Archive for the Category » Seafood «

Creole Crab and Avocado Salad

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was exceptional. This year we celebrated the holiday at my sister-in-law’s house with 34 of the hubby’s closest relatives—his parents, siblings, their families and his double first cousins and their families. I think I’ve mentioned Larry’s double first cousins before. Remember? One of his dad’s brothers married one of his mom’s sisters. They had four kids who are now all grown up with kids of their own. Cool, huh? I think so. Anyway, as you might expect, this group—which currently spans three [ ... ]

Finger Food Friday: Gulf Shrimp Ceviche

My first born, Chandler, is on a ceviche kick. Her enthusiasm for all types of seafood marinated in lime juice started a couple of months ago when my sister-in-law made an amazing batch for a party. Chrissy’s ceviche was full of sweet, juicy shrimp and creamy bites of avocado marinated in the perfect amount of acid and seasonings. Since then, Chandler has also tried two restaurant versions which she deemed good–just not as good as Aunt Chrissy’s! More recently, I had the good fortune of getting my hands on several pounds of straight-off-the-boat Louisiana Gulf shrimp [ ... ]

Blackened Scallops with Grilled Corn Guacamole

Scallops are not a popular household ingredient in New Orleans and they’ve only been a noticeable part of the local restaurant scene for about 15 years. Honestly, had I not moved to Atlanta, I probably would have never cooked them for my family. Nothing against scallops. It’s just that in New Orleans scallops are, as local food critic, radio host and author Tom Fitzmorris points out, “exotic.” They don’t come from local waters. But there are so many other amazing, fresh seafood options that do, which is why scallops don’t get a whole lot of local attention. Here in the [ ... ]

Finger Food Friday: Popcorn Crawfish

Popcorn Crawfish, also known as Cajun Popcorn, is simply precooked crawfish tails that have been battered and deep-fried. At one point in time, Popcorn Crawfish dominated the appetizer section of local menus. These days, not so much. But I still enjoy them and the kids really love them. They’re the perfect fried seafood snack. Each morsel is small—like a popped kernel of corn—which makes them super fun and easy to eat. They’re also very addictive, again like popcorn. I usually serve them straight up. But they also take kindly to any number [ ... ]

Finger Food Friday: Ponchatoula Strawberry Salsa

I introduced you all to this salsa last May when I was celebrating Cinco de Mayo South Louisiana-style. Remember my Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Tostadas? This salsa was one of the garnishments. But since it’s finally spring and one of the sweetest signs of spring in the GNO (Greater New Orleans Area) is the appearance of fresh, Louisiana strawberries at local farmer’s markets and grocery stores, I thought it was only right to give this salsa its own time in the spotlight. Because besides being the perfect sidekick to shrimp tostadas, Ponchatoula Strawberry Salsa is also [ ... ]

Crabmeat on Toast

Preserving family recipes goes beyond collecting and deciphering faded handwritten notes or stained and splattered index cards and patching together these bits and pieces of the past into legible lists of ingredients and sensible instructions. The process also includes the more meaningful task of tracing the recipe’s origin back to a special person or place in time then tying all the elements together with a string of well-told stories punctuated with lots of passion and pride (as well as the occasional reference to a crazy relative or catastrophic kitchen mishap). It’s these associations that remind us of experiences [ ... ]

Shrimp Etouffée

When most people hear the word etouffée, their minds immediately jump to crawfish. That’s fair, considering this method of cooking is made most frequently with crawfish. But other shellfish, poultry and wild game can also be cooked successfully in this fashion. After all, etouffée is nothing more than a fancy word for smothered. Well, smothered South Louisiana-style. And by now you all know what that means–cooked in a deeply flavored sauce that’s made with a roux, the Holy Trinity, a small amount of homemade stock and a delectable combination of spices. When broken down this [ ... ]

Finger Food Friday: Seafood Nachos

If you’ve tuned into the Weather Channel at all since my last post, you’re probably privy to the fact that it’s still cold up here in the Northwest Quadrant of the ATL. Yes, we were among the “lucky” ones—those above “that ridge.” So since Tuesday, we have been dealing with snow and ice and snow and ice. And although today is absolutely gorgeous and all the snow and ice has melted (at least on our side of the street), the kids are enjoying their fourth snow day this week (lest you forget, they were off ALL last [ ... ]

Oysters Rockefeller Turnovers

Oysters are extremely delicious this time of year–especially those sweet, lightly briny Louisiana Gulf Oysters. If you’re looking for something impressive and easy to pull together this New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day, try these turnovers. They’re perfectly portioned riffs on the classic Oysters Rockefeller less the time and mess associated with shucking your own. These turnovers can be pulled together quickly with a pint of shucked oysters and a package of frozen puff pastry. They can also be assembled ahead of time and baked just before serving. Oh, and they reheat nicely too. [ ... ]

Grilled Oysters with Bacon and Jalapeños

The Louisiana oyster season just recently began and already I've had more luscious Louisiana bivalves than I did during the entire season last year. That's a wonderful thing. My mass consumption has been due in large part to a mini sack the hubby and I had shipped up a couple of weeks back. Those 100 or so plump and briny beauties made for a pretty serious R&D session in my kitchen. Over the course of two days, I researched and developed fun new flavor combinations for slurping and shooting raw oysters and created several exciting new [ ... ]