Simple shrimp étouffée

It is hard sometimes, when cooking on a Friday in Lent, not to go cajun. I mean, so much of their wonderful food revolves around the ocean or swamp (Oops, was that politically incorrect? I guess I was supposed to say ‘wetlands’. Screw it. The bayou is a swamp, and that’s what I’ll call it.) 

For seven years in a row, back in the 2000’s, my son and I would spend a week down on Bayou Corne, Louisiana. Just a few miles to the south is the town of Pierre Part, with one of my favorite restaurants, Landry’s Sea Food. We would dine on wonderful seafood filé gumbo, boiled crawfish, shrimp stew, crawfish étouffée, or turtle sauce picante. 

Great restaurant, great food, and wonderful people. That’s where I learned what cajun food is supposed to taste like, and ever since, I've been cooking some of their dishes at home. Not as good as their's, but still ok. Friday, I made a batch of this shrimp étouffée, and it brought back lots of memories.

Half a stick of butter

One third cup of olive oil

Three quarters cup of flour, give or take

1 medium bell pepper, chopped fine

1 large jalapeño, chopped fine

1 medium onion, chopped fine

2 stalks of celery, chopped fine

3 large cloves of garlic, chopped fine

1 lb. cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp

2 cups of water

1-1/2 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. ground cayenne

1o oz. can of RoTel tomatoes

Cajun seasoning

Preparation

Before you start, make sure you have everything chopped and ready to use. Place the shrimp in a skillet and add the water, and half of the thyme. Sprinkle it with some cajun seasoning. Bring it to a boil, simmer for one minute, and turn the heat off. Set aside. Note, the right way to make this is with fresh, uncooked shrimp. Since most shrimp sold up here in Illinois is frozen, this is what I did.

Now what intimidates most people, when cooking this dish, is the fact that you have to make a roux. This isn’t difficult, it just takes constant stirring and a little time. 

Heat a large cast iron fry pan, and add the oil, and melt the butter. Add the flour, and use a long handled whisk to stir. Start out on medium/high heat. Stir constantly so the flour doesn’t scorch. When the flour goes from white to tan, drop the heat down to medium. Keep stirring. When the flour takes on a caramel color, drop the heat down to low. Keep stirring until the roux has the color of dark coffee with cream. At that point add the chopped onion, peppers, celery and garlic. Keep stirring, and the roux will take on the color of milk chocolate. Add the remaining thyme and the cayenne. Dat good!

Add the can of RoTel tomatoes and keep stirring. You’ll see this get real thick. Strain the broth off the shrimp, and add that. Stir and simmer for a few minutes. Finally add the shrimp and simmer for another five minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning with a little more cajun seasoning, and you are ready to serve.

Serving

Place a mound of rice in the center of a dinner plate, and spoon the étouffée all around it. You also want to have a nice tossed salad, and an ice cold beer. I like a little Tabasco on the table, just because.

Tortilla lasagna

As I drove home from the office the other day, I was trying to think of something to make for dinner, which wouldn’t involve my going to the store. 

I had a little of this and a little of that, but the ‘this’ didn’t normally go with the ‘that’. I still had some leftover meat sauce from Saturday’s pasta dinner. I had some thinly sliced beef steaks I bought at the Mexican grocery, along with three thick flour tortillas. When I thought of it that way, I figured why not put them together. 

While this is an unusual combination, it came out tasting great. Here’s what I did.

1/2 lb. of thin sliced beef steaks, coarsely chopped

Olive oil

1 medium chile manzano, or a small bell pepper, chopped

1 large shallot, chopped

1 large clove of garlic, chopped

Adobo seasoning

2 cups of leftover pasta sauce

Maggi seasoning

Cooking spray

1 cup of shredded Italian Provolone

2 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese

3 thick flour tortillas

Preparation

Heat a large cast iron skillet, and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Add the chopped beef and spread it out. Let it sizzle until it loses most of its pink color. Sprinkle with some adobo seasoning and add the chopped peppers, shallots and garlic. Stir and let that continue to cook until the peppers have softened. 

Add the pasta sauce and stir. Bring that to a simmer and let it cook to reduce for about five minutes. Give it a few shakes of Maggi seasoning and stir. Let it simmer another minute, and turn off the heat.

Spray a medium cast iron pan with some cooking spray (Pam). Set a flour tortilla on the bottom of the pan, and cover it with the Provolone cheese. Spoon on a little of the sauce, and cover with another tortilla. Add about half a cup of the Mozzarella cheese, and then dump most of the sauce over it. Top with the last tortilla, all the remaining cheese and the rest of the sauce. 

Bake at 380º for about twenty minutes, until the cheese is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling. Let it cool for five minutes, and then set it on a serving plate.

Serving

I had my tortilla lasagna with a huge tossed salad, some homemade bread, and a bottle of Merlot. Don’t bother asking about the leftovers. They seem to have vanished.

Spinach lasagna with a rich meat sauce

Yesterday, I made another comfort food dinner. I made a spinach lasagna, and served it with meat sauce. I got the idea from a good Italian restaurant up in Marquette, Michigan, Casa Calabria. Among the many things they serve, is a good lasagna, smothered in meat sauce. I’ve ordered that a few times up there. 

I don’t know why the idea never occurred to me before that.  Take a good lasagna, and smother it with a good meat sauce, and, well, it’s even better. Here’s how I made this.

Lasagna sauce

1/4 cup  of extra virgin olive oil

2 large cloves of garlic, smashed and minced

2 dried red hot peppers, chopped

28 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes

1 tsp. fresh oregano leaves

Spinach

1-1/4 lb. fresh spinach, rinsed

Olive oil

1 clove of garlic, smashed and minced

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Lasagna

Uncooked lasagna noodles

1 lb. whole milk ricotta

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

2-1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup shredded basil leaves

1/2 cup of red wine

Meat sauce

1/4 cup olive oil

2/3 lb. loose Italian sausage

3 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced

1/4 cup of red wine

28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes

3/4 cup of torn basil leaves

1/2 cup of chopped flat leaf parsley

Shredded Italian Provolone cheese

Preparation

For the sauce inside the lasagna, heat a large sauce pan, add a quarter cup of olive oil, and then add the garlic and red pepper. Let that sizzle, on and off the heat, so the garlic just starts to turn golden, but doesn’t brown. Break up the tomatoes with your hand, and pour them into the pan. Bring to a gentle simmer, and add the oregano leaves. Simmer for five minutes and turn off the heat.

Next, the spinach. Heat a very large cast iron pan until hot. Add enough olive oil to coat the bottom, and then add the garlic. Let that just begin to sizzle. and then add the spinach and a pinch of salt. It will almost not all fit in the pan. Carefully stir the spinach, from the outside, in, until it is all wilted. Turn off the heat, and sprinkle with the grated Parmesan.

Assemble the lasagna, by adding a thin layer of the lasagna sauce to the bottom of a clay baking pan, and then add a double layer of uncooked lasagna noodles. Spread the sautéed spinach on the noodles, and then top with another layer of lasagna noodles. Add the shredded Cheddar cheese, and then add the ricotta. Add another layer of lasagna noodles. Spoon most of the lasagna sauce over that. Add the shredded basil leaves and then add the shredded Mozzarella cheese. Pour the red wine over the lasagna, and top with the remaining lasagna sauce. Bake at 380º for almost an hour, until the cheese is browned, and the lasagna is bubbling.

While that is baking, start on the meat sauce. Heat a large sauce pan and add the olive oil. Crumble in the Italian sausage and start that browning. Add in the garlic and stir. When the sausage is nicely browned, add the red wine, let it reduce, and then add the crushed tomatoes. Bring that to a simmer, add in the basil and parsley, and let that just barely simmer, uncovered, for about fifteen minutes.

Serving

I had friends over for dinner on Saturday. We had heaping mounds of lasagna, smothered in the meat sauce and topped with shredded Provolone, along with Italian sausage, a tossed salad, and homemade Parmesan white pepper bread. Chianti was the wine of choice, and dinner was a big hit.

Chicken sautéed with key limes

I have a bunch of chicken in the fridge, which was on sale Sunday. The other night I decided to do something with two chicken thighs. I remembered I had a bunch of key limes, I figured I’d go that route.

The key to cooking this is to have an oven proof skillet, no bigger than what will just fit the chicken, and then have a lid to go over it. That will allow the chicken to steam as well as sauté, which will cook it faster. You could skip the oven and just do this on the stove, but I used the oven time to fix my dogs' dinners. I also used the oven to reheat some homemade bread. Here’s how I prepared the chicken.

2 bone in chicken thighs

Olive oil

Cajun seasoning

8 key limes

Soy sauce

Preparation

This one’s pretty easy. Season the chicken on both sides with a generous amount of cajun seasoning. Heat a small oven proof skillet and then add a generous coating of olive oil. Add the chicken thighs, skin side up, and cover the skillet. Let that sauté over medium heat for about five minutes. Preheat the oven to 360º.

Turn the chicken over, and squeeze the juice of four key limes over the chicken. Cover and let that side cook for about five minutes. Turn the chicken over again. Squeeze on the juice of two more key limes, and drizzle soy sauce over the chicken. Cover and place the skillet in the oven for about ten minutes.

By now, the chicken should be cooked through. If you aren’t sure, turn it over, drizzle a little more soy sauce over it, cover it, and finish it for five minutes on the stove. You want the chicken cooked through, but still very moist inside.

Serving

Place the remaining two key limes, quartered, on the dinner table. I served my chicken next to a big pile of green peas, steamed and then bathed in extra good olive oil. I also served a big bowl of minestrone soup, a big crisp salad, warm homemade bread and olive oil for dipping. I opened a light bodied Spanish Crianza wine to go with dinner.

Braised goat in tomato sauce

I went to the store over the weekend, originally for a pot roast. I wanted to do some braising. When I reached the meat counter, I saw they had some bone-in goat stew meat, and that quickly became my selection. 

This is one of my favorite cooking methods. I’ve made this kind of a braised meat pasta sauce with everything from beef, pork, lamb, rabbit and even duck. This is the first time I’ve tried it with goat.

For those who haven’t tried goat, it is kind of half way between beef and lamb in flavor. I find it a little milder than lamb, but more robust in flavor than beef. 

When I started cooking, I intended to make a goat stew, but as I smelled the aroma of the meat as it was roasting in the oven, I decided to go the tomato route. I was very pleased with how this all day recipe turned out. Here’s what I did.

3-1/2 lb. of bone-in goat stew meat

Cooking spray

Cajun seasoning

Smoked paprika

Garlic powder

White pepper

1 leek, white and pale green parts, chopped and washed

2 stalks of celery, chopped

8 large cloves of garlic, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1 tsp. thyme

1 bottle of red wine

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. Louisiana Hot Sauce

1 tbs. Turkish red pepper paste

28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes

Preparation

This is a very easy recipe to make, but it will take most of the day. Spray an enamel coated cast iron dutch oven with some of that cooking spray, like Pam. Add all the goat stew meat. Sprinkle it generously with cajun seasoning, smoked paprika and garlic powder. Grind on some white pepper, and roast at 380º for at least an hour and a half. Stir a couple of times while it is roasting.

Note, for the leek, chop the white and pale green parts, set them in a colander and rinse them real well. Mud and grit don’t taste good. Add the chopped leek, celery, garlic and onion to the roasted goat. Sprinkle on the thyme, and pour on a whole bottle of red wine. Stir to mix everything. Cover the dutch oven, and place it back in the oven, at 300º, for at least two hours. Check at the one hour mark, and if necessary add more wine.

By now, much of the wine will be reduced. Add the crushed tomatoes, and rinse the can with a spec more red wine, and add that. Stir well, and add the bay leaf, the Louisiana Hot Sauce, and the Turkish red pepper paste. Cover and return to the oven for at least another hour.

Stir the sauce. By now, some of the meat should be almost falling off the bone. Taste the sauce and adjust for salt and pepper. Mine didn’t need anything. Cover and let the sauce rest while you cook some pasta, and put the bread in the oven.

Serving

I served this braised meat sauce over linguine. Have lots of napkins, because you’ll want to pick the bones up and eat the meat off the bone. I also had fresh homemade bread and a good olive oil to dip into, as well as a bowl of olives. I poured a light bodied Cab. and dinner was perfect. The sauce had a great flavor, and all I added was a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

All day minestrone

Yesterday, while I was just finishing up the animal pictures on my newsletter, my furnace started acting up. Actually, it has been acting up for a few days now. It would start up, with the exhaust fan, but the burner wouldn’t light. Then it would time-out, and shut down. If I cut the power to the furnace, and then turn it back on, it would work. 

Well, yesterday morning that happened, and I went to shut the power and restart it. As I did, I noticed my water heater was leaking, the drip pan was full and it was beginning to run on to my hardwood floor. 

There was a sticker on it for a local service company, with 24 hour service, which I called. He said he’d be out around noon. He replaced my water heater, hauled the old one away, and then cleaned and fixed what he thought was causing my furnace problem. A few hours, and twelve hundred bucks later, I was back in business. It was just luck I found the problem, before it ruined my hardwood floor. Here is the soup I made while all of that was going on.

1 large bone from a roast leg of lamb

Lots of water

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 cup of onion flakes

4 bay leaves

3 stalks of celery, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 Italian sausages, chopped

1/2 cup of chopped smoked sausage

16 oz. can of Blue Runner Creole Cream Style Red Beans

6 oz. can of tomato paste

2 cups of fresh baby spinach

1/2 cup of barley

3 oz. piece of the rind from Parmigiano-Reggiano

2/3 cup of broken spaghetti

Adobo seasoning

Maggi Seasoning

Worcestershire sauce

Preparation

First step is to make a stock. Place the big lamb bone in a stock pot, and cover with lots of water. Add the garlic powder and onion flakes, as well as three of the bay leaves. Bring that to a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer for two hours. 

Strain the stock into a large soup pot. My stock came almost to the top of the soup pot, so I let that simmer uncovered, for a couple of hours to concentrate the stock and reduce the volume, so my other ingredients can fit. 

Add the onion, celery, and chopped sausages. Next add the Blue Runner beans and the tomato paste. Stir to dissolve and blend everything together. Let that continue to simmer, stirring often, uncovered, for a couple of hours.

Add the baby spinach, the Parmigiano-Reggiano rind, and the barley. Stir and continue to simmer uncovered, for at least another hour. By now, the soup should be getting thicker. Stir in the spaghetti pieces, and let it simmer for another half hour. Stir often. Splash on several shakes of Maggi Seasoning and Worcestershire sauce. Taste and adjust the salt with adobo seasoning, and you are ready to serve.

Serving

Last night a couple of loyal readers came for dinner, and we had this hearty minestrone along with broiled chicken and asparagus. We also had warm homemade bread, fresh from the oven and a chilled bottle of a California Viognier. All in all, it was a nice meal, after an eventful, expensive day.