re: TD.com Recipes and Recipe Book Thread - 5th Version

River Parish Crawfish Bisque

This is a recipe for the stew based bisque popular in the Saint parishes along the Mississippi River, not the cream based soup.  You first stuff the crawfish heads then make a stew and add the stuffed crawfish heads to it to cook.  Don’t worry if you think the recipe is to large, its somewhat of long process to make and if you’re going to stuff 50 heads you just as soon do 100, it’s not that much more work once the mess is made.

Ingredients for Stuffing

1 cup of chopped yellow onion

2 lbs. crawfish tails

½ bundle green onions cut fine

¼ cup fresh parsley chopped fine

4 beaten eggs

2 cups unseasoned breadcrumbs

1 Tablespoon salt

1 Tablespoon red pepper

100 cleaned large crawfish heads

 

Method for Stuffing

Set up a meat grinder and run yellow onions through.  Combine onions with the crawfish tails and run it through the grinder again.  Mix the ground crawfish with the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl.  This is your stuffing.  After you’ve made it make a small patty and fry it a skillet with a little oil to make sure you have the seasoning the way you like it.  You do not want to stuff a bunch of heads only to realize they are too salty or under seasoned. If they are seasoned the way you like it move onto stuffing them.  To me no one way is better than another; I just dig in with my hand stuff and get to it.   Put stuffed heads on the side it’s time to make the stew base for the crawfish.

Ingredients for Stew

1 ½ cups cooking oil

1 ½ cups All Purpose Flour

3 small onions diced ¼” (about 3 cups)

3 sticks celery diced ¼”

1 med green bell pepper diced ¼”

4 toes of garlic chopped fine

1 1/2 lbs. crawfish tails

1 quart seafood stock or vegetable stock

½ bundle green onions

Seasoning to taste (Your Favorite Creole Seasoning Mix will work here)

Method for Crawfish Stew

In a large heavy pot (I like to use a Magnalite Roaster) you make a roux.  I add my oil to the pot let it get hot then whisk my flour in slowly, Once you have the oil and flour mixed together stir constantly over a med low heat till the roux becomes the color of a peanut butter.  At this point we add our onions, celery and bell pepper and cook till them till they are clear.  You may have to add a little stock or water to keep it from sticking.  When your onions are clear add the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Add your crawfish and cook it for 1-2 minutes stirring well.  When everything is mixed add stock or water.  You will want the consistency to be a little more watery than you like, the crawfish heads will thicken it up some.  When the stew returns to a simmer add your stuffed crawfish heads to the pot and simmer over a low fire for 30-45 minutes.  Serve over rice.  Typically we ate this with garlic bread, buttered corn, and potato salad.

 

 

Garlic, Basil, and Tomato Mayonnaise
Easy and delicious.

Ingredients

1 large egg
2 toes of garlic
5 grinds of black pepper
3 cherry tomatoes
1 cup olive oil
3 fresh basil leaves
1 t lemon juice

Method

In a micro food processor, add the egg, garlic and pepper. Beat it like a bad dog for 30 seconds or more. Stop and the tomatoes.

Then drizzle the oil in slowly with the motor running until all the oil is incorporated.

Lastly, add the basil and lemon juice. Run for 10 seconds. Very good.

A Large Recipe For Red Beans With Sausage (Posted on 11/2/14 at 4:27 pm)00
Ingredients

5 lbs of dry red beans
Water to cover plus 6 inches
5 onions, fine diced
8 stalks celery, fine diced
2 large bell peppers, fine diced
10 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup bacon fat
1/4 cup olive oil
1 heaping T each, dried thyme, oregano and basil
5 bay leaves
2 or so fresh minced peppers, cayenne or jalapeño
5 lbs smoked sausage, cut as you wish and roast in the oven at 375 for 40 minutes
4 smoked ham hocks
6 quarts plus 1 cup of water
2 to 3 cups green onions, minced
1/2 cup minced flat leaf parsley
Salt, black and red pepper to taste


Method

Soak the beans overnight . Then drain the water.

Sauté the vegetables in the bacon fat and olive oil over medium heat. Add the dry herbs after the onions are translucent. Add the garlic a few minutes later, and cut the fire after 4 minutes more.

Put the hocks in the 2nd batch of water(6 quarts plus a cup) , and the bay leaves. Bring to a boil and simmer 30 minutes. Add the beans and then the sautéed vegetables and seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Cook until the beans are tender, 1.5 to 2 hours.Season to taste with salt, black and red pepper. Add the cut, roasted sausage. Stir in the green onions and parsley. Mash a few cups of the beans onto the side of the pot to get the creamy texture. Simmer 15 more minutes. Adjust the seasonings to taste.

Looks like this makes 18+ quarts.

Darla's Shrimp Mold

2 lbs. boiled, seasoned shrimp, peeled,deveined & chopped (I use Zatarain's & salt)
3 3 oz pkgs of softened Philly
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 cup mayo
3/4 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
salt, pepper & Tabasco to taste

Heat softened Philly & soup in saucepan until there are no lumps.

Dissolve gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water.

Combine gel with soup & Philly mixture and blend well by hand.

Add remaining ingredients.

Pour into greased ring mold (I use mayo for this) and chill overnight.

*Shrimp, celery & green onions should be chopped by hand, not with food processor or blender. (Don't ask me why, this is my mother's recipe and she isn't here to ask!)

Baked Kibbe

Top and Bottom Layers:
1 1/2 cups fine bulgur wheat
1.3 pounds ground beef/lamb mix
1 1/2 cups roughly chopped yellow onions
3 teaspoons ground cumin
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
cayenne
allspice
ground coriander
ground cloves

Stuffing:
.7 pound ground beef/lamb
1 cup finely chopped yellow onions
green onions
packet of pine nuts, lightly toasted
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
cayenne

Stuffing: In a large skillet, cook the saute the onions in olive oil (with S&P) until well cooked. Put cooked onions in a bowl. Saute meat, stirring, over medium-high heat until browned, about 4 minutes. Add the spices and onions, and cook until tender, about 4 minutes. Add green onions at the end. Remove from the heat and add the pine nuts.

Outer Layers: Place the bulgur in a bowl and cover with water. Let sit for 30 minutes then drain in a strainer, pressing to extract the excess water.

Use food processor to blend onion, seasonings, and bulgur, about 30 seconds. Add meat and spices and process until smooth and pliable enough to work like a dough, adding a little ice water if needed.. Scrape down as needed. (May do better in two batches.)

Assemble: Butter 13 x 9 baking dish. Press half of outer layer mixture onto the bottom. Add stuffing and spread evenly. Top with other half of outer layer mix. Brush with olive oil. Score top layer in a diamond pattern.

Cook: Preheat oven to 400. Cook for about 35 minutes. Hit broiler for 5 minutes or so to brown it up. Let cool for about 15 minutes. Slice along score marks and serve.


Yogurt-Garlic Sauce:

1 cup strained plain yogurt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Few shakes of granulated garlic
1 teaspoon minced fresh mint leaves
lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
black pepper

Whisk the yogurt until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk to combine.