Showing posts with label Seafood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seafood. Show all posts

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Cinco de Mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo! So this is going to be a long post...... We made so many new things today and I couldn't decide what I wanted to post. So I am going to post all of the recipes. I new I wanted to make something fun and different for today. I saw a recipe for Grilled Baja Style Lobster Tails on Cooking Light's website and thought it sounded really good. I just realized I liked lobster a couple months ago when Phil and I went to the Melting Pot for dinner. I got an entree that had an assortment of meats and lobster. Phil got the same thing I did so I figured I would trade the lobster for more steak. But I tried it and I loved it! Phil was saying that we should try to grill it at home sometime. I saw this recipe and thought we could give it a try. It came out awesome!. The only lobster tails we could find were pretty small so next time we will have to do our research to find a larger tail. But we had so much other food it did not matter. I have been seeing Mexican Street Corn on the Cacique commercials that have been playing over and over recently. So I found a recipe to make the street corn as well. Corn is not really in season yet so I cannot wait to try this one again when the corn is really good. And you can't have a Mexican fiesta without salsa and Margaritas! We made those homemade too! Hope you enjoy the recipes!

Mango Margaritas
Recipe adapted from Ree Drummond

1 tablespoon sugar
1 20 ounce jar mango chunks, drained
1/2 cup tequila
1/2 cup triple sec
Tall cup of ice

Mix all ingredients into a blender and mix well.

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Roasted Tomato Salsa
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

9 plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
1 large white onion, quartered
2 jalapenos
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon lime juice
Salt



Preheat grill to medium high heat.


Place onions, tomatoes and jalapeno on grill and grill over direct heat for 8-10 minutes and then flip over and grill another 8-10 minutes or until charred.

Let cool completely.

Blend vegetables, garlic, lime juice and salt in a blender.

Refrigerate until ready to serve (salsa gets better the longer it sits in the fridge).

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Grilled Baja Style Lobster Tails
Adapted from Cooking Light and Bobby Flay


Up to 6 lobster tails
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash of hot sauce
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Salt
Pepper

Preheat grill to high heat for direct grilling.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add lobster tails and boil 6 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile prepare butter sauce. Combine rind and next 7 seven ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix well. Gradually add butter and stir constantly.

Split each lobster tail lengthwise down the underside, making sure not to cut through the back shell.

Brush the flesh side of each lobster tail with oil, some of the butter sauce, salt and pepper.

Grill flesh side down for 3 minutes. Flip over and grill another 3 minutes.

Serve immediately.

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Mexican Street Corn
Adapted from Jam Hands 


4 large ears of corn, dehusked and desilked
Butter
Salt
Pepper
1/2 cup mexican crema
1 1/2 cups queso fresco, crumbled
4 teaspoons ancho chile powder





Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Brush corn with butter and season with salt and pepper.

Roast in oven for 20-25 minutes.

Brush with mexican crema.

Roll in queso fresco.

Season with ancho chili powder.

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This recipe is linked on: Foodie FridayShow and Tell SaturdayStrut Your Stuff Saturday,  Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons,  Rediscovering Lost Arts From Our Mothers Mix it Up MondaysMelt in your Mouth Mondays,  On the Menu Monday,  Show me Your Plaid Mondays, Mop It Up MondayMeal Time Monday

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Mardi Gras Gumbo

Happy belated Fat Tuesday! In honor of Mardi Gras I decided to make some gumbo. Last year I made gumbo from scratch and it took over two hours. I didn't feel like waiting until 9 o'clock to eat dinner tonight so I took a short cut. At a grocery chain around here called Meijer they had a roux starter in a jar. The roux is the part that takes the longest to develop the flavors when making gumbo. The starter I do not believe has the depth of flavor that making it from scratch does, but it works when you do not want to spend all day making it. It is a little strange because the roux in a jar is like a thick mud and hard to get out. But it will dissolve into the liquid so do not worry.

 I used the recipe that is on the back of the jar with a few deletions and additions. I use a Holy Duo and not the Holy Trinity of pepper, celery, onion....I take out the onion of course. This recipe makes a ton, as it calls for 3 quarts of water. I used one quart of chicken stock for a little more flavor, and the rest water. I also served the gumbo with a sweet potato because that is what some of our family friends that were from Louisiana served when they made us gumbo growing up.

Mardi Gras Gumbo
Adapted from Bootsies Cajun and Creole Roux

2 chicken breasts cut into 1 inch pieces
2 links andouille sausage, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 pound shrimp, peeled, and deveined
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 jar Bootsies Cajun and Creole Roux
2 ribs celery, diced
1 green pepper diced
1 tablespoon garlic
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 14oz can diced tomatoes
Cajun seasoning, to taste
4 cups chicken broth
8 cups water

Bring water and chicken broth to a boil in a large dutch oven.

In a skillet heat olive oil over medium heat and saute pepper, celery and garlic. Add roux and dissolve.

Once liquid is boiling add roux mixture. Add remaining ingredients besides shrimp and simmer for 1 hour.

The last 3 minutes add shrimp.

Serve over rice and with a sweet potato.

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This recipe is linked on: Wednesday ExtravaganzaWhat's Cooking WednesdayCast Party WednesdayWhimsy WednesdayFull Plate ThursdayLink it Up ThursdayThriving on ThursdaysTasty Thursdays








Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Gumbo


 Cookbook Recipe #19


Cajun food always smells and looks so good to me, but being a somewhat picky eater, a lot of the recipes call for things I am not a big fan of...like onions, seafood and used to be celery. I always had this thing that I was not going to like celery in things so I just never put it in anything. I decided to try putting it in this gumbo recipe and I actually really liked it. I think I have just had overcooked celery before and it seemed slimy and mushy to me. I am also not a seafood fan. I am recently starting to somewhat like shrimp. It definitely has to be in a sauce or have some sort of seasoning on it for me to even taste it. So since this was going to be in a sauce I decided to add the shrimp to the pot. Phil ate the shrimp for the most part. I did try one and it was pretty good. Still not sure if I want to eat a whole bowl of them though, ha! I am starting to become more willing to give the Cajun recipes a try and when I do, I always really enjoy them. 

This recipe was a really easy rendition of gumbo. Traditional gumbo takes hours to make where this only took about 45 minutes. The only changes I made in the recipe were that I used red bell pepper instead of green bell pepper, I used crushed tomatoes instead of stewed tomatoes and no onion of course! This recipe did not have the rich, deep flavor that traditional gumbo has, but it was still really good. Phil absolutely loved this one. It was a good fall comfort dish. 

Gumbo
Adapted from Favorite Brand Name Low-Carb Recipes


4 Skinless chicken thighs
4 Skinless chicken legs
2 cups, thawed, peeled and de-veined baby shrimp
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup thinly chopped celery
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 14.5oz crushed tomatoes
1 14.5oz chicken broth
1 red bell pepper, diced
Rice for serving

Combine flour and Cajun seasoning in a plastic bag. Add chicken a few pieces at a time and shake to coat. Reserve excess flour mixture. 

In a large saucepan heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken and brown on all sides. Remove and set aside. 

Saute celery and garlic for 5 minutes. Add reserved flour mixture and cook 1 more minute, stirring frequently. 

Add tomatoes, chicken broth, and bell pepper. Bring to a boil. Return chicken to saucepan and add shrimp. 

Cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes, or until chicken juices run clear, stirring occasionally. 

Serve over rice.