Huevos Rancheros

2  tsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
2 red peppers, deseeded and finely sliced
2 fresh hot chili peppers of your choice, deseeded and finely sliced
1 large dried chili
3 bay leaves
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2  10 oz cans of chopped tomatoes
2 large tomatoes, sliced
6 large eggs
6 tortillas
3/4 Cup grated cheese of your choice. I like a Mexican blend

Get a large lidded frying pan on a high heat and add olive oil. Add the onion, garlic, peppers, fresh and dried chili's, bay leaves and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Stir and cook for 15 minutes to soften and caramelize the veggies. Add your canned  tomatoes and use a  potato masher to break them up a bit. Bring to the boil, then turn down to a medium heat and cook for a further 5 minutes so the sauce starts to reduce down.

When you've got a nice thick tomato stew consistency, have a taste and add a pinch more salt and pepper if you think it needs it. Remove the bay leaves and lay your sliced tomatoes over the top of the mixture, then use a spoon to make small wells in the tomato stew, and crack in your eggs so they poach in the thick sauce. Add them in as quickly as you can so they all get to cook for roughly the same amount of time. Salt and pepper each egg and put the lid on and let the eggs cook for around 3 to 4 minutes. Warm your tortillas while this is happening. You can pop them into the oven at 350 for a few minutes, microwave them for a few seconds or even lay them over the lid of the pan so they heat up as the eggs cook.

Take the lid off and check your eggs by giving them a poke with your finger. When they're done to your liking, turn the heat off and take the pan to the table with your warmed tortillas. Place a tortilla on your plate top with an egg and plenty of sauce and add some grated cheese on top, roll up and enjoy.

Crock Pot Fajitas

1 1/2 pounds beef flank steak

1 large onion, quartered and sliced

1 sweet bell pepper, cut into thin slices

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped tomatoes

12 flour tortillas

Optional Toppings:

Sour cream, guacamole, shredded Mexican blend cheese, chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce, salsa, sliced black olives, etc.

Cut flank steak into 6 portions. Combine meat, onion, bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, cilantro, garlic, chili powder, ground cumin, ground coriander and salt in slow cooker. Add tomatoes; cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 9 hours.

Remove beef from slow cooker and slice into bite size pieces. 

Return meat to slow cooker. Stir. For the fajitas, spread meat mixture onto warm flour tortillas and add your favorite toppings.

Crawfish Dressing

1 large 12" skillet of crumbled cornbread

4 slices bacon chopped, rendered and drained on a paper towel

1⁄2 pound Conecuh Cajun smoked sausage , diced and removed from casing

1 medium onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 pounds peeled crawfish tails in fat, chopped

2 green onions tops, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper,seeded and chopped

2 sprigs fresh thyme

6 leaves fresh sage chopped

2 tablespoons cajun seasoning

2 cups chicken stock

1 8 ounce bottle clam juice

1⁄2 cup heavy cream + 1 cap full of Zatarain's liquid crab boil (stir well)

4 eggs, lightly beaten

salt and freshly ground black pepper

    Mix cornbread eggs and all liquid ingredients in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

    Brown sausage in a large skillet that you rendered bacon in over medium-high heat, add the onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the crawfish and chopped sage cook for 2 minutes. Transfer the mixture to the large mixing bowl of soaking cornbread

    Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and stir together until well combined. Spoon the dressing into a large greased casserole.

    Bake the dressing in a preheated 350-degree oven until it is firm and golden brown, 15 to 30 minutes. Tooth pick will come out clean like when you check a cake.

Kung Pao Crawfish

Ingredients:

1 pound crawfish tails in fat.

1 green bell pepper thin sliced

2 green onions chopped

2 stalks celery, veined and cut in half, then thin sliced.

1 tbs graded ginger

1/2 cup roasted peanuts

2 small dried red hot peppers

1 pinch red pepper flakes or to your taste.

For the season sauce:

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp rice or any white wine

1 tbsp light brown sugar

1 tbsp corn starch

1/2 tsp Sesame oil

1 tsp White vinegar

Marinate:

1 1/2 tbsp corn starch

1 tbsp soy sauce

Directions:

Mix the craw fish with corn starch and soy sauce and marinate for 1/2 hour.

Mix the seasoning sauce and set aside.

Heat a little oil in a wok and stir fry the crawfish until it is light brown, remove and set aside.

Heat a little oil in a wok, stir fry the veggies until they are slightly tender.

Add the fresh ginger and stir fry for about 10 seconds, stirring constantly.

Add the seasoning sauce, stirring until thick.

Add the crawfish, stir until thoroughly heated.

Add hot peppers and flakes cook for 1 minute.

Turn off the heat, add peanuts, mix well and serve over white steamed rice.

New years Hangover shrimp

This is the way that I prepare shrimp for shrimp cocktails on New Year’s Eve. The cooking liquid is strained and reserved in a pitcher as a morning after kick. Two batches give you a lot of shrimp and a good spicy Bloody Mary mix.

 1 32oz. can of Spicy hot V-8 juice

1 can favorite beer

3 to 6 jalapeno peppers split in half (you can substitute habaneros)

1 large onion chopped

3 stalks celery chopped

1 tsp. salt 

2 cloves garlic, chopped

3 lbs. shrimp, peeled and deveined

Place all ingredients, except shrimp, in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add shrimp and remove from heat. Let stand about 20 minutes. Strain and reserve cooking liquid and chill shrimp. I do red and white shrimp cocktails. One with standard cocktail sauce and one with a dill sauce.

Collard Kim Chee

5 cups collards, stemmed and cut into bite-size pieces

6 Tbs salt

2 Tbs candied ginger

2 dried red peppers (according to taste)

1 clove garlic, peeled

4 green onions, remove roots and split lengthwise

1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbs cider vinegar

In a large Bowl, mix collards and onions with 5 Tbs salt cover with a towel and Let sit overnight.

Remove the greens and gently rise and discard the liquid in the bowl. return rinsed greens to the bowl.

In a processor add the ginger, peppers and garlic . pulse until mixed well and kinda pasty. Place over the greens along with the Worcestershire sauce vinegar and remaining salt massage it in well. Place into a quart jar with a loose fitting lid. Let stand in fridge for two weeks adding some water if needed after a few days.