My Holiday Cooking: Shrimp Soup & Broccoli Salad

Hey, Blogging friends!

I know that my blog has been focused lately on the arrival of our sweet, awesome, wonderful, fantastic, adorable, precious baby boy, so I wanted to be sure to add a new post that focuses back on another love of my life: cooking! While my holiday cooking this year was not as intense as last (due to previously mentioned baby), I was able to whip up a couple of my favorite dishes for some family get togethers, and I wanted to be sure to share them with you! If you follow the links, you will be taken to my step by step Snapguides of how to make these delicious dishes.

The first recipe is for a New Orleans classic: Shrimp and Corn Soup. This is one of my FAVORITE soup recipes ever. I could literally eat the entire pot given the chance. The first time I had it, I am pretty sure I went back for fourths or fifths, and it was only the appetizer for the meal! Everyone in the city has their own spin on it. Some people make a roux to thicken the soup, some use this while others use that...but it is always delicious. You can even customize the soup to include your favorite shellfish: crawfish, crab meat...maybe even lobster! This particluar recipe I have is divine! It is slightly sweet, devilishly spicy, and full of cajun flavor. I have NEVER made this for anyone who didn't go back for at least seconds, and at one party, the host packed up the leftovers and stuck them in her fridge before I even got a chance to offer. With the cold snaps going on all over our country right now, this is a must make item! You can thank me later.

Shrimp and Corn Soup

Ingredients:

3 lbs of fresh or frozen shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 large yellow onion

3 cloves of garlic

1 stick of butter

1 can of Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles, drained

1 quart of half and half

1 quart of heavy cream

2 cans of cream style corn

2 cans of whole kernel corn, drained (or an equivalent of fresh or frozen corn)

1 pound of Velveeta, cubed

2 T light brown sugar

2 t dried thyme

3 T cajun seasoning (I like Slap Ya Mama's or Tony's)

1 T liquid crab boil (I prefer Zatarain's)

 

Melt butter in a large pot on the stove top over medium heat. Dice your onion and finely mince your garlic. Add to melted butter and saute until onions begin to soften and garlic is fragrant. (Be careful not to burn your garlic.) Add your Rotel and shrimp. Stir until shrimp begin to turn pink. Add a capful (about 1 T) of liquid crab boil and the cream and half and half. Stir to combine and bring mixture to a boil. When it starts to boil, reduce the heat to keep the soup at a simmer. Once simmering, add in both types of corn. Toss in the cubed Velveeta and spices. Stir at a simmer just until the cheese has melted. Done!

The second recipe is for a simple Mississippi tradition: Broccoli Salad. You cannot go to a dinner-on-the-grounds at church or a family get together without having this light, crunchy, sweet and tangy salad somewhere on the table. It is a perfect compliment to really rich dishes. I love serving it with my chicken spaghetti. We had it over the holidays with a large family dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and cabbage casserole. (There are so many things right with that sentence!)

Broccoli Salad

2 heads of broccoli

1 small red onion, finely chopped

1 C of mayonnaise

1/2 C of white sugar

1/4-1/2 C of white vinegar

golden raisins

sunflower seeds

shredded sharp cheddar cheese

real bacon bits

chopped pecans (optional)

 

To prepare the salad, chop the broccoli off of the heads into bit size pieces. In a pot of boiling water, blanch the broccoli for about 60 seconds (until bright green). Pull broccoli from boiling water and plunge into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. (You aren't trying to soften the broccoli, just brighten it up.) Drain broccoli through a strainer and allow to sit and dry a bit while you make the dressing. In a bowl, combine the mayonnaise, white sugar, and white vinegar. Taste the dressing and adjust amounts as you see fit. (Although this dressing has mayo, it is more of a vinaigrette consistency than a creamy dressing.) In a serving dish, combine the broccoli, red onion, raisins, sunflower seeds, cheese, bacon bits, and pecans. Pour dressing over the salad and toss together to combine. Serve right away or (preferably) let it sit a couple of hours or overnight for flavors to develop.

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I do. They will make a great addition to any recipe box. They are easy to make and perfect for any occasion. Now, go forth and cook, my friends!

In Christ Alone,
Brittney

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NOLA Crawfish Pies

Hello, my blogosphere friends!

Have things ever been so busy lately. With only ten weeks left in my pregnancy, it is starting to feel like it is flying by; in addition, school has started back full swing, our small group has started meeting again, and we are trying to finish prepping in the meantime for baby's arrival. Needless to say, it hasn't left time for much extra, particularly posting for my blog. I have some great posts coming up, though. I have received the fabric I ordered from Carousel Designs (It is gorgeous!) and will be making a baby blanket tutorial soon. We are also getting close to nursery decorating mode, and I can't wait to document our progress.

In the meantime, I have prepared a post for you about one of my other passions: cooking! I have featured a classic Mississippi dish, Peach Cobbler, so I decided to put a little NOLA in your repertoire this week: Crawfish Pie. One of the best things about being a NOLA transplanted Mississippi girl is having all of my favorite family recipes from the hospitality state while learning classic New Orleans recipes from Prince Charming's family in the Big Easy.

These pies are delicious and incredibly easy to make. They are a great appetizer,  entree, or side item. They are a show-stopper at parties and showers, and look elegant enough to really spruce up any table spread. I hope you enjoy these crawfish pies as much as I do! 

Crawfish Pies

Chop up some green onion, green bell pepper, yellow onion, and celery. You want to make your dice pretty small if you are doing mini-pies like I am. You can do this ahead of time to save time on cooking day.

Next, finely mince about two tablespoon of garlic. (I am making a double recipe in these pics for our small group; feel free to half everything you see for a smaller batch.)

In a large skillet, melt down two sticks of butter. (It makes it oh so yummy!)

Throw in your chopped vegetables and sauté until tender. Sprinkle in a bit of salt (not too much here as we have more ingredients to add) and some black pepper as the veggies cook.

While the veggies get happy, grab a pound of Mexican Velveeta. (If you can't find Mexican Velveeta, a jalapeño cheese roll would work. You might even get away with a pound of regular Velveeta with a can of well drained Rotel.)

Chop the Velveeta into small cubes. This will help it melt quicker and more evenly when we add it to our veggies soon. 

Next, open two cans of cream of celery soup. This adds some body and extra flavor to the pies.

When your veggies are tender, throw in your two cans of cream of celery soup...

and the Velveeta cubes. Stir this frequently until the cheese has melted and everything is combined.

Now comes the star of the show: Louisiana crawfish tails. I have two pounds here (again, this is a double recipe), and I bought these in the freezer section at Sam's. I always try to buy local crawfish instead of that stuff from across the Pacific, but use what you can find! After a boil, we like to peel all the extra crawfish and freeze the tails ourselves for future use. :)

We will also be adding a dash of Worcestershire sauce with the tails.

Once the soup and cheese are all combined, throw in your crawfish tails and your Worcestershire. I also added a couple big dashes of hot sauce and a sprinkle of Cajun seasoning. Can't hurt, right?

Stir it all up and cook it together for about ten minutes. This is a glorious mixture! You may be tempted to pour it over pasta. Feel free; I won't tell!

Next, layout your mini-pie/tart shells. I buy the freezer section kind, but if you are an incredibly talented baker or just have the time on your hands, knock yourself out making your own. I also want to add here that I lined the baking sheet with foil in case of any spill-over. (You will see it in the next pie pic.)

I have to make mention that my Mississippi-NOLA collided life even spills into recipes. That's right...these pie shells are made in Natchez, Mississippi. 

Fill up your pie shells with the filling. This double batch made two baking sheets full! 

I think in all, I ended up with 28 mini pies. Not a bad showing for such a simple recipe, and don't they look so professional! You can stop here a day ahead and just pop these in the oven the day of your party.

Place the pies in a 350 degree Farenheit oven for 20-30 minutes or until pies are bubbly and starting to brown on top. I like to turn on my convection oven for these babies just to keep cooking even. check on them about half-way theough and turn the pan if needed for even cooking. Pull out and let cool. That's it! You are ready to serve. 

These go great with salad and French bread, jambalaya, gumbo, or even stand alone! Trust me on this; this recipe is a keeper! 

I hope y'all enjoy! Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Brittney

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Rain and Sushi...

Today got a little crazy! When you live in a city that sits below sea level, a little rain goes a long way. And a long way is typically UP...up to your curb, your door, you car's bumper...yeah. So, yesterday we experienced a couple of hours of fairly moderate rain fall by my house. I had to drive (maybe more like float) to church to teach my nursery class, so I caught some images to share with you. 

Just a typical rainy afternoon in NOLA. I don't often get out and about in such weather, and I couldn't believe these big trucks and SUVs had water so close to their doors. My little CRV made it through, and I thought it made it ok, but this morning I have noticed a mildewy smell developing in the car. I think Prince Charming will have to investigate when I get home tonight. 

Since the weather was so bad, I was running behind on my afternoon errands and commute; so I didn't get to eat dinner before church. I didn't have to be bummed for long. I was craving sushi (Don't worry pregnancy police; I only eat cooked items at the sushi place now that I have a baby on board.) and knew if I waited, I would get to dine with PC. ;) Being a minister makes for long Wednesdays for him. 

After five years of marriage, he still makes my heart flutter, and I cannot get enough of time spent with him. So after church, we headed over to Taste of Tokyo in River Ridge. We ordered a birthday roll, a super snow crab roll, and a coco roll. As always, I got the three sauce side of special sauce, eel sauce, and sirachi sauce. This place makes beautiful and delicious sushi! Check it out.

After a dreary, rainy day, something as simple as this awesome dinner with my handsome husband made it all better! Icing on the cake: the face of my Jack Russel, Desmond, that was waiting for me when I came home. 

All I had left to say after such a long, rainy NOLA day as I was so tired and ready for bed was...oh, what a night! ;)

Y'all Come Back Now, Ya Hear?

Brittney

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