New Orleans Shrimp Creole

We make it down to New Orleans every few years, ostensibly for Jazz Fest, but the real reason I go is to eat. And while you'll find some stellar New Orleans dishes at the Festival, (I'm partial to the Crawfish Monica and Cochon de Lait po' boys), one should never travel to the Crescent City without at least one meal (but better two or three) at one of the old-line French Creole restaurants. My favorites are Antoine's, for Filet de truite au vin blanc and Pommes de terre souffles, Arnaud's, for turtle soup and crab cakes, and Galatoire's for oysters en brochette and their sublime Shrimp Creole which is, quite simply, the best in town, any town.

Creole cooking, not to be confused with Cajun cooking, New Orleans' other signature cuisine, initially evolved from French techniques and recipes blended with elements from the culinary traditions of the Spanish, African and Italians who also settled in the city. Creole food is typically milder in flavor than it's Cajun country cousin, and more complicated in preparation, and therefore generally thought of as more refined.

Although both styles of cooking often feature the "holy trinity" of celery, bell peppers and onion as primary ingredients, the Cajuns, who trace their heritage to the Acadian French, (the word Cajun is a corruption of the word Acadian), and settled in the bayou country after their expulsion from Nova Scotia, typically rely on game meats and heavy spices, to create their earthy "country" dishes. The latter cooking style was most notably popularized by Chef Paul Prudhomme, and his New Orleans restaurant K-Paul's is the place to be if you have a hankering for blackened anything.

But if it's a piquant, tomato rich, silky smooth sauce brimming with fresh shrimp you're craving, then sit yourself down to a plate of Galatoire's Shrimp Creole. Can't make it to New Orleans? Then make it yourself. Last time we were there, my husband bought me the Galatoire's Cookbook, and the recipe therein will turn out fine as is. However, even though I thought it was impossible to improve on perfection, I think I have done just that, adding my own tweaks and twists, little adjustments here and there, for what I believe is the perfect, perfect Shrimp Creole. Here it is.


SHRIMP CREOLE

5 large firm, ripe tomatoes
3 tablespoons salted butter
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 large sweet onion, diced
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)
1 teaspoon paprika
4 cups shrimp stock (recipe follows)
1 3/4 pounds medium shrimp (25 to 30 count), peeled and de-veined, tails removed
1/4 cup chopped parsley for garnish
Steamed white rice for 6


SHRIMP STOCK

1 3/4 to 2 pounds fresh shrimp shells and tails
1 large sweet onion, quartered
3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
2 bay leaves
10 to 20 black peppercorns, crushed
1 lemon, halved
1 gallon water
Peel and de-vein shrimp. Reserve shells for stock.

To make stock, place all stock ingredients in a large stockpot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heart to a low boil and simmer for one hour, skimming foam as necessary. Strain the stock and discard the solids.

NOTE: Stock can be made the day before and makes enough for three recipes of Shrimp Creole. I freeze the remainder of the stock in two batches for later use so I don’t have to make it each time I prepare the dish.

Bring about two quarts of water to boil in a large saucepan. Score the bottom of each tomato with a small “x” and blanch them in the water for about a minute or until the skin breaks.
Drain, cool and pull off the skin. Seed and dice. (To make seeding easier I use a grapefruit spoon to scoop out the seeds. A melon baller will work well too.)
Melt the butter in a large pot over high heat. Add the celery, bell peppers, onion and tomatoes and sauté for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and the tomatoes begin to dissolve.
Reduce heat to medium, Add tomato paste, bay leaves, salt, cayenne pepper and paprika. Simmer for 4 or 5 minutes to mix flavors then add shrimp stock.

Simmer the mixture over medium heart for 30 minutes, until sauce is slightly thickened.

NOTE: Sauce can be made a day before, refrigerated and reheated for the addition of the shrimp.

Add shrimp and simmer for an additional 10 minutes until shrimp are pink and cooked through. (Careful not to overcook or shrimp will be tough and rubbery.)

Garnish with parsley and serve over steamed rice. Serves 6.

My Greens Are Better Than Yours

This is the recipe that started it all, the inspiration for this blog and one of my favorite guilty pleasures -- guilty because although greens are definitely good for you, I'm not sure all that bacon is.

I didn’t fall in love with greens until shortly after I married, when a friend of my husband’s brought greens as his contribution to Thanksgiving dinner. He was from Texas and his greens were steeped in the drippings of freshly fried bacon and topped with the crumbles. Those greens were so good that if the man hadn’t been gay, I might have lost my bearings. As it was, I've had to be content with his recipe.

I serve my greens in a gray/green glazed greens bowl, (I dare you to say it five times real fast.), made by an old friend who happens to be a most excellent potter. A worthy vessel, it provides a splendid backdrop for a dish commonly so plain it needs one. (The greens sort of slip into the finish, and the blush of clay peeping through the glaze echos the crisp red brown of the bacon.) I guarantee you, these greens don’t just look better than yours; they are better than yours.



MY GREENS ARE BETTER THAN YOUR GREENS, GREENS

2 bunches collard greens
1 bunch mustard greens
1 bunch kale
1 bunch chard
1 large onion, chopped
3 large carrots, diced
3 large celery stalks, diced
1/2 pound bacon

1 smoked ham hock (optional)

Most greens we buy today are pre-washed, but you’ll want to wash them anyway, at least once, because the dirty little secret of cooking greens is that they are, well, usually quite dirty. Also you can buy packaged greens that have already been cut up, but I don’t advise it. They’re full of stalks and stems and take as long to pick over as preparing them from scratch. (My Mother always said you could tell a lazy cook by the number of stems in her greens.)

Wash greens and tear into bite size pieces, making sure to remove all stalks, stems and large ribs.

Brown bacon in a large pan or pot. (I use an 8 1/2 quart saucier pan.) Drain bacon and reserve.

Drain about half (or more -- leaving about 3 tablespoons) of the bacon grease from pan and discard. Add chopped vegetables to pan and sauté over medium heat until soft (about 10 to 15 minutes).

Add prepared greens, a few at a time, (the greens cook down quickly, making room for more), until all greens have been added to pot.

Throw in that ham hock (if using), lower heat and braise for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how tender you like them.

Crumble the reserved bacon, add to greens and serve.

Baptist Cheese Straws

I am a rabid fan of community cookbooks, and my very favorite are what I call "church lady cookbooks," those tomes of church supper staples, old and new, that are surely blessed by the savior himself.

The real Queen of Church Lady Cookbooks may well be the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s Baptist Dishes Worth Blessing, if only for the photo of the quintessential Baptist church lady on the cover. The table’s set with the best company china and silver goblets, and you just know she’s fantasizing about what she’d serve Jesus if he were to come to dinner. I’m thinking “Amiable Chicken Curry,” (page 81. It just wouldn’t do to serve the Savior pissed off poultry, would it?), with Mrs. Bobby Neese’s “Mayonnaise Quick Bread,” (page 127), Glennis Williams’ “Squash Balls,”(page 116) and Ivy O’Hara’s “7-Up Pound Cake” (page 152) for dessert. And of course for starters she’d serve that most southern of nibbles, cheddar cheese straws. I’ve tried them, and they are seriously good. They won't save your soul, they won't speak in tongues, but I swear you’ll never eat Cheetos again. And, BTW, Methodists like them too, as do all the other Protestants, the Catholics, and quite a few atheists and agnostics as well.


CHURCH LADY CHEESE STRAWS
(Compliments of Mrs. Claude Howe
Baptist Dishes Worth Blessing)

1 pound grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon red cayenne pepper
2 cups all-purpose flour

Place grated cheese and butter in large mixing bowl and allow to soften to room temperature. Cream by hand or with mixer. Sift together flour, salt and cayenne pepper. Gradually add dry ingredients to the butter and cheese. Mix thoroughly.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead five or six times. Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into strips, about 1/2 inch wide and four or five inches long.

Place strips on ungreased cookie sheet and bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until straws begin to brown around edges. Cool completely. Makes about 12 dozen.

The Real Deal Pimento Cheese

Living in Southern California, we are blessed with the opportunity to take long weekend trips to some of the best wine regions in the country. My favorite thing about wine country, other than the wine, is the occasion to picnic in some of the prettiest spots in California. And, for us southerners, it isn’t a picnic without pimento cheese sandwiches. There are as many pimento cheese recipes as there are southern cooks. My mother used to mix hers up by putting it through a big iron grinder that clamped on the end of the kitchen table, but that was before God gave us the Cuisinart. Her pimento cheese was really good. I think mine is better.

THE REAL DEAL PIMENTO CHEESE SANDWICHES

2 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
1 cup roasted pimento peppers (chopped & divided)
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon red pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
White sandwich bread

Shred cheeses using shredder disc of food processor.

Put cheeses in bowl of food processor with blade attachment and process until pulverized. Add mayonnaise, sugar, salt and pepper, processing until smooth.

Add 1/2 cup of the chopped pimentos, process until mixed.

Transfer mixture to small bowl, stir in reserved 1/2 cup of chopped pimentos. Adjust seasonings.

Refrigerate in lidded container until ready to use.

May be used immediately, but is best when flavors are allowed to blend for at least 24 hours.

For the sandwiches, stick with tradition and use plain white loaf bread. Trim the crusts and cut them half on the diagonal. Delicious with lemonade or a bottle of chilled Alma Rosa Rose. (Also very good spread on slices of apple, but you didn’t hear it from me.)

Killer Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake

Sometimes you need a quick chocolate fix and only a gooey, fudgey, dark, down and dirty chocolate cake will do. So I'm going to share one of my favorite, never fail antidotes for chocolate angst. This absolutely killer recipe comes from Kraft foods and contains three of the staples of what I like to call church lady cooking; cake mix, Jello pudding, and Cool Whip.

And the frosting is so good and easy you might want to make it your "default" chocolate frosting recipe. (I hate to admit it, but sometimes I keep a tub of it in the freezer to use in case of an "emergency," and find myself eating it out of the container with a spoon!)

Not the fanciest chocolate cake in the pantry, but it's so simple and so tasty I almost guarantee you'll make it again. (And BTW, if you tell anyone you got this recipe from me and ruin my reputation as a bona-fide scratch cook, I'll hunt you down like a dog.)

KILLER CHOCOLATE FUDGE LAYER CAKE

1 package chocolate cake mix
1 package Jello Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup water
2 1-ounce squares semisweet baking chocolate
Sliced almonds for garnish

Frosting: (Good for ANY chocolate cake)

6 1-ounce squares semisweet baking chocolate
1 16-ounce (or 2 8-ounce) tub Cool Whip

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease (or prepare with baking spray) 2 (9-inch) round cake pans. Beat cake mix, dry pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, oil and water in large bowl with electric mixer until well blended. Stir in 2 squares (2 ounces) of the chocolate, chopped. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 t0 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Remove from pans and cool completely.

Place remaining 6 squares (6 ounces) of chocolate and Cool Whip in microwaveable bowl and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir until blended and shiny. Cool. (It will be liquid at first. I put it into the freezer until it returns to the consistency of Cool Whip.) Place cake layer on serving plate, spread with 1/4 of the chocolate mixture. Place second layer on top. Spread remaining chocolate mixture over top and sides of cake. Garnish with almonds.

Note: If you want to lighten up the recipe, you can use fat free sour cream, fat free whipped topping, and even sugar free pudding mix, but I say, why bother.

Oh, My, Tomato Pie

I can’t believe it took a nice southern girl like me so long to discover tomato pie! This recipe comes from a friend in Mobile, Alabama and must be the reason God created the tomato.

NANCY'S TOMATO PIE

1 deep-dish 9-inch pie shell (purchased or make your own)
4 medium sized ripe tomatoes, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large or 2 medium sweet onions, coarsely chopped
10 to 12 large leaves fresh basil (optional)
3 tablespoons sauce & gravy flour (or plain flour)
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
Salt & pepper to taste

Prebake pie shell in 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to cool.

Reduce oven to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, slowly sauté chopped onion in olive oil over medium low heat for about 10 minutes, until caramelized, seasoning with salt and pepper. Let cool.

Peel tomatoes by dipping quickly into boiling water (the skins will slide right off) and slice.

Mix cheddar cheese with mayonnaise. Set aside.

Build pie in shell with two layers each of tomato slices, caramelized onion and 5 or 6 basil leaves. Sprinkle top of each layer with salt and pepper and half the flour.

Top pie with cheddar cheese/mayonnaise mixture. It should seal the pie and be about an inch thick.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Cool for about a 1/2 hour before serving.

Makes a great luncheon or light dinner served with a green salad, a crisp white wine, say Viognier, Riesling or a dry Sauvignon Blanc.

My Favorite Thing To Do With Tomatoes and Basil

We discovered Insalata Caprese in Italy a few years ago, and it’s the reason I decided to grow tomatoes this year. It’s so easy it should be criminal, and so elegant it’ll class up any meal. The key is to buy the very best ingredients you can find -- fresh basil, fresh (preferably vine ripened) tomatoes, fresh buffalo mozzarella, (real Italian mozzarella di bufala preferred, although there are some very good American brands, both available at high end supermarkets and specialty food stores), and top quality extra virgin olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar. (This dish will make the meal, so spend the money on the quality ingredients and scrimp on the meat!)
INSALATA CAPRESE

4 ripe tomatoes, sliced
8 ounces fresh buffalo mozzarella, sliced
1 bunch fresh basil
Salt & pepper to taste
Extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dress

Line salad plate with largest of basil leaves.

Layer sliced tomatoes, each topped with a basil leaf and a slice of the fresh mozzarella. Salt and pepper each layer to taste.

Top with reserved basil leaves. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Great with a medium rare Tuscan style steak, a glass of Brunello, and panacotta for dessert.

Almost Flourless Chocolate Cake

CHOCOLATE! Need I say more? As a dedicated chocoholic I'm always on the prowl for the next best chocolate cake, and this one just may be the ultimate. With only 3 tablespoons of flour, this single layer cake is almost a torte really, (I say who needs flour when you've got almost a pound of chocolate), and proof positive that a chocolate cake doesn't have to be a towering concoction covered in butter cream frosting to be the bomb!

This is a super rich and luxurious cake, and I like to amp up the decadence factor even further by using a high quality chocolate, like Valrhona or Scharffen Berger, and European style butter. However, once, in a pinch, I just used a bunch of odds and ends of leftover baking chocolates and plain unsalted supermarket brand butter and it turned out just fine!

It's quick, very easy to make, and, dare I say it, foolproof. Plus, it may just be the best chocolate cake I've ever put into my mouth.


BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE AND ALMOND CAKE

12 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
3 tablespoons cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 eggs
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat over to 325 degrees. Butter 9-inch springform pan (Instead I just spray it with Baker's Secret or another baking spray). Stir chocolate and butter in top of double boiler set over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool chocolate mixture to lukewarm.

Grind almonds, in food processor with flour and salt. Using electric mixer, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla in large bowl until thick, about 2 minutes. Fold in almond mixture then chocolate mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake until tester inserted into center comes out with just moist crumbs, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Cool in pan (cake center will fall). Press edges down with fork to level top. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Cut around cake, remove pan sides. Garnish with additional toasted almonds and/or powdered sugar if desired. Serve with fresh whipped cream or creme fraiche, or just eat it plain. SO good.

Corn Pudding to Die For

Down South, where I come from, the funeral feast is a time honored tradition. It is largely an on-going orgy of “covered dishes” commencing the moment the deceased deceases and continuing until the day after the interment -- a sometimes week long ritual that must harken back to the old Appalachian custom of sin eating, although in this instance we’re all doing the eating, and enjoying it too, if that could be possible given the circumstances. (Thus the true meaning of the words “comfort food.”) And we were Methodist, and nobody does a funeral like the Methodists, except maybe the Episcopalians, and only because they aren't teetotalers and usually serve “punch." Gayden Metcalfe and Charlotte Hays observe in their most excellent, must read, book, “Being Dead is No Excuse, The Official Southern Ladies Guide to Hosting the Perfect Funeral,” that the casserole is the most characteristically Methodist death dish, and they are so right. Women of my mother's generation used to keep a stash of pre-made casseroles in the freezer so when somebody died they could just pop one in the oven and have it to the family before the body was even cold.

While I've never actually tried freezing this scrumptious corn casserole, I have enjoyed something like it at the very best home visitations and family repasts in my native Georgia. The original recipe for my version of this traditional dish came from the Spices of the World Cookbook, published by McCormick spices many years ago, one of the first cookbooks I ever bought and still one of my favorites. (If you ever find one, snap it up.) Trust me, it's much too good to save just for funerals.

SWEET CORN PUDDING

4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
3 cans cream style corn
2 cans whole kernel corn, drained
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, melted
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons arrowroot (or cornstarch)
1/1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt (Season-All)
1/4 cup chopped onions
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
Dash cayenne or red pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs and milk in large bowl. Add corn and butter.

Mix sugar, arrowroot, seasoned salt and ground mustard, add to corn mixture. Stir in onions. Season to taste with a dash of cayenne pepper.

Pour into buttered 3-quart baking dish.

Bake 1 hour until top is lightly browned. Stir once, midway through cooking.

Serves 6 to 8, unless you give in to the temptation of making a meal of it.

If it's Red Beans and Rice, this must be Monday

If it's Red Beans and Rice, this must be Monday

It’s Monday. It’s also probably the hottest day of the summer so far. Not a day I would choose to spend in the kitchen laboring over a pot of hot steaming beans, although that’s exactly what I’m doing.

They’re having a potluck luncheon to say "goodbye" to a co-worker at the hubby’s office today, and my dear, sweet, clueless as to how much trouble it’s going to be, partner volunteered Red Beans and Rice. (Being from New Orleans I guess he wanted his contribution to reflect his heritage, although since the guy who's leaving is Chinese, I don’t see the point.) He offered to make them himself, and probably meant it too, but as it happens I’d MUCH rather do it myself than walk him through every step of the way. Probably better to preserve our marriage too, if you follow.

Coincidentally, or not, Red Beans and Rice was long the traditional Creole Monday meal. It was a dish that could stand to simmer unattended while the womenfolk did the Monday chore of washing the clothes, (sort of a pure, early example of multi-tasking, which women have done all along), and there was also usually a ham bone left over from Sunday dinner to throw in the pot.

Customarily no other meat was added, but rather sausage links or pork chops would be served on the side. Most contemporary versions of the dish however include andouille, or some other spicy sausage. In my opinion it's absolutely worth it to seek out andouille. We get ours freshly made from a local sausage kitchen here in Los Angeles, but Savorie’s makes a very good packaged andouille that can be found almost nationwide, or, that failing, ordered over the internet.

Some purists insist that only homemade chicken stock and slow cooking, extra long grain, white rice will do. I say phooey on them. It’s work enough chopping all those veggies, and you've got laundry to do! Do yourself a favor and go with canned chicken broth (low sodium preferred) and Success Boil-in-Bag white rice, cooked in more canned broth. I promise you, nobody will know the difference. Not even you.
As for the hot sauce, I’m a traditionalist here and stick with the original Tabasco brand. How much to use depends on how spicy your sausage is and how hot and spicy the crowd you’re cooking for likes their food. If you want to just leave it out and let everyone add their own at the table, that’s fine too.

It’s starting to smell really good in here. It’s also getting really hot, but at least I’m not having to wash clothes at the same time.

RED BEANS AND RICE (for a crowd)

4 cups dried red kidney beans
1 cup chopped bacon
4 cups sliced andouille sausage
1 jumbo Vidalia (or other sweet) onion, chopped
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced green bell pepper
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
3 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (more or less to taste)
12 cups canned reduced-sodium chicken broth

6 to 8 packets Success rice
6 cups canned reduced-sodium chicken broth

Soak beans overnight in cold fresh water.

In a large stockpot or sauté pan sauté chopped bacon over medium heat until slightly brown and grease is released. Add sausage. Sauté for 6 to 8 minutes until sausage is lightly browned.
Add the onion, celery and bell pepper, (the so called Holy Trinity of Creole cuisine), along with the garlic, bay leaves, thyme, salt, pepper, oregano and hot pepper sauce. Sauté over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until vegetables are soft, stirring occasionally.
Drain beans. Add beans and chicken broth to pot and bring to a simmer.
Cook, uncovered, over medium low heat until beans are tender and mixture reaches a creamy consistency (at least 1 hour), skimming surface occasionally to remove any excess grease or foam.
Prepare rice according to package directions, substituting canned chicken broth for water. (Or use equal parts chicken broth and water.)

Serve beans over rice with a bottle of hot sauce on the side.

Serves 12 to 15.

NOTE: The recipe for the beans can easily be downsized to serve 6 by halving all ingredients.