BBQ Shrimp

Since it's Ash Wednesday and since I'm a Catholic, I can't eat meat today. When I was living in New Orleans which is a a predominatly Catholic city, this was not a problem. Just about every eatery had a lenten seafood special on Ash Wednesday and on Fridays during lent. Living in the Smokies which is in the middle of the "Bible Belt", retaurants are not aware of our lenten practices. I started racking my brain yesterday trying to think of something the cook for dinner tonight besides frozen square breaded fish. I remembered that shortly after Hurricane Katrina when we moved back to New Orleans (we lucked into an apartment in LaPlace, Louisiana instead of a FEMA trailer), Kaitlin and I were home alone one Friday night and decided to make BBQ Shrimp. Neither of us care for the traditional New Orleans BBQ Shrimp cooked in an oily butter sauce with the shells on. They are good but way too messy. We opted for trying to make a dish with the same wonderful taste but with a creamer sauce and no shells that could be served over rice, pasta or just soaked up with a piece of crunchy french bread. Here's what we came up with...

BBQ Shrimp - Peel 2 lbs. of large shrimp leaving the tail and last section near the tail entact and reserve the shells. Season the shrimp with either Emeril's Essence (receipe at bottom) or Zatarain's Creole Seasoning. Work the shrimp with your hands to coat evenly and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. In a large pot heat 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. In heated oil saute half of a small onion coarsely chopped and 2 cloves of minced garlic. Saute for a minute or two and then add reserved shrimp shells, 1 tablespoon of Essence or Creole seasoning, 1 bay leaf, two lemons peeled and squeezed, 2 cups of water, 1/2 cup Lea & Perrins, and 1/4 cup white wine. Bring to a boil and reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

After about 15 to 20 minutes strain stock into a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes until stock will become dark brown, thick and syrupy. This will make about 4 tablespoons of your BBQ base.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, add 1 tablesppon of extra virgin olive oil and saute seasoned shrimp for a couple of minutes until they turn pink or opaque. Lower heat to medium and add 2 cups of heavy cream and the BBQ base. Blend well and let simmer for 3 minutes. Use a slotted spoon and remove shrimp to a serving bowl. Wisk 2 tablespoons of butter into the sauce and pour sauce over shrimp. We like to serve with a green salad on the side and lots of crunchy french bread for dipping.

Emeril Lagasse's Essence -2 1/2 tablespoons paprika, 2 tablespoons salt, 2 tablespoons garlic powder, 1 tablespoon black pepper, 1 tablespoon onion powder, 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper, 1 tablespoon dried oregano and 1 tablespoon dried thyme. I put this in an airtight container and keep it on hand.

Chops and Taters Please

Pork chops like chicken are blank pallets. There are so many ways to prepare them. Chops are good go to dishes.



Pork Chops with Pan Gravy - Season four bone-in pork chops with grill seasoning (McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning) and pan fry over medium high heat in 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil for 3 minutes each side. Remove from pan to platter and loosely tent with foil. Lower heat just a bit and add 2 tablespoons of butter. When butter is melted, add 2 tablespoons of flour and stir constantly for 2 to 3 minutes to make a light colored roux. You want to cook off the flour taste and let your roux brown just a little. Wisk in 1 cup of beef broth and blend well, then add 1/2 cup of water and blend (to thin). Add 1 tablespoon of Lea & Perrins, salt and pepper to taste, 1/2 teaspoon of dried tyme and 1 teaspoon of sweet basil. Lower heat to simmer and return chops to the pan, coating with pan gravy. Let chops simmer until completely cooked - about 20 minutes.





Lazy Smashed Taters - Cut 3 lbs. cleaned russet potatoes into quarters without removing the skins. Boil potatoes in salted water until fork done. Drain in a collindar and return to pan. Season with salt, 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 2 tablesoons butter, 4 oz. light sour cream, 4 oz. evaporated milk, 3 chopped green onions. Take your potato masher and mash into a chunky well blended mixture. Serve alone or topped with pan gravy.



Cheesy Corn on the Cob - Remove husks and silk from four ears of corn, wash and drain. Tear a sheet of aluminum foil big enough to wrap each ear of corn individually. Place an ear of corn on a peice of foil. Season with salt, garlic powder, parmeasan cheese and two pats of butter. Wrap corn in foil and seal tightly. Repeat with remaining ears of corn. Place on grill and cook until done or place the wrapped ears on a cookie sheet and bake in a 425 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Sausage Jambalya

Happy Lundi Gras! For everyone far away from the Mardi Gras maddness of New Orleans, Lundi Gras means Fat Monday...the day before the BIG DAY - Mardi Gras. Maybe some of you are looking for Cajun dishes. I know there are multitudes of them out there from online recipes to actual cookbooks. Most Cajun recipes are basically the same and just about every cook has a variation.

Jambalya is Cajun for "one pot". This is a one pot dish.

Sausage Jambalya - Cut up 1 lb. of andouille sauage or smoked sausage (I like Smithfield's Smoked Pork Sausage) if you cannot get andouille. Brown sausage over medium-high heat in a large heavy pot with a tight fitting lid in 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil for about 15 minutes. Remove sausage and set aside and 1 more tablesppon of vegetable oil to pot along with 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour and stir constantly to form a dark brown roux (about 7 minutes). Once roux is dark brown, add 1 medium onion finely chopped. Thoroughly mix the onion into the roux and cook until onion becomes soft. The roux will stop cooking once the vegetables are added. Then add 3 cloves of minced garlic, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 cup beef broth and 1-1/2 cups of water, 2 cups uncooked white rice. Stir pot well. When liquid comes to a boil, lower heat to simmer, cover pot and cook for 45 minutes. Uncover pot and stir. If there is still liquid in the pot, let the jambalya cook uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes until all liquid is absorbed.

Laissez les bons temps rouler! Happy Mardi Gras Ya'll!

Asian in the Mountains

Remember the movie "My Cousin Vinny"? Do you recall when Joe Pesce and Marissa Tome arrived in the small Alabama town and she questioned, "I wonder how's the Chinese"? Welcome to my world. So I have to bring the my version of Asian cuisine to us. Sesame is the theme today.


Sesame Wings - Separate and season two packages of chicken drumettes with salt, black pepper and garlic powder. VERY sparingly, drizzle a few drops of sesame oil on drummettes. Sesame oil is REALLY strong, you only want to use a couple of drops on each drummette. Place dummettes on a foil lined cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray and send them to a preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes, turn after 15 minutes. After 30 minutes, baste each drummed with Hoisin sauce and cook for 10 more minutes, turn baste the other side and cook for another 10.


Fried Rice - Beat two large eggs with a wire whisk. Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium high heat in a large, heavy, high sided pot, frying pan or wok. When oil is hot cook the eggs scrambled style, remove from pan and set aside. Add two more tablespoons of vegetable oil to the pan and saute 1/2 a medium yellow onion, chopped, until almost soft and then add two cups of cooled cooked white rice. Keep folding rice with onions and let rice cook until it starts to brown a little, then add salt (go easy), black pepper, garlic powder to taste, 1/2 teaspoon of Chinese Five Spice, a pinch of powdered ginger or grate a 2-inch piece of fresh ginger and drizzle a teaspoon of sesame oil. Stir to mix well. Now at this point you can add so many different ingredients, just depends on what you like...sliced shitakes, water chestnuts, sprouts, peas, shredded carrots...the list goes on. After you add whatever you might want to add, mix it well into the rice and then add soy sauce. I like to use Tamari, which is an aged and deep tasting soy sauce, but whatever kind you have, use that. Shake in about 2 to 3 tables spoons and mix into rice until all the grains have a light brown coating. You may have to add more to get all of the grains coated. Now add back in your scrambled eggs and 3 chopped green onions.


Mandarin Salad - Start with whatever washed greens you prefer, iceberg, romaine, spinach, bib. Garnish with chilled mandarin orange slices. Now this is the best part, the dressing! Use a glass measuring cup and mix the following ingredients with a wire whisk, 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (you can use apple cider vinegar), 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Dress your salad with this dressing right before you serve so your lettuce doesn't get soggy.


People will start coming to your house for Take-Out!

Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops & Pasta

My oldest daughter is a very picky eater. She could live off of pizza, chicken nuggets and tacos. I can get her attention with just about anything that contains cheese. She's been down with the flu since Wednesday and I think we've finally turned the corner because her appetite is starting to return. I decided to prepare one of her favorites.

Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops - Heat a large, heavy frying pan over medium-medium high heat with about 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Salt and pepper four bone-in pork chops. In a bowl, mix one cup of seasoned Italian bread crumbs and 1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan reggiano cheese. When the oil is thoroughly heated coat the chops with the dry mixture and fry until golden brown on both sides. About four minutes per side.

Garlic and Cheese Pasta - Boil your favorite pasta in heavily salted water until al dente. Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan heat 3/4 of extra virgin olive oil and add 8 cloves of peeled, smashed garlic. Heat until garlic begins to turn golden brown. This will infuse the garlic flavor into the oil. Be careful not to burn garlic. Remove garlic from pan with a slotted spoon and set aside and reserve oil. Ladle 3 tablespoons of garlic oil into a large pot over medium high heat and brown four slices of pancetta or bacon cut into small pieces. Remove pancetta or bacon from pan and set aside. Saute 1/2 onion finely chopped in the oil. When the onion is almost translucent, add the cloves of garlic and smash them on side of the pot, cook one more minute. Add 1/2 cup of chicken broth and reduce. Lower heat to medium and add one cup of heavy cream and 1 cup of freshly grated parmesan reggiano. Season with salt, pepper, 1 teaspoon of fresh tyme, 1/4 teaspon of red pepper flakes. Reduce slightly. Add 2 tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley. Add pacentta or bacon and cooked and drained pasta and blend sauce into the pasta.

Garlic Bread - Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice four piecess of French or Italian Bread and ladle the reaming garlic oil onto bread slices. Sprinkle parmsean cheese on top and cook in 400 degree oven for 5 to 7 minutes until the edges of bread and parmsean are beginning to turn golden brown.

Fun Super Bowl Stuff

Well it's Super Bowl time again (hope the Giants win) and the Home Girlz and I have been discussing and actually (hope the Giants win) agreeing on what we'll have to munch on for game time. My hubby won't be sharing this momentous occasion with us (hope the Giants win) because he feels the need to go to New Orleans to visit "his Mom and dem" - translation his Mom and them. The girlz and I (hope the Giants win) had a meeting and have found that it's quite a coincidence his spur of the moment visit just happens to conveniently be during... yes... Mardi Gras. Anyway we will probably be the only all girl house in East Tennessee enthusiastically watching the BIG GAME Sunday and by the way, we hope the Giants win!


Artichoke Dip - One day before the game, drain 2 cans of artichoke hearts (they can be whole, half or quartered) in a colander. Squeeze the artichokes with your hands to get out the excess liquid and to break them up. Do not use a food processer or knofe to cut up the artichokes as this will severely change the tastes of the dip! Once the artichokes are thoroughly drained, place them in a medium sized bowl and add 1 cup of mayonnaise, one pacekt of Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing Mix (dry) and garlic powder to taste. Blend together with a fork, cover and chill over night in the fridge. Serve with Ritz crackers.


Buffalo Bites - Place into a bowl one package of chicken breasts strips cut into bite size pieces, season with salt and black pepper and toss in about 1/4 cup of hot sauce (I like Crystal or Frank's). Let them marinate for a few minutes until you get the batter together. Mix in a bowl with a wire wisk 1 to 1 1/2 cups (eye up how many chicken bites you have) of COMPLETE pancake mix with water - use table on the back of pancake mix box for water amount, add 1/4 of a cup of hot sauce, mix. You can add more hot sauce if you wish, but I PROMISE, this amount of hot sauce is really not very hot at all. Now, pour bout 1/2 cup of the pancake mix in a bowl by itself. Take your chicken bite, roll it in the pancake mix, dunk it in the batter and fry in hot oil until golden brown. The chicken will cook pretty quick since it's cut so small. Drain cooked chicken bites on paper towels, plate and serve with more hot sauce, ranch dressing and/or bleu cheese for dipping. You can even serve some celery and carrot sticks on the side.

Italian Waffle Fries - Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place one package of waffle fries in a bowl and drizzle some extra vigin olive oil and toss fries until they are all coated. Spread the fries in a single layer on a large cookie sheet and bake until they are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove fries from the oven and place in a heat safe bowl, season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and 1/2 cup of frshly grated parmesan cheese and serve. Note: National brand grated parmeasan cheese are very high in salt. If you prefer to use this, go easy on the salt when seasoning the fries.

Sinful Brownies - Mix one package of your favorite brownie mix per package directions and pour half of the mix into a 9 x 13 disposable foil pan; use a knife or back of spoon to spread out evenly. Then place three large chocolate candy bars (I like the Hershey's Symphony Toffee Bars) in a row on top of the brownie batter, add remaining brownie batter on top of candy bars and spread evenly. Bake in oven per package directions. Cool and cut into small squares. These are also great for bribing teenagers to do stuff around the house you don't feel like doing. Enjoy!

Spagehtti and Meatballs - The Big Cheat

A friend of mine leads a very hectic life, like most of us do these days and she doesn't like to cook very much. I made spaghetti and meatballs a week or two ago and had a lot leftover. The girlz think leftovers are kryptonite to their systems, unless there's leftover rice or orzo (which usually leads to a squabble and nothing you want to read about on this blog). I decided to take two servings to work for lunch the next day and give one to my friend. She was wowed. I was embarrassed because it wasn't like I cooked the sauce from scratch; I used a jar sauce and now she keeps asking me when am I going to cook spaghetti again.

The Big Cheat - Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Beat one egg in a small bowl. In a large bowl combine 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tsp. black pepper, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Reggiano, 1 tsp. sweet basil. Mix these together in a bowl with your hands then add in 1 lb. lean ground beef, 1 tablespoon Lea & Perrins and beaten egg. Fold all ingredients together. Blend well but do not work too much or the meatballs will be tough. Gently form into balls and place on a foil lined sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and bake for 30 minutes. Meanwhile pour two jars of Prego (I like roasted garlic) into a pot big enough to hold both jars plus the meatballs and heat on medium-low heat. When meatballs are done, lift with a slotted spoon from pan and let any grease drain and plop them in the pot with the sauce. Boil some angel hair pasta and dinner will be almost ready because we still need to make garlic bread. Melt about 1/2 a stick of butter in a small pan on LOW heat. When butter is almost melted add two cloves of crush garlic. Let it hang out while you're heating your sauce and boiling your pasta. Slice your bread and dip it flat-side down in the garlic butter sauce and put the bread under the broiler until slightly brown around the edges.

Mama Mia - what a cheat!