Rockefeller Salad

3 eggs
1 10 oz package of Mr. Pete’s Seasoned Cajun Oyster Fry
20 oysters, shucked
1 pound baby spinach
1/2 pound mixed greens
8 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled

For Vinaigrette
2 egg yokes
1/4 cup blue cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon chives, chopped
1 teaspoon parsley, chopped
black pepper, to taste

Separate two of the egg yokes from the whites.

In a food processor or steel bowl and whisk, beat the egg yokes, 1/4 cup of the blue cheese and Dijon. Slowly emulsify the oil into the egg mixture. When it begins to look creamy, add the lemon juice, vinegar, buttermilk, pepper, and herbs. Set aside.

Whip the egg whites in a bowl. Dip the oysters in the egg whites, then into the seasoned flour mixture.

Deep fry in oil at 375ºF for about 1-2 minutes or until crispy.

Toss the mixed greens and spinach with the vinaigrette. Top with the fried oysters, bacon, and Parmesan cheese.

Chicken and Shrimp Gumbo

 2 tablespoons butter
 2 cloves garlic
 2 cups chopped onion
 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
 1/2 cup chopped celery
 1 pound okra, chopped
 1/4 cup vegetable oil
 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
 1 pound chicken thighs
 1 pound andouille sausage links
 2 cups water
 6 cups chicken broth
 2 pounds fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
 1 sprig fresh thyme
 3 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
 1/2 teaspoon salt
 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
 1/2 teaspoon file powder (optional)

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, bell pepper, celery and okra; cook and stir until vegetables are tender and just browned. Remove from the skillet, and set aside.

Brown the sausage in the skillet over medium heat. Remove from the pan to drain on paper towels. Drain the sausage fat from the skillet, and pour in the vegetable oil to heat. Place the chicken in the skillet, and cook for about 20 minutes, turning frequently. Remove chicken from the pan, and place on paper towels to drain, leaving the oil in the pan.

Reduce the heat to low, and stir in the flour. Cook, stirring constantly, until the roux reaches a deep brown color. This should take about 30 minutes.
Stir 2 cups of water into the roux, and add the onion, garlic and peppers. Set the heat to medium, and bring to a boil. Stir in the chicken broth, and simmer over low heat. Cut the chicken into cubes, and add to the broth along with the sausage. Simmer for about 1 hour.

Add the shrimp to the gumbo, and season with thyme, parsley, salt, cayenne pepper, and hot pepper sauce. Cook for another 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, and stir in the file powder.

Serve with rice

Smokey Duck Gumbo

3 smoked ducks

8 quarts water

2 large onions quartered

4 stalks celery quartered

3 bay leaves

3 cloves garlic diced

1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Boil ducks in a large pot along with all ingredients above. Simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 hours until flavor is achieved. Remove ducks and de-bone. Chill the stock and reserve.

1 1/4cups flour

1 cup oil

2 cups sliced Andouille Sausage

2 cups chopped onions

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped green pepper

5 cloves garlic minced

1 bunch chopped parsley

4 quarts duck stock

1/2 cup favorite red wine

Salt, black pepper to taste

1 teaspoon red pepper

1/2 teaspoon oregano

2 tablespoons Tabasco

In a large heavy pot make a dark roux with oil and flour . Add all vegetables and cook for 10 minutes until tender. Add stock, wine and seasonings then simmer for 30 minutes.

Add duck and sausage, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer on low for 1 hour. Taste for seasoning and simmer for 30 more minutes.

Serve over rice and sprinkle with Chives. I also serve a side of fried orka and crusty bread.

My Crawfish Etouffee

1 stick butter

1/2 cup flour

1 lb. crawfish tails with fat

2 Slices bacon chopped

1/4 link Cajun sausage chopped fine

1 medium white onion, chopped

3/4 cup bell pepper, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup celery, chopped

1 1/2 cups clam juice or stock made from shrimp heads and shells

1/2 cup cream

1 TBSP Lemon Juice

the green ends of 4 green onions, chopped

1 TBSP chopped parsely

1 TBSP Tabasco pepper sauce

Salt, white pepper and Creole or Cajun seasoning

Render copped bacon and sausage in a heavy Dutch Oven on medium until crispy. Remove on to a towel and add celery, bell peppers and onions and cook on low until tender. Remove Trinity and reserve in a bowl. Melt the butter on medium low in the Dutch oven and add flour and stir slowly until the flour reaches a reddish brown color. ( Think of the color of a penny)

Add garlic and the reserved Trinity and stir on low for one minute. Add the clam juice or stock and and turn the heat up to medium high and stay with it stirring until it comes to a slow bubbling boil. ( you will not know for sure how thick your roux will make the dish unless you follow this step.) Turn down the heat to low simmer.

At this point it is time to check thickness and season. If it is to thick just add a little water or clam juice/stock if you have any extra. Once you are satisfied with thickness, add the Tabasco pepper sauce and reserved bacon, sausage and crawfish stir for a minute or so. Taste at this point and add salt, pepper and seasoning spice small amounts at a time until you are satisfied with the flavors.

Add lemon juice, cream and half the green onions and stir on low for 3 minutes. re-taste for seasoning. turn off heat, cover and let the flavors marry for about five minutes.

While this is happening, I get out the bowls, slice some French bread and place under the broiler and find my Ice cream scoop and ladle. Buy time I find the scoop and ladle it's time to check the toast!

I place a heaping scoop of rice in the center of the bowls and ladle the Etouffee over the top. Since Etouffee means smothered or covered, be generous! Garnish with remaining green onions and parsley and serve with the toasted French bread.

For a Creole twist to the above recipe. I render the bacon and sausage in a separate skillet. When I add the Trinity to the drippings, I add a heaping Tbsp of tomato paste to it as well. I just add the garlic and Juice/Stock to this and stir well and add to the roux to thicken. The finished dish calls for a side of fried okra!

Deviled Crab

On the Gulf Coast, the crabs are not very large. I always added a dozen to shrimp or crawfish boils to make stuffed or deviled crab.

4 tablespoons butter + 12 pats

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons minced celery

2 tablespoons minced bell pepper

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon cajun spice

1 teaspoon sage

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves

Pinch cayenne

1 bay leaf

12 boiled crabs, meat removed and top shell cleaned and reserved

2 tablespoons minced parsley leaves

1/4 cup minced green onions

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Pinch ground black pepper

A dash or two of Tabasco or Crystal hot sauce, to taste

1/2 loaf stale French bread, cubed (about 3 cups)

1/2 fine dried bread crumbs, + about 2 tablespoons or so for topping shopping list

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 cups of the liquid used to boil crabs, strained

Preheat oven to 375

Add the 2 cups of liquid to the french bread to soak

In a large skillet heat the butter and, when it begins to foam, add the onion, celery, and bell pepper. Cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, cajun spice, thyme, cayenne and bay leaf and cook for 1 minute. remove bay leaf and add to soaked bread and stir well

gently fold in the crab meat, parsley, green onions, egg, salt, cayenne, sage and black pepper, 1/2 cup of the bread crumbs, and the heavy cream into the soaked bread and veggies. Stir well to combine. Transfer the crab meat mixture to the cleaned crab shells and sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon of the remaining bread crumbs. Top each crab shell with a pat of butter and bake until golden brown and thoroughly heated, about 20 minutes. Serve Warm

Stuffed Alligator Pears

Alligator Pears, also known as Miritons or Chayote squash are great for stuffing.

4 mirlitons

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/2 cup Trinity finely chopped (onion, bell pepper, celery)

1/2 pound shrimp, shelled, deveined and chopped

1/2 pound claw crab meat

1 bunch scallions, thinly diced

1/2 cup seasoned dried bread crumbs

4 slices precooked bacon chopped.

salt and pepper

cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Halve mirlitons lengthwise. Cook them until just tender, 15 to 20 minutes, in a large pot of boiling salted water. Remove seed and discard. Carefully scoop out the flesh with a spoon, preserving the shell. Coarsely chop the flesh.

Measure out and melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. Set aside.

In a large skillet, melt remaining butter. Add Trinty and cook until translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. Add mirliton and toss to coat. Stir in shrimp and cook until just pink, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in crab meat, scallions, 1/4cup of the bread crumbs and the Bacon. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Place the shells on a baking sheet and fill with the stuffing. Sprinkle with the remaining bread crumbs and drizzle with reserved butter and shake a small amount of Cayenne on each for taste and presentation . Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until heated through.

BREAD DUNKING GARLIC SHRIMP

2 dozen shrimp peeled and cleaned, tail on.

1/2 tsp. cayenne

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic shopping list

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

1/4 cup cream

1/4 lb. unsalted butter

1 tsp. Worcesterhsire

1/2 c. shrimp stock (or vegetable stock)

1/4 c. Shock top or other citrus infused beer, room temperature

Rinse shrimp in cold water; drain. Combine stick of butter, Worcestershire, garlic, and seasonings in skillet. When butter is melted, add shrimp. Cook 2 minutes, shake pan instead of stirring. (Do not over cook.) Add cream and stock. Cook for 2 minutes, shake pan. Add beer, cook 1 minute. Serve in bowls with shrimp around the edge like a cocktail. Divide the cooking liquid evenly and serve with lots of Buttered and Toasted French bread for dunking. This recipe is a starter for 4 people.

Easy Spicy Shrimp

This is a recipe that I had to improvise for a New Year’s Eve party. I did not have enough V8 for the hangover shrimp. But this seemed to be a hit.

2 small cans spicy hot V8

2 pounds cleaned and deveined shrimp (tail on)

1/2 stick butter

1/2 cup cream

2 tablespoons Tony Chachere's instant roux mix

1 tablespoon pepper jelly

1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning.

Juice of one lemon

Marinate the shrimp in the V8 for at least an hour.

Melt the butter in a skillet and add the shrimp with the marinate.

While the shrimp are cooking, mix the instant roux mix with the cream and mix well to dissolve. When shrimp are almost completely pink, add the cream and roux mix along with the pepper jelly, seasoning and lemon juice.

Cook on medium until shrimp are just pink.

Remove shrimp from sauce and plate.

Pour sauce in a bowl for dipping and serve with some toasted French Bread

Fried Green Tomatoes With Crabmeat Remoulade

Remoulade:
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
2 teaspoons creole mustard
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped onions
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions (green part only)
salt, freshly ground black pepper, and hot sauce, to taste
1 pound lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage


Fried Green Tomatoes:
2 pounds green tomatoes, trimmed and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3/4 cup vegetable oil for deep-frying
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups baby salad greens


• Directions for Remoulade:
• Combine the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, onions, parsley, and green onions in a bowl and stir to blend. Season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Add the crabmeat and gently toss to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate.


• Directions for Green Tomatoes:
• Season the tomato slices with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Put the flour in a shallow bowl and the cornmeal in another shallow bowl. Combine the buttermilk and eggs in another bowl. Dredge the tomatoes first in the flour, coating evenly on both sides, and shaking off any excess flour.
• Then dip them in the egg and buttermilk mixture, coating evenly. Then dredge them in the cornmeal, coating evenly and shaking off any excess cornmeal. Add the tomatoes, 3 or 4 at a time, to the hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side.
• Drain on rack or paper towels and repeat with the remaining tomatoes. 




To assemble, arrange equal amounts of the greens in the center of 6 salad plates. Top with fried green tomatoes slices and top with the Remoulade. Serve immediately.

Fried Gator

After you find some Gator in you local store. Set it out to defrost at room temp. Now it is time to get out your meat mallet or a even an empty food can filled half way with BB's. I keep one of these on hand as it make for a good dead blow. Just put a plastic lid on the open end. Take the gator meat and season with salt and pepper and pound it out. Give each side seasoning and at least 7 blows. this is a rule of thumb!!

2 pounds of gator tail cut into 1" cubes

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 can of Shock Top beer

Few shakes of hot sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Dash of garlic salt

Dash of favorite Cajun or Creole seasoning

2 cups self-rising flour

Oil for deep frying

Marinate the cubed and pounded gator meat in a mixture of buttermilk, hot sauce and beer for at least one hour or even better overnight in the refrigerator, Drain well. Coat with seasoned flour,(mix the seasoning into the flour) and fry in deep fat fryer or Iron skillet over medium heat for 3-5 minutes on each side. Drain and serve with your favorite tarter or cocktail sauce.

Andouille Rice Cakes

3 1/4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup chopped bell peppers

1 rib celery, chopped

4 ounces Andouille or other spicy sausage chopped

2 cups chicken or seafood stock

2 teaspoons salt

Hot sauce to taste

1 1/4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups cooked long-grain brown rice

2 tablespoons chopped green onions shopping list

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Seasoned flour or bread crumbs for dredging

Vegetable oil for frying

Heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, bell peppers and celery and cook, stirring, until they are soft, about 5 minutes.

Add the andouille and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The mixture will become brown. Add the chicken stock, salt and hot sauce and bring to a boil.

In a small skillet, combine the remaining 1¼ tablespoons of vegetable oil and the unseasoned flour over medium heat and make a blond roux. Add this roux to the andouille mixture and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring until the mixture thickens.

Remove from heat. Cool, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes. Once the mixture has cooled down, add the rice, green onions and parsley. Mix well.

Cover and refrigerate until the mixture has cooled completely. Form the rice mixture into 2-inch patties (about l4 patties). Lightly dredge or sprinkle lightly with the crumbs or seasoned flour.

In a nonstick skillet, heat 2 to 3 tablespoons of the vegetable oil over medium-high heat and pan-fry 2 to 3 patties at a time, for several minutes on each side until lightly browned. Repeat the process until all of the patties are cooked.

Cajun BBQ Shrimp

4 slices bacon chopped

2 lbs butter, and 1lb margarine + 1/4 stick margarine

1/4 cup fine chopped trinity

2 T Dijon mustard

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

6 oz of a good Ale.(I use Lazy Magnolia Pecan Ale)

1 tablespoon  Angle dust. ( See Comment)

1/4 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. oregano

2  cloves, roasted garlic crushed

1 cup shrimp boil, I always pour an ice tray full and cover with plastic wrap. (let melt at room temp)

1/2 tsp. Tabasco sauce

36-40  large uncooked, unpeeled shrimp, head on

1 tablespoon plain flour

Heavy cream.

Preheat oven to 375.

Place the shrimp in a large bowl and sprinkle with the Angle dust, toss well and set aside.

Render the bacon in a Dutch oven, add the margarine, trinity and crushed garlic. Cook on medium for 1-2 minutes.

Add the Worcestershire sauce, Ale and Tabasco sauce, Basil, Black pepper and oregano and Mustard. Cook on medium for about 3 minutes. Add the Butter and shrimp and toss well until butter is melted and shrimp are well coated. Place into the preheated oven and cook 15-20 minutes. 

In an Iron skillet melt the 1/4 stick of margarine add the Flour and make a roux. Add just enough of the shrimp boil to make a gravy that is on the thick side. Remove from heat.

When the shrimp are done, add a couple of teaspoons of the thick gravy to the pot and stir well. Take a ladle or two of the juices in the pot and add to the thick gravy until it is just smooth. 

Place a good serving of the shrimp in a bowl and plenty of the sauce. I serve this with toasted French bread and a side of fried green tomatoes or crab cakes topped with the gravy.

Creamy Shrimp and Leek soup

1 1/2 lbs. sm. shrimp, peeled and veined

1 bunch leeks, cleaned & sliced

1 stick butter

2 cans chicken broth or one container of chicken stock

1 3/4 cups water

1 tbsp. chopped garlic

5 inner celery stalks, chopped

2 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 tbsp. Cajun spice

1 tsp. marjoram

4 oz. sherry

2 tbsp. flour

8 oz. whipping cream

4 oz. Tasso ham (or a good smoked ham)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. white pepper

In large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Sauté leeks, garlic and celery for 5 minutes. Add flour and stir to coat vegetables. Cook 2 minutes. Add chicken broth a little at a time so that the flour and broth blends well and does not lump. Add parsley, Cajun spice, marjoram, sherry, salt and pepper and cook on medium for 15 minutes. Add Tasso and cook for 30 minutes on low-medium heat. Add shrimp and cook 15 minutes. Stir in warm whipping cream which has been warmed on low for 5 minutes or in a microwave for 1 1/2 minutes and continue to cook 5 minutes.

Serve with Toasted French bread or in a bread bowl.