 Well, the New Year has arrived and we are back to work after a lovely week and a half sort of vacation. Christmas was a blast with a houseful so packed that the noise and bodies got a little claustraphobic, but isn’t that what family is all about?! Of course, part of the noise was coming from that new little grandbaby who is just the cutest baby on the earth. You know she is!!  After Christmas, I had the pleasure of starting my canning and dehydrating classes at Red Dawn in Midwest City. If you are in the area, the classes run from 6 pm until 9 pm. You can call the store at 405-732-0717 for information. Sure would love to see you there!! And then, New Years Eve rolled around and Mr. Fix-It and I had a really wild party. He, I and Ellie (our miniature, long-haired dachshund) watched The Help, since Mr. Fix-It had not seen it, and then ushered in midnight with the 1956 movie, The Solid Gold Cadillac, with Judy Holliday and Paul Douglas. We toasted the New Year with lead crystal flutes of Miers Sparkling Chablis (nonalcoholic white grape juice because we are so wild and crazy) and stood on the front lawn to watch the fireworks displays of nutty neighbors who evidently haven’t figured out that we are so dry, a minute spark could start an inferno!! Yes, it was an exciting night of revelry. The one thing I DID do to celebrate the evening was to make a very special dinner for my Mr. Fix-It. There is nothing that does his tummy more good than to serve up something blackened, ala Cajun cooking. I don’t care if you serve him liver – if it’s blackened – he’ll chow down. And so, I had fun with the recipe that follows. It is really very quick and easy and if you serve it to guests, they’ll think you are a chef extraordinaire. However, be warned. You’ll have to open windows and get the exhaust fan going because when you blacken something there IS smoke involved! I hope you’ll try it! The dinner was topped off with a homemade pecan pie (and I’ll put that up later) and we made ourselves sick. Gonna be a good year!! Serves 4 4 Tilapia filets (Salmon or Flounder will work too) 12 large shrimp 2 tbsps butter 2 tbsps Cajun Seasoning (my homemade is found by clicking on the link) Lemon Butter Sauce 1 – 14.5 oz can chicken broth 1/2 tablespoon finely chopped onion 1 tblsp butter 1 tblsp flour 1/2 cup heavy cream 4 tblsp butter Juice from one lemon  Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat  Stir in flour until a creamy roue is achieved  Slowly pour in chicken broth while whisking to incorporated roue with no lumps. Boil until sauce is reduced by about a fourth.  While the broth is cooking, add onions. I am using dehydrated here (of course) but fresh onions are fine.  When the sauce has reduced, add cream while stirring  Add butter and stir in until melted and mixed  Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Now comes the fun part. Take a cast iron skillet and place it upside down over the large eye of your stove. Turn the eye on High. Watch carefully and as the bottom of the skillet starts to smoke, quickly turn it over and drop in 2 tbsps of butter, which will melt really fast and start to blacken, and then sprinkle 2 tbsps of cajun seasoning across the surface.  Place filets into skillet. I only made two on New Year’s Eve, but if you are doing all four, use a larger skillet that will accommodate that many. Turn the heat down to medium-high and cook the tilapia for about 2 minutes on that side.  Turn fish and cook for about three minutes. Cover and turn heat down to medium to finish cooking until flaky. If using salmon, this will take longer.  In the meantime, have a pot of water boiling and drop shrimp into the water. Immediately remove from heat and let stand until shrimp are white all the way through. This does not take but just a few minutes for large shrimp.  Place a filet on each plate, top with shrimp and then pour sauce over both. Serve with rice and veggie. Here, I am using Zatarain’s Dirty Rice. So Happy New Year to you all. I hope to post some different kinds of recipes that aren’t normal Okie cooking in the next year, along with that regular stuff! Nothing like trying something new!  |
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Posts Tagged ‘cajun’
Blackened Tilapia with Creamy Lemon-Butter Sauce
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
Shrimp Etouffée
Thursday, June 16th, 2011
  When I was in high school, my family spent a glorious week in New Orleans while my father spoke at an education convention there. We stayed in a beautiful, vintage home called the Lamothe House that was the traditional French style home surrounding a courtyard of gardens. I remember that the beds were also French with the tall, mahogany headboards spanning the wall to the ceiling and topped by an ornate mahogany half canopy. We felt pampered and awed by the opulence. That was in the early ’70’s and this gorgeous home is still a thriving bed and breakfast. Seeing the Preservation Hall jazz band with Billie and Dee Dee was a treat in an old, ramshackle building with wooden floors and folding chairs. Beignets at the Café Du Monde and meals at The Court of the Two Sisters, Antoine’s and several others that are no longer in business, started me on my love affair with French cuisine and all things Cajun. My favorite is Crawfish Bisque and that recipe will come later, but just for a quick summer meal, I thought I’d show how I make shrimp etouffée. I make a cajun seasoning mix that I store in a glass jar and use as needed. How hot you like your food determines how much cayenne pepper you use. I’m a weenie and Mr. Fix-It has had to swear off of hot food as the doctor has demanded, so cayenne is limited for us but it can be Katie-Bar-The-Door for you if you are brave. Hope you enjoy the recipes. Place all ingredients into a quart jar with a lid. Shake jar until all ingredients are well mixed. Store covered and use as any commercial seasoning.
 Press or chop 5 cloves of garlic and set aside  In a large, deep skillet, melt butter and add flour to make a roue  Stir flour into butter until a smooth paste is created  Cook on high heat, continually stirring. The roue will go from a thick paste to a thinner mixture and be very bubbly.  Continue stirring and cooking until the color of the roue is a deep caramel color. It will smell slightly burned. Set off of heat.  In a second skillet, sauté onions, garlic, bell pepper and celery in 1 Tblsp olive oil. I am using dried peppers and celery here, but fresh is great.  When onions are clear and tender, place skillet with roue back onto heat. Add veggies and shrimp and stir.  Add 1 Tblsp Cajun seasoning from mixture in recipe above.  Add can of chicken broth  Add more black pepper to taste. We think that you can’t have too much black pepper! Simmer until liquid is reduced to a nice, thick gravy.  Serve Etouffée hot, over rice. Serves 4 |
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