cup water

Instructions

Combine the sugar, cane syrup, molasses, corn syrup, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and cinnamon in a medium-size bowl and mix well. In another bowl, dissolve the mustard in the water, then add to the spice mixture. Blend well. Use immediately or store in an air tight container in the refrigerator until ready to use. Will keep for 2 weeks.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 2-quart glass rectangular baking dish with butter. Toss the sweet potatoes in a large mixing bowl with the glaze to coat evenly. Pour them into the prepared pan and roast until fork-tender, about 1 hour. Serve warm.

Gift of the Month Club

On Christmas, I gave my father and my in-laws a dessert of the month as a gift.  January's dessert is pineapple upside down cake. I just wish I had made three cakes so I could have tried some.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

1/4	cup butter
2/3	cup packed brown sugar
7	slices pineapple in juice, drained
7	maraschino cherries
1 1/3	cups all-purpose flour
1	cup granulated sugar
1/3	cup shortening
1 1/2	teaspoons baking powder
1/2	teaspoon salt
3/4	cup milk
1	egg

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Heat oven to 350°F. In 9-inch square pan, melt butter in oven. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over melted butter. Arrange pineapple slices over brown sugar. Place cherry in center of each pineapple slice. 

In medium bowl, beat remaining ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over pineapple and cherries. 

Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately place heatproof serving plate upside down over pan; turn plate and pan over. Leave pan over cake a few minutes so brown sugar mixture can drizzle over cake; remove pan. Serve warm. Store cake loosely covered.

Taco Beef Stew

It's basketball season.  On game days I am starting to make use out of the crock-pot that has been hiding in my cupboards.

Taco Beef Stew
Yields: 6 Servings

Ingredients

2 1/2 pound stewing beef

1 envelope 1.25 oz size taco seasoning
1 can 15 oz size diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can 4 oz size green chilies, optional
1 can 8 oz size tomato sauce
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 beef bouillon cube

2 can 15 oz size red kidney beans, rinsed, drained
Shredded cheddar cheese, optional




Instructions
Roll beef pieces in the taco seasoning. Place in crockpot. Combine 

remaining ingredients, except beans and cheese, pour over beef.

Cover; cook on Low for 6-7 hours. 15 minutes before serving; stir in beans.

Cover; heat through. Top individual servings with shredded cheddar cheese, if desired.