Recipe of the Month: Butter Beans and Shrimp

I saw this recipe pop up on Facebook and thought it looked like some real "comfort food"!  It was at a really cool site, boudreauxsrbackyard.com  I cooked it, it was outstanding!

Butter Beans and Shrimp

Ingredients:

2   tbsp oil

2   tbsp flour

1    lb large lima beans, cleaned and soaked (I used frozen, follow directions)

2    lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (save tails to make shrimp stock)

1    onion, chopped

2    stalks celery, chopped

4    cloves garlic

2    chilis (optional)(you won't taste 'em cooked), chopped

2     quarts of water (make shrimp stock out of tails)

1     cup cream

2    tbsp vegetable base

1/2   bunch of green onions, chopped

1    tbsp parsley, chopped

2    tbsp shrimp dust (I tried three stores and couldn't find this, hence the shrimp stock)

2    tbsp Creole seasoning (there was enough salt in my seasoning that I didn't need to add any)

      White Rice

      Sausage

Directions:

1.   Wash beans and soak them overnight

2.   Heat oil over med. heat and whisk flour, cook until light brown in color

3.   Add in trinity, garlic, chili's, stir and cook until soft

4.    Add in beans and water (shrimp stock)

5.   Stir in Creole seasonings, vegetable base and shrimp powder

6.   Simmer for 3-4 hours until beans are tinder. Add liquid as needed( I cooked the frozen beans          for about 30 minutes. The package called for about 25)

7.   Add in heavy cream and simmer 20 minutes

      It was about along here that I cooked my rice

8.   Add in shrimp, green onions and parsley and cook 15 more minutes

      It was about here that I cooked the sausage

9.    Serve over rice with a side of sausage

Recipe of the Month: Cast Iron Blueberry-Peach Cobbler

 From the Southern Cast Iron Magazine, Summer 2016, Hoffman Media

 6-8 Cups fresh peaches, peeled and sliced (about 8 medium peaches)

1 1/2 Cups fresh blueberries

1/4 Cup bourbon

2/3 Cup + 1 tsp sugar, divided (1/3cup, 1/3 cup, 1 tsp)

2 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cubed

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Vanilla Ice Cream, to serve

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a medium bowl, combine peaches, blueberries, bourbon, 1/3 Cup sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon.

In another bowl, whisk together flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in cold butter with forks until mixture is crumbly. Add cream, stirring gently just until dough forms. 

Spoon fruit mixture into 10” cast iron skillet; top with crumbled dough. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp sugar.

Bake until top is golden brown and filling is bubbly, about 45 minutes. Serve with ice cream.

Recipe of the Month: Mahi Mahi and Shrimp Tacos

 I've fished with Chef Anthony Alejandro a few times and when he let me know he was coming back to the island for the Pentanque tournament in November, I asked him if he had any recipe's he could share, and he sent me this: See more of Chef Anthony's fine food HERE

Fish Prep

8 oz Mahi Mahi (I do all "backwater" so I used some fresh Redfish)                                                     8 oz Shrimp, peeled and deveined (16-20 shrimp)                                                                                  1 Tbs dehydrated pineapple juice powder (I checked two South American grocery stores here in             town for this and they didn't have it. Chef Anthony advised to substitute 2oz pineapple juice)         1 tsp Salt                                                                                                                                                  1 tsp granulated Garlic                                                                                                                          1 1 tsp Chile powder                                                                                                                                  1 Tbs Olive Oil                                                                                                                                        1 Tbs Chipolte puree ( I found this at one of those South American stores..it was labled "salsa" but       the lady assured me it was puree. It was).                                                                                            2 Tbs Butter                                                                                                                                              2 doz corn soft totillas                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Cut the fish into 2 oz portions.  Mix the Pineapple, salt, chile powder and garlic powder together then mix into the fish thoroughly and let marinate in the fridge for 10 minutes.  In a separate bowl mix the shrimp with the Chipolte puree and chill in the fridge.

Basquez Sauce (this is some good stuff!)

1/2 Cup  Mayo                                                                                                                                     1 Tbs Lime Juice                                                                                                                                 1 Tbs Chipolte puree                                                                                                                           1 Tbs Valentina Sauce                                                                                                                         1 tsp granulated Garlic

Mix together and chill. 

Toppings                                                                                                                                                        Cabbage - fine julienne                                                                                                                                 Cucumber - peeled, seeded, chopped                                                                                                           Cilantro - chopped                                                                                                                                       Tomatoes -diced                                                                                                                                            Cheese -shredded                                                                                                                                          Lime wedges                                                                                                                                                  Salsa

Heat grill to high and brush with olive oil. Cook the Mahi portions on high to pre-cook (I cooked the Redfish in a cast iron skillet) Heat a skillet on high and melt the butter. Add the shrimp (marinated in the Chipolte puree) and cook for about 3 minutes.  Warm the tortillas and serve with the fish, shrimp, toppings and plenty of Basquez Sauce. ENJOY!     

                                                                                      

                                                                      

Recipe Of The Month: Trout Almondine

 Whenever I've seen this on a restaurant menu I tended to shy away from it because I didn't know what it was!  Donna Givens sends this tasty recipe in, via her husband John, angler,  who I run in to at the bait shop on occasion. It's easy to prepare, doesn't need a whole lot of ingredients and as mentioned, very tasty! Thank you Donna! I "fun" fished today and lucked up on this 21" Seatrout so the fish was FRESH for this recipe!

Makes 2 servings

1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds(toast on stove top: 1 T butter, almonds - watch it! Be careful not to burn!) I did this first and set aside.

2 Trout filets

1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper.

1/2 cup all purpose flour

Salt and pepper both sides of Trout, then dredge in flour, shake off excess.

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp butter

Heat in non-stick pan on medium heat a few minutes on each side until opaque white. Set cooked filets aside.

In same pan stir in

4 tsp butter, 

1/4 cup lemon or lime juice

1/3 cup chopped parsley.

Toasted Almonds.

Cook until hot then ladle over Trout. Enjoy!

Recipe of the Month: Garlic Parmesan Crusted Fish

 I fished with the Coffey's a couple of weeks ago and we got to talking recipes and Tracy B described what sounded like a good one. They caught some fish and planned to use it so I asked if they could send it to me and here it is..Tracy B Coffey's.....

Garlic Parmesan Crusted Fish

6 Fish filets

Olive Oil

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

1/3 cup Panko bread crumbs

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

4 big cloves of freshly minced garlic

Juice of half a lemon

Parsley

1- 11 x9 baking dish

Step 1- preheat oven to 425. Rub 1 tbsp of oil on fish so the seasoning will stick better and season fish with salt and pepper.

Step 2- on a separate plate combine Parmesan, bread crumbs, garlic and pinch more of salt and pepper. Dredge the fish in the mixture and press into it so the mixture covers.

Step 3-place the fish in the baking dish and sprinkle a little more of the Parmesan/crumb mixture over the top of the fish. Then squeeze the juice from half the lemon over the top of the fish.

Step 4- bake fish till flaky or 20-25 minutes. The breadcrumbs should be a little browned. Finally, sprinkle some parsley overtop and serve.

Recipe of the Month: Oyster Stew

Finally! We stopped by Houston's Meat Market on the way home and picked up a bushel of oysters - they were from Virginia - the York River. Coincidently, we had oysters at a party a couple of weeks before that and they had both Virginia oysters AND "local" oysters (they were actually from south Georgia). Those local oysters were clusters - 4-5-6 oysters in one lump, and were the best I've had in a while. BUT, you had to work for them. They're small and difficult to shuck. The Virginia oysters are singles and larger, easier to shuck, and you get more "bang for you buck", but not quite as tasty as the local oysters.  This bushel that we picked up from Houston's we roasted and shucked and ate them with hot sauce, butter, butter and horseradish. Note that I've got a habit of roughly counting the oysters as I wash and load them on the grill and the bushel ended up having approximately 12 dozen oysters. We shucked and ate all but 3 dozen, then shucked the rest to make oyster stew.

This recipe comes from www.shewearsmanyhats.com

Ingredients:

- 4 tablespoons butter

- 1 Large onion, finely diced

-  2 garlic cloves

- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper

- 1/4 teaspoon paprika

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

-  1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

- 6 cups whole milk or half and half

 - 1 teaspoon dried parsley

- 16 ounces fresh raw oysters, undrained

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.  Heat butter over medium heat in heavy bottom 3-quart saucepan. Add  diced onion and saute until tinder, about 5 minutes. Grate in garlic(or mince), continue to saute for another 1-2 minues, being watchful to not burn garlic. Add red pepper, paprika, salt, black pepper, stir to toast about 1 minute.

2. Drain oysters and reserve liquid (oyster liqueur)(we didn't have any of this as ours came right off the grill. BUT, we opened a can of crab meat and dumped it in, crab and liquid to add some thickness)

3) Reduce heat to low, add milk, parsley and oyster liqueur.

4) Cook over low heat until mixture is hot and beginning to steam, and bubbles just start to appear around the edge. Do NOT allow to come to a boil. Salt and pepper to taste.

5) Add oysters and continue to  cook over low heat until oysters begin to curl on edges. 

Recipe of The Month: Crispy Shrimp Cakes

 We vacationed in the western North Carolina mountains last week but had to go into a town to purchase some new waders - my old pair were leaking! After picking up the new waders we ran across a restaurant that let us eat outside with Jasper (now, the Mountain Dog) and on their menu was "Crispy Shrimp Cakes" and I have to admit, they were the best thing we ate the whole week. When we returned I emailed them and asked for the recipe but I never heard  back. Their menu gave a few ingredients so I went on-line and "googled" it and WAH-LA, here was a recipe that had all the right ingredients! This one was found on Delish.com..

Crispy Shrimp Cakes with Lemony Tartar Sauce

Ingredients

Shrimp Cakes:

• 2 cup panko breadcrumbs (I had a 8oz can on reserve)
• 1 lb fresh peeled, deveined, chopped shrimp
• 1/2 cup light mayonaise
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 2 tsp garlic paste
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard (I'd double this the next tip I make it)
• 1/4 tsp cayenned pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup canola oil

Lemony Tartar Sauce:

• 3/4 cup jarred tartar sauce
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

Directions:

1) Place 1 1/2 cups of the breadcrumbs on a flat plate 

2) In a large bowl mix shrimp, mayonnaise, eggs, bell pepper, green onions, garlic paste, mustard, cayenned pepper, salt and 1/2 cup of the breadcrumbs until thoroughly mixed. Us a 1/3 cup measure to scoop the shrimp mixture (mixture will be wet -don't worry!). Turn out cup of mixture on to plate of breadcrumbs; coat completely with your hands. Transfer with a metal spatula to a baking sheet lined with wax paper, then flatten cakes slightly to a 3 1/2-inch circumference. Continue making 7 more cakes. Refrigerate for 1- hour. They'll firm up!

3) To make lemony tartar sauce, in a medium bowl, combine all ingredients, stirring to blend.

4) In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium heat. Add 4 cakes and cook, about 4 minutes per side, until crisp and browned. Transfer to a plate; loosely cover with foil to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and 4 cakes. Serve shrimp cakes with lemony tartar sauce. 

Recipe of The Month: Redfish on the Halfshell

This recipe comes from one of my angler guests, William Blalock. His dad showed me pictures of the end product and it looked so good I had to track William down and get his recipe! 

2 large or 4 small red fish fillets on the half shell (skin left on one side)

Marinade:

1/4 cup- Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup- extra virgin olive oil

1/4-1/2 -teaspoon- cayenne pepper (to your likeness 🔥)

1/4 tsp - dried thyme

1 Tbsp - paprika

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 - sweet onion

1 - lemon

2 - whole garlic cloves

1 - bunch - parsley (approx. 1 TBS)

1/2- stick (unsalted/diced)- butter

- Lay red fish fillets in a bowl/ dish flesh side up.

- Pour marinade ingredients over the fillets, rub in

well, and set aside.

- Thin slice the onion, garlic, and half of a lemon.

- Squeeze the reserved half a lemon over the fish.

- Lay the thin sliced onion and garlic over the fish

and allow the fillets to marinade for 30 minutes.

- Preheat your grill to medium heat, and place the

fillets on the grill flesh side down, reserving the

sliced onions and garlic. (We sear ours on the

blackstone, then transfer to the Green egg).

- After the flesh side has nice color and grill

marks, turn the fillets flesh side up, and add the

reserved onion and garlic slices from earlier.

- Once fish has been cooking for a total of about 20 minutes, place a cast iron
sauce pan on the grill.

- Add in butter. Once it is half way melted, remove the pan from the grill and add parsley. Stir.

- Season sauce with sea salt to taste and a squeeze of lemon.

- Remove the red fish from the grill and pour sauce over the top.  Garnish the top of the fillets with thin sliced lemon, and enjoy!

* this is adapted from The BBQ

Recipe of the Month: Cheddar Bay Pepper Jack Shrimp Balls

Cheddar Bay Pepper Jack Shrimp Balls

 I first saw this recipe on H&S Shrimp Company's  Facebook site - it looked really good, and I followed their link to Palmetto Cheese's site where they also have the recipe. I've cooked them twice and have "tweaked" the recipe a bit, and added some notes. We LOVE the Palmetto Cheese products, especially the Cheddar/Jalapeno version -have been eating it for years. 

1)   11.6oz Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuit Mix  (I always find this at Walmart)

1)   11 oz Pepper Jack Palmetto Cheese (you can NEVER find this in our area. I ended up using an 8ox package of shredded Pepper Jack cheese in one batch, and the Palmetto Cheddar/Jalapeno pimento cheese in the 2nd batch. Hate to say it, but I liked the shredded cheese version better - the "balls" didn't fall apart so readily)

2)    pounds Shrimp, peeled, de-veined, chopped (the original recipe called for just one pound. I thought two would be better. I tossed them lightly in Konriko seasoning)

1)  Old Bay seasoning for garnish

1)   A bit of water, about a 1/4 cup

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a bowl, mix together biscuit mix, cheese, and chopped shrimp. (here I added a bit of water at a time until I got a gooey "biscuit" consistency.)

Form into 1-2" balls and place on a greased baking sheeet

Bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees (I ended up putting them back in for another 3-5 minutes, watched them closely, until they became a nice golden brown)

Following the Red Lobster mix instructions, I melted some butter and mixed their seasoning packet in, and brushed the hot Shrimp Balls as they came out, then lightly sprinkled  Old Bay as a garnish.

Served with Remoulade Sauce

  

 

Recipe of the Month: Belly Meat Chowder

 My friend and  fishing buddy Daniel Rhodes chastised me one day while I was cleaning fish. Normally I filet them, then cut the rib and belly meat out and toss it to the Seagulls. "Piper, don't be throwing away that belly meat". I've got to admit there is a lot of meat in that portion so now when I'm cleaning fish for customers I'll sometimes save it if they don't want it. I bring it home and either cook it that night or freeze it noted as "Belly Meat". It makes great Fish Chowder. I  threw this together as a recipe:

4-8 pieces of "Belly/Rib" meat. I prefer Redfish because the bones are bigger, but in this batch I used                                                             about 8 pieces of  Redfish and Seatrout

24oz bag of Honey Gold (small) potatoes, chopped

2  small stalks of celery, chopped

1/2 of a small onion, chopped

2 handfuls of frozen corn

1  link of Sausage (I used Nettles Old Grandad Hot), chopped

1-2 T bacon grease

2 T butter

1/2 C Heavy Whipping Cream

1/2 C milk

1 tsp  Konricko seasoning, 

In a skillet, heat the bacon grease and cook the sausage for a bit, then add the celery, onions and corn. Cook until the sausage is browned, the onions begin to go translucent, and the celery begins to soften. Turn off heat.

Fill a large pot half full with water. As  you bring it to boil, drop the Redfish/Trout belly meat in and it will cook fairly quickly. When it turns white, take it out and let it cool, then add the potatoes and begin to boil them. While the potatoes are cooking, open a beer, and de-bone the fish!  As mentioned, Redfish have bigger rib bones and are easier to feel. Cook the potatoes until you can stick a fork thru them. Turn the heat off, drain most of the water, leaving about a cup. 

Add the sausage/onion/celery/corn mixture.

Add the butter, Heavy Whipping Cream, Milk, and Seasoning (may need to add more to taste).

Stir, turn heat back on and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn back down to simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes.

Recipe Of The Month (Top Secret): Redfish Couvillion

Secret Agent (TM007) infiltrated Louisiana last month to fish, visit friends, eat, and then he slipped out under the cover of darkness with a Secret Recipe of  Paul's Louisiana Redfish Couvillion (COO-be-yahn)! What a score!  It took some cajoling, some arm wrenching, and some libations to get that Secret Agent to divulge the recipe but finally, he reached the end of his endurance and gave it up!  Here it is:

1)  Catch some Redfish!  This batch I used two large Redfish filets.

Filet and season the cubed Redfish. "Paul" (not sure if that is his real name)  recommends Tony Chachere's, I used Konricko Creole Seasoning.

Make a dark pecan colored roux - equal parts oil and flour. I used two heaping Tablespoons of bacon grease, and two heaping Tablespoons of flour.

1 Medium onion, chopped

2 bell peppers, chopped

2 stalks of celery, chopped

1 teaspoon of crushed garlic

1 Jalapeno pepper, chopped

1 shallot, chopped

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 -3/4 box of chicken stock

parsley or green onion tops for garnish.

After getting the roux ready, add onions, bell peppers, garlic and celery....cook until onions are clear. I added a little bit of the chicken stock while this was cooking (maybe I should have had more roux?)

Add diced tomatoes....Add jalapeno peppers and the shallots.

Add chicken stock to cover ingredients. Cook on low until there is an oil slick forming and peppers begin to soften (about 20-30 minutes). 

Bring to a boil and add the seasoned fish. Cook until is fish is done - it will go from opaque to white, just when the mixture comes to a light boil. You don't want to overcook it because the fish will breach up (you could still eat it but you want those chunks of Redfish!). 

I served this over some wild rice with some fried green tomatoes on the side. 

Garnish with Parsley or chopped Green Onion tops. 

Editors(that's me). Note: Chief Taste Tester (my wife Carol) commented that "if this is Cajun why isn't there some sausage in here?"  And I replied, "yes, and some shrimp!"  But I got to thinking, those two additions, plus some Okra would make it Gumbo!  This was very good to get those Redfish chunks and  not be overwhelmed or distracted by the other ingredients. Truth be told, I added some Franks Hot Sauce when I warmed it up for lunch as a leftover.

Recipe Of The Month: Mangrove Snapper Quesadillas

 I had a couple of days off and had been talking to Carol about how we have been catching MangroveSnapper so she put in to take a fun fishing trip. We fished an incoming tide and it was a bit slow, although we did catch a couple of small Seatrout and a small Redfish. Then, as the tide got up, we made the short run to a Mangrove Snapper fishing hole and tossed jigs and shrimp and sure enough, they began to bite. We stayed long enough to get our limit then headed in with plans to make some Mangrove Snapper Quesadillas:

Mangrove Snapper Quesadilla

 -makes 4 Quesadilla’s

(5) Mangrove Snapper = 10 fillets

Bag of vegi-slaw

 Remoulade sauce

Jar of Salsa

Sour Cream

Quesadilla rounds

Cajun Seasoning

Shredded Mexican cheese

Butter or olive oil for frying

 

Clean and check for bones in Snapper filets. Season lightly with Cajun seasoning.

Heat butter or olive oil in cast iron skillet. When hot, fry Snapper filets for a few minutes on each side until done.

Ladle Remoulade sauce down middle of Quesadilla round. Lay 2-3 Snapper filets over Remoulade sauce. Spread sour cream. Layer vegi-slaw. Ladle Salso. Sprinkle Mexican cheese. Roll up and eat. Have napkin handy.

Recipe of The Month: Etta's Classic Dungeness Crab Cakes

 My wife got me this book, I Love Crab Cakes by Tom Douglas, with Shelley Lance and it has dozens of Crab Cake recipe's in it, along with some sauce recipe's. We decided that we would try to make a few of them and so I picked the very first one in the book!, Etta's Classic Dungeness Crab Cakes, a top seller at his restaurant for more than seventeen years.

1 large egg yolk                                                                       1/2 teaspoon Paprika

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice                                                 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh or dried Thyme

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce                                            1/2 teaspoon celery seeds

1 1/2 teaspoons Tabasco                                                           1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard                         5 Tablespoons olive oil

In a food processor or a blender, combine the egg yolk, lemon juice, Worcestershire, Tabasco, mustard, Paprika, Thyme, celery seeds and black pepper. Pulse to combine. With the motor running, slowly add the oil through the feed tube until the mixture emulsifies and forms a mayonnaise. Set aside.

3/4 cup chopped Parsley                                                         1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/4 cup chopped onion                                                            1 pound Dungeness crabmeat, drained,                                                                                                            lightly squeezed

1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper                                         5 Tablespoons unsalted butter

5 Cups fresh bread crumbs      Garnish with lemon wedges, bed of spinach, tomatoes

Put the bread crumbs in a shallow container and mix 1/2 cup of the chopped parsley(reserving  the remaining 1/4 cup for the crab cake mixture, set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the onion and bell peppers with the remaining 1/4 cup parsley.  Add the reserved mayonnaise and the crabmeat and mix lightly to combine. Using a rubber spatula, fold in 1 cup of the bread crumb-parsley mixture. Do not overwork the mixture or the crab cakes may get gummy. Gently form 8 patties and dredge the patties lightly n the remaining bread crumb-parsley mixture. If you have time, cover the crab cakes with plastic wrap and chill for an hour or longer.

Place two large nonstick skillets over medium heat and add about 2 1/2 tablespoons butter to each pan. As soon as the butter is melted, add 4 cakes to each pan. Gently fry the crab cakes until they ar hot through and golden brown on both sides, turning once with a spatula, about 4 minutes per side. The internal temperature of crab cake should be 155 degrees  on an instant read thermometer. Transfer the cakes to a bed of spinach and garnish with a wedge of lemon or fresh cut tomato's. Serve with remoulade sauce.