Crawfish Etouffe

Makes 8 servings

Seasoning Mix:
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried sweet basil leaves
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves

1/4 cup of each of the following: chopped onions, celery, and green bell peppers (this is called the trinity in Creole cooking)
7 tbs vegetable oil
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup clam juice + 1/2 cup water or chicken broth
1 stick butter
2 lbs peeled crawfish tails or medium shrimp
1 cup very finely chopped green onions
4 cups hot basic cooked rice

The buttas were extremely excited to be back together and to be cooking such a delicious meal!  Here is a shot of the ingredients and the buttas preparing:

Thoroughly combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.  In a separate bowl, combine the onions, celery and bell peppers (The Trinity).

The first step is to make a roux, this recipe calls for a medium to dark roux vs a blond roux.  In a large heavy skillet, heat the oil over high heat until it begins to smoke, about 4 minutes.  With a long-handled metal whisk, gradually mix in the flour, stirring until smooth.

Continue cooking, whisking constantly until roux is dark red-brown.

Remove from heat and immediately stir in the vegetables and 1 tablespoon of the seasoning mix with a wooden spoon; continue stirring until cooled, about 5 minutes.

Heat stock in a separate saucepan.  Gradually add the stock to the roux and whisk until thoroughly dissolved.

Reduce heat to low and cook until flour taste is gone, about 2 minutes whisking almost constantly.  remove from heat and set aside.

In a separate saucepan, melt 1/2 stick of butter over medium heat.  

Stir in the crawfish (or shrimp), the green onions, and seasoning mix and saute about 1 minute stirring almost constantly.

Add the crawfish mixture to the stock mixture, stirring well.  Add 1/2 stick butter to enrich sauce and cook about 5 more minutes.  Serve immediately over rice, or barley for a healthier option.

Then it was time to enjoy our delicious meal and each other's company.  It was a wonderful evening and so fun to catch up.  Look forward to many great recipes to come!  Next week's menu is Black Bass with Asparagus and Roasted Potatoes, YUM!

Red Beans & Rice

Red Beans and Rice with Ham & Andouille Sausage

1 pound dry red kidney beans

Water to cover the beans

1 ham bone (Honey Baked or Heavenly Ham)

2 1/2 cups finely chopped celery

2 cups finely chopped

2 cups finely chopped green bell peppers

2-3 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced

2-3 bay leaves

2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves

1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Hot sauce to taste

1 pound andouille sausage, sliced

Hot steamed rice

Cover the beans with water 2 inches above the beans. Let stand overnight. Drain just before using. ** This step is optional. If you don't soak the beans, they will just take longer to cook and require more water**

Place the beans, ham bone, 10 cups of water, celery, onions, bell peppers, garlic, bay leaves and seasonings in a large Dutch oven; stir well. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until meat is falling off the bone, about an hour, stirring occasionally. Remove bone, chop meat into bite sized pieces removing excess fat as you go, then put the ham back into the beans. Add sliced andouille sausage (brown first if you wish), add more water if required, them simmer until beans are soft and creamy!

Serve over mound of rice!

(This recipe is a meaty one - when we made this dish we doubled the beans and the spices but I think next time I make it on my own I'll make it this way!)

Here are pictures and helpful tips when making this dish!

Everything is added and starting to boil.



This is our sausage that we used - we sliced it into thin coins. Slice it, chunk it do whatever you would like, bite sized pieces are easier to eat!


This step is optional since the sausage is pre-cooked, but it gives it a great smokey flavor when you sear the sausage. If you chose to do this step, after you add the sausage to the pot - take some of the broth and put it into the empty hot sausage pan. Take a rubber spatula and scrape all of the leftover greasy goodness off the pan and add it back into the bean pot. This will kick up the sausage flavor!



Take the ham bone when the meat is tender and beginning to fall off - use tongs because it will be HOT! Since Mama Butta made a batch of beans for us to eat and we cooked our own for later, we let the ham bone cool down while we ate before we picked the meat off. Just leave it for a little while until it stops steaming. Pick off the meat to add back into the pot and feel free to sample!


Finished product! As you can see the beans become very creamy!


Put over rice & enjoy!!

Fried Green Tomatoes

Last week we cooked an ultimate Southern classic Fried Green Tomatoes, Baby Back Ribs, & corn on the stove!


Here is the recipe for the Fried Green Tomatoes:
1 cup stone-ground cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon garlic powder
Pinch of cayenne
1 1/2 cup of buttermilk
Kosher salt & freshly ground peper
4 large unripe tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch think slices, ends removed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Hot Pepper Sauce & Lemon Wedges for serving

Directions:


**In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, garlic power and cayenne together. ** Pour the buttermilk into a seperate bowl and season with salt & pepper. Dip the tomatoes in the buttermilk and then dredge them in the cornmeal mixture, coating both sides well.

**Instead of the cornmeal, flour, cayenne and garlic powder we used.


(This is must have for your pantry for frying and you get this big tub from your local Sam's. This blend was amazing on the tomatoes and gave it a refreshing lemon-y taste! Highly recommended by the butta clan!)

Place a large cast iron skillet over medium heat and coat with the oil. When the oil is hot, pan-fry the tomatoes (in batches - don't over crowd the pan please!) until golden brown and crispy on both sides, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Carefully remove the tomatoes and drain on paper towels. Serve with hot pepper sauce and lemon

Butta lesson #1: We had a dicussion on corn meal & grits. The buttas always ask a lot of questions and they found out both corn-meal and grits are made from corn and they get their names from how finely the corn is ground. Just an intresting side note & a lesson from the butta kitchen!!

When cutting the tomatoes - pit out the end so you can use the most of your tomato!

Then slice - make thick slices so they hold up better when frying!
Butta lesson #2 of the night: Why are they fried green tomatoes and not regular tomatoes? And what exactly is a green tomato? Green tomatoes are not yet ripe tomatoes, not a different or special type of tomatoes. Because they are harder than tomatoes they can be fried, regular red tomatoes would fall apart.


Here are our dipping bowls. They key to this is to keep one hand wet and one hand dry. Also the recipe says to dip in milk, then in the batter. We tried that way and also double dipping - we dipped in the batter, then in the milk and back in the batter. We pan-fried each one to see what we liked better and we loved the double dip! Test out both & see what your taste buds like the most!!
Remember to season the bowls with salt & pepper!!



Remember your hands!!


& flip!

Enjoy!!

Tomatoe Pie & Chicken Coops

Last night we made an Herb Tomato Tart. The baby buttas are a little tomato shy but they loved the fresh summer tomato pasta so they were excited about this dish as well! And besides - tomatoes & tomato pie is something that the south just does well & does often!

Here is the recipe:

Herb Tomato Tart
Ingredients:
3 tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups thinly sliced onion
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 cup of milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp chopped fresh chives
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh tarragon
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh basil
1 cup Cheddar Cheese shredded
1 unbaked 9-inch deep dish pie crust
1 tomato, thinly sliced

Preheat over to 425 degrees. Melt butter in large skillet. Add onions and saute until tender. Stir in flour. Set aside. Beat eggs and milk in a small bowl. Add salt, pepper, parsley, chives, tarragon, and basil. Place sauteed onions and cheese into pie crust. Cover with egg mixture. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees. Bake an additional 15 minutes. Arrange tomato slices on top of pie. Bake until tomatoes being to brown about 10 minutes.

Here are some pictures:
Be careful of those onions Sally! Didn't know you would get so emotional!


Eggs & Milk!


More mixing & tears!


Adding cheese to the pie crust & onions!





Adding the fresh herbs/milk mixture!


Fresh out of the oven & ready for some tomatoes!!




Top it off with some freshly grated Parmesean cheese & bake! Here is a picture of the final product.


Add a salad & enjoy!!!


Hope you enjoy this! It was liked by all the baby buttas!

WAIT - forgot to mention the....
CHICKENS!!! This is the second set of chickens for Mama & Mr. B! (The first ones disappeared in the night) The chickens are name-less so we need help!

Shrimp & Grits!!

Doesn't this look amazing! Y'all this was a favorite for the butta gals, truly one of the best meals by far. We could be partial because we are from the south but hey we will happily stay by our southern roots and enjoy a classic meal like shrimp and grits!

The recipes will follow but I wanted to get your mouth watering for this meal. It was a slight twist on the classic - very spicy shrimp over baked parmesan grits.


ALSO - I, Meredith, wasn't able to attend cooking class last week and since I am usually the blogger nothing was posted because I was out of town. But the recipes and pictures from last week's class will be up soon as well! The buttas did a breakfast meal: potato and basil frittata, maple glazed bacon, and berries with honey, vanilla yogurt.

As you can see it was delicious and the buttas licked their plates clean!! I hate I missed such a great meal!!

Snack time! - Roasted Okra

Okra is a very southern food but some of our picky eaters were a little hesitant when it was brought out for the gumbo class. Mostly around here you see fried okra, I mean what doesn't the south fry, but plain and green is a different story. For the gumbo, we placed frozen okra on a pan and placed in the oven at 350-400 - it's been a while y'all but I know its fine on either temp as long as you are watching it! Drizzle the okra with some olive oil and let it bake! For gumbo, frozen okra just needs to be a soft to the touch and no longer slimy so you just have to keep testing and checking on it.

When the okra was "gumbo ready" - we added what we wanted to the gumbo and Mama Butta let us taste test the remaining okra. The hesitant buttas tried it and suprise, didn't think it was half bad! Mama Butta said you could also cook the okra for a while longer and really let it get crispy. It was so good! Bake it until desired crispy-ness - some smaller pieces might turn a little black but that's fine. Add some salt and pepper and you are good to go - almost as good as popcorn! AND we couldn't believe how healthy okra is for you! 1 POUND of okra has about 150 calories - imagine how much you can eat without feeling guilty!

The Baby Buttas have used this tip to make okra as a side for turkey burgers, steak and also a snack! Hope you enjoy :)

Pimento Cheese Burgers

Happy Friday! The pimento cheese burger recipe is finally posted!

The recipe for the pimento cheese tells you how to make it by hand but if you have a food processor it is so simple!! Grate your cheese with the blade and then just add the other ingredients to the bowl and mix! The butta clan isn't the biggest fan of mayo so we added just the one tablespoon. But our plan was to add one tablespoon at a time to judge how much we wanted.





Pimiento Cheese

8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
2 green onions, finely minced
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 4 oz. chopped pimientos plus liquid
1 heaping Tablespoons mayonnaise
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt

In a mixing bowl, grate cheese and add finely minced green onion (this should be to taste). Add the remaining ingredients and whip until light and fluffy. Use on sandwiches or as a dip.


Classic All-American Hamburgers


2 pound ground beef (80% lean)
1 tablespoon good Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons good olive oil, plus extra for brushing
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Light the grill.

Place the ground beef in a large bowl and add the mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix gently with a fork to combine, taking care not to compress too much. Shape meat into 6-3 ½” patties of equal size and thickness.

When the grill is medium-hot, brush the grill grate with oil to keep the burgers from sticking. Place the burgers on the grill and cook for 4 minutes. Using a big spatula, turn the burgers and cook for another 3-4 minutes, until medium-rare or cook longer if you prefer them more well-done.

Toast buns or English Muffins on the grill.

Serve with favorite condiments!

I wish we had taken some pictures of this charcoal when it really started to burn. You place the bag in the grill and simply light the corners. Instead of the typical charcoal lumps, ("lumps" isn't my the best choice of words -sorry!) the charcoal is more like strips. It probably took about 10-15mins before it was ready to grill. Yes a gas grill would have been so much easier, but you really can't beat the taste of a chargrilled burger - simply delicious!!!

While the charcoal was doing its magic, we formed the burgers. This cooking class is teaching the baby buttas so much - we probably would have just put salt and pepper on some meat and grilled it. The olive oil and mustard made these burgers amazing - it really added to the flavor of the meat.

Our grill masters for the evening did a great job and the burgers were fantastic!

New Orleans Gumbo Night

Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou!


Seasoning mix: 2 whole bay leaves, 2 teaspoons salt, ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, ½ teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 cup finely chopped onions
1 cup finely chopped green bell peppers
¾ cup finely chopped celery
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup vegetable oil
7 cups chicken stock
1 pound andouille sausage, cut into ¼ inch cubes
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Fresh or frozen okra, optional*
Tabasco sauce to taste
Chopped parsley & green onions to garnish

Mix together dry seasonings, prep the vegetables.

Heat stock in a medium saucepan.


The "trinity" of Louisiana cooking consists of bell pepper, onion and celery. When making this dish or any other gumbo there is a lot of chopping!
Please take note of the baby butta hats. They are representing the New Orleans theme!!



In a Dutch oven, make the roux: Heat the vegetable oil over high heat. Add the flour, whisking constantly until roux turns dark red-brown-darker than peanut butter (very hot, be CAREFUL!!!)
For this dish we made a dark roux. They baby buttas had lots of questions because they had made a roux before with their mac & cheese but this roux was dark! For macaroni and cheese they made a blond roux which is made from butter and flour. A dark roux is made with oil and flour. Which a dark roux you have to constantly stir so the oil doesn't burn. Also, a roux can be a thick as you would like as you can see ours had the consistency of peanut butter.

When the roux is just the right color, turn off heat and add onions, bell pepper, celery and seasoning mix--continue stirring until mixture cools a bit. Add garlic after a few minutes (you don’t want it to burn). Don't taste test during this phase: they are heavily seasoned vegetables - Lauren learned this the hard way!



Gradually add the chicken broth, stirring constantly. Add the sausage, then bring to a simmer. Cook for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add deboned chicken and adjust seasoning.


Remove bay leaves and serve immediately over rice. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley and green onions.


*If you choose to use okra, coat it lightly with a little vegetable oil and bake on a half-sheet pan in a 400 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes, turning occasionally until it loses its slimy texture. Add to gumbo when you add the sausage.

Some of our baby buttas are new to certain vegetables and okra was no exception! After we baked the okra and added what we needed to the gumbo pot, we put the remaining okra back in the oven and let it get a little more crisp! It was a yummy snack until the gumbo was finished!! Our picky eater LOVED THE OKRA - yay Blanche!!
Mama Butta is headed to New Orleans for the Jazz Fest next week , maybe she will take us one day for a field trip!!

Stay tuned for next week's class!!!