Crawfish Monica, a Knock-Off, Maybe Better!

In the early 1980s, Pierre Hilzim created a spicy cream sauce, tossed it with pasta and crawfish tails and named it after his wife, Monica. A loving tribute... and a very profitable one.

Since 1981, the Hilzim's estimate they have served more than 1 million bowls of Crawfish Monica at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival held each spring.  Crawfish Monica is no doubt the New Orleans Jazz Fest's most famous food.

Their recipe is a closely held trade secret of Kajun Kettle Foods, Inc., the Hilzim's food production company, located in New Orleans.  The company  produces more than 160 sauces, soups, entrees, salad dressings and side dishes for restaurants and packaged food brands. Crawfish Monica is the company's premier dish and Jazz Fest is its biggest stage.

2 cups (16 ounces) Half-n- Half

1 cup whipping cream

6 green onions, chopped

1 stick butter

1 pound crawfish tails with fat

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1-1/2 tablespoons minced garlic

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 lb.Rotini pasta cooked al dente

1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Combine the half-n-half and cream in a saucepan and reduce slightly, about 10 minutes. while the cream is warming, saute onions in the butter. Once the onions begin to soften, add in the garlic and saute for another minute.  Add crawfish tails and crawfish fat, salt, pepper, thyme and cayenne.  Stir to combine then add 1/2 of the Parmesan cheese and the cream.  Reduce the  and reduce a little more until the sauce is rich and creamy. Add the cooked rotini to the sauce, toss, add the remaining cheese and serve.


Kick back, pour yourself a glass of Pinot Grigio, put on your favorite music and enjoy....pretend it's not winter for a little while!




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Crawfish and Corn Chowder

My grandmother made the best corn and crawfish chowder, period!  Many times I sat at her kitchen table peeling Belle River crawfish, pulling husks and silk from the freshly picked corn. She would then remove the kernels from the cobs and the secret to her tasty recipe was revealed. She would boil the corn cobs with the crawfish heads in a large pot, seasoned with a little crab boil, yellow onions, celery, garlic and one hot pepper. This amazing aroma wafted through her house! She would strain this succulent stock through an old bent up strainer…so many memories.  I am now taking the liberty of trying to re-create one of her most special dishes, only I am using store bought seafood stock.

1 lb. crawfish tails with fat

3 cups fresh kernel corn

4 tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup diced celery

1 cup chopped green bell pepper

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1-1/2 cups cubes russet potatoes

¼ cup all-purpose flour

6 cups seafood stock

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ cup heavy cream

1 can (10 ounce) Original Rotel

Sea Salt and fresh cracked black pepper

Chopped chives (optional)

In a large pot, melt butter. Add onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic and sauté until onions are transparent, about 3-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add the corn to the pot and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often.  Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir constantly for 3 minutes.  Add the seafood stock and potatoes, stir to thoroughly combine, season with the cayenne pepper.  Simmer for about 20 minutes to soften the potatoes. Add crawfish tails, crawfish fat and heavy cream and Rotel tomatoes, simmer for another 10 minutes, just to heat the crawfish tails through. Garnish with the chives and adjust seasonings if necessary.

 Make your own chowder memories tonight!

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Crawfish Enchiladas

It's Lent and being a Cajun, I have to get my fill of crawfish in any way, shape or form I can.  These enchiladas are like no other enchilada you have experienced before.

The ingredients for the crawfish filling and the sauce contain a lot of the same ingredients.  Chop once and divide it up.

 So are you ready to make some dinner?

Crawfish Filling:

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 tablespoons minced pickled jalapeno peppers

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1/4 cup finely chopped bell pepper (I used a combination of red and green)

1/2 chopped green onions

4 tablespoons tomato paste

1 lb. Louisiana crawfish tails

1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack/Colby cheese mixture

Crawfish Enchilada Sauce:

1-1/2 sticks butter

1/2 cup onion, minced

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1/4 cup finely chopped bell pepper

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1 cup Half-n-Half

Cayenne pepper to taste

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

2 tablespoons Louisiana Hot Sauce

1/2 cup chopped green onions

2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

10 flour tortillas

1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack/Colby cheese mixture

9 x 13 baking dish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Melt butter in a large skillet add in the thyme, cook for 2 minutes until fragrant then add and saute green onions, bell peppers, celery, jalapeno peppers and garlic about 5 minutes.

Add the tomato paste, stir to combine.  Spread out on the bottom of the pan and cook another 5 to 7 minutes.

Add in the crawfish tails and any liquid in the bag.  Cook for another 4 minutes, remove from heat.  Empty into a bowl to cool completely.

Place the same skillet back on the stove and melt the butter

Saute the onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic until soft.  There will be a lot of liquid in the pan.

Add the Half-n-Half.  Swirl with a spoon to combine.

Add in 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese and continue swirling to combine.  Sometimes I just prefer to swirl instead of stirring. 

Add in the cayenne and the hot sauce.  Don't worry, this is not enough register very much heat at all.  Look below, the cayenne and the hot sauce give the sauce a nice color.

Add in the green onions and parsley.

Turn the burner off but leave the skillet on the burner.

 

Fold in one cup of the Jack/Colby cheese mixture to the completely cooled crawfish tails. 

Ladle just enough sauce to thinly cover the bottom of the baking dish.  Place about 1-1/2 to tablespoons of the crawfish mixture in the middle of one of the tortillas. 

Tightly Roll the tortillas and place the the baking dish seam side down.

Ladle the remaining sauce over the tortillas then sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese over the sauce.

Next, top the tortillas with the remaining Jack/Colby cheese mixture and place the enchiladas in a pre-heated 350 degree F oven and bake for 20 minutes.

 Remove from oven after 20 minutes and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

 Get yours before they're all gone!

Yeah, I think I am going to become a member of the clean plate club!

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A Cajun Thanksgiving...Ruth Fertel's Plaquemine's Oyster Dressing

Thanksgiving is fabulous!  Unlike Christmas, it's all about family and food and not the gifts. This Thanksgiving we went home to be with our family and as always, it was beyond words.

Grab a cup of coffee or your beverage of choice because this is going to be one L-O-O-O-O-O-N-G post!

My BIL, Gerry and his gorgeous wife, Terry Lynn hosted this awesome Thanksgiving celebration.  You may remember the last time we went home for Thanksgiving was four years ago, in 2008 .  So let me walk you through this festival holiday eye candy!

 

My SIL, Terry Lynn, enlists the children to pass out strips of colorful paper to each guest.  Each guest writes what they are thankful for and my SIL makes a chain to use as garland for her Christmas tree!

 

Food porn shot. My BIL and my hubby carving up one of two of the fried turkeys...don't hate!

 

We enjoyed a gorgeous, sunny day...I think we topped out at 75.  We dined "Al-Fresco".

 

 

Look at the beautiful set-up.

 

I was lucky to get these shots before the rest of my hungry family got here!

 

A view from the tent to the house.

 

 

Can you feel the excitement?

 

 

Before we "Choot-em" we eat our veggies!

 

Lots and lots of fried turkey.

 

My BIL, Gerry hit a homer with rotissere pork loin - YUM!

 

 

A sneak peak of the star of the the show, the Oyster Dressing!

 

Oh yeah, the homegirlz are waiting for the blessing so we can eat.

 

My two SILs in the background, putting on the finishing touches.

 

My BIL and host, Gerry, right, the master chef of the Oyster Dressing that I am here bragging about today!

 

My hubby making sure he gets his fair share.

 

My SIL, Terry Lynn places this pirogue as a centerpiece on one of the serving tables, displaying past placeholders and parts of past centerpieces. How awesome is she that she hangs on to all of this nostalgia.  So many guests that have graced her table in the past have gone on, including both of my parents and my father-in-law.  So many wonderful memories.

 

Ruth Fertel's Plaquemines Oyster Dressing....recipe below and so worth trying!

 

Our hostess, my SIL, Terry Lynn. 

 

Gerrard and Terry Lynn, thank you so much for a memorable and delicious Thanksgiving. 

 

All our love!

 

 

Ruth Fertel's Plaquemines Oyster Dressing:

 

1 gallon oysters with liquid (about 8 dozen oysters)

1/4 lb. butter

1lb. smoked sausage minced

3 cups diced onion

2 cups diced celery

1 cups diced green bell pepper

1 cup diced red bell pepper

1/4 cup minced garlic

12 chicken bullion cubes

3 (2-1/2 foot long) loaves stale French bread

Salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes to taste

1 dozen eggs whipped

1 lb. melted butter

 

Pour oysters into a large pan, reserving liquid and go through them one at a time, removing any shells that remain.  Heat oysters in liquid until edges curl.  Drain oysters, save liquid and set aside.  When oysters are cool, chop coarsely and set aside.

 

Ina large Dutch oven, heat 1/4 lb. of butter over medium-high heat.  Saute sausage until oil is rendered.  Add onions, celery, bell peppers and garlic.  Saute 3 to 5 minutes, until vegetables are wilted.  Add oysters, liquid and bouillon cubes.  Bring to a rolling boil, reduce to simmer and cook for 5 minutes.  Season with salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes.

 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Chop stale French bread into 1-inch cubes and add to oyster mixture 2 cups at a time until enough bread has been added to absorb liquid but mixture is still moist.

 

Remove from heat add eggs and remaining melted butter, blending mixture well to thoroughly combine.

 

Pour into a large oven proof baking dish and cover with foil.  Bake for 1 hour.  Remove foil and continue baking to brown fro 15 minutes.

 

Serve, relax and just let your eyes roll around in the back of your head.  I am serious...don't let life pass you by without trying this oyster dressing!

 



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