Tag: Cajun

Categories
Main Dish

Etouffee is easy to make and ‘shrimp’ly delicious

Shrimp etouffee is made with an easy, homemade stock and lots of fresh vegetables to create a spicy, filling meal.
Shrimp etouffee is made with an easy, homemade stock and lots of fresh vegetables to create a spicy, filling meal.

I’m of the opinion that any dish named using its French term immediately sounds 1,000 times fancier.

Souffles (puffed up egg dishes) and fondue sovoyarde (cheese dip) and crème brulee (custard topped with burnt sugar) all sound infinitely luxurious. Even foie gras (duck liver pate) almost sounds appetizing.

Shrimp etouffee is another of those dishes. “Etouffee” just means “smothered” in French, but having never tried it, I was sure it was way too complicated to create in my own kitchen.

It turns out I was very wrong about that, and not only is shrimp etouffee relatively simple to create, it’s delicious, too.

The recipe I used comes from the blog “Chili Pepper Madness” by Mike Hultquist. You can find the original post at https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/shrimp-etouffee/. I added extra veggies, garlic and seasoning in my version.

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Shrimp Etouffee

Shrimp etouffee is made with an easy, homemade stock and lots of fresh vegetables to create a spicy, filling meal.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Cajun, Creole
Keyword cajun seasoning, celery, Creole seasoning, crushed tomatoes, fresh thyme, green bell pepper, hot sauce, shrimp, spicy, white rice, Worcestershire, yellow onion

Ingredients

  • 1 pound shrimp shelled (keep shells for stock)
  • 5 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil divided
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 2 green bell peppers diced (keep scraps for stock)
  • 1 medium-sized yellow onion diced (keep scraps for stock)
  • 4 stalks celery diced (keep scraps for stock)
  • 4 to 6 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
  • 15 ounces diced tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Creole or Cajun seasoning, divided
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
  • 1 tablespoon of your favorite hot sauce I used Chipotle Tabasco
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Cooked white rice for serving

Instructions

  • Heat one tablespoon of oil in a pot over medium heat. Start by prepping your shrimp and vegetables. Toss all vegetable scraps, along with the shrimp shells into the oil. Cook the shells and scraps for about five minutes, stirring regularly, until the vegetable scraps are softened. Add the chicken stock to the pot and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the solids out of the stock and set the stock aside while you make the sauce.
  • In a stock pot or Dutch oven, heat three tablespoons oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the flour and stir to create a paste. Continue stirring constantly for about 10 minutes or until the roux reaches a light brown color. (Don’t let the roux burn. If it does, discard it and start over.)
  • Add the diced peppers, onion and celery. Cook for about five minutes or until the vegetables are starting to soften.
  • Add the tomatoes, along with their juices, and the garlic and saute for another minute.
  • Stir in the stock you made earlier, making sure to break up any clumps of flour. Once everything is mixed well, stir in two tablespoons Creole seasoning, Worcestershire, hot sauce, thyme and salt and pepper.
  • Let the mixture simmer for at least 20 minutes before serving, regularly stirring to keep anything from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
  • While the sauce simmers, heat one tablespoon of oil in a skillet. Season the shrimp with one teaspoon of the Creole seasoning, and saute them in the hot oil, one or two minutes per side, until they are cooked through.
  • Serve the sauce over the rice and top with shrimp.

We absolutely loved this. I was a little nervous about making shrimp stock, but it was super easy, and it added a ton of flavor to the overall dish. It was also good and spicy. If you’re not much of a spice fan, you might decrease the Creole seasoning when you make it, but we thought it had exactly the right amount of heat. I also used chicken stock to make the rice to go with this, and I think that added even more depth of flavor.

And in addition to making something delicious, I have enjoyed mentioning to people that I made such a fancy-sounding meal. I might have to give some more French dishes a try…minus the duck livers.

This piece first appeared in print on Aug. 25, 2022.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Appetizer Side Dish

You won’t want to hush about this week’s southern dish

Homemade hushpuppies are a pretty easy side dish to create.
Homemade hushpuppies are a pretty easy side dish to create.

This summer, we have had the privilege of welcoming an intern from the University of Kansas into our newsroom.

It’s amazing how quickly someone can go from being a stranger to being part of the family, and that’s definitely been the case with Will. So, with his final day looming this week, Joey and I decided to have him over for dinner to treat him to a home-cooked meal and thank him for all of his work this summer.

I sent him a text message before setting the menu, double checking that he didn’t have any allergies or major dislikes before I started planning, and he gave me a carte blanche to do whatever I liked.

As anyone who knows me is aware, that can be a bit dangerous, but after some pondering and discussion, Joey and I decided it was going to be Cajun night at the Youngs, mostly because Joey has been craving some hushpuppies lately.

I’ll share the other recipes from the weekend with you in future columns, but I wanted to start with those hushpuppies, because they were absolutely delicious and actually way easier to make than I ever would have thought.

The recipe I used comes from the blog “Melissa’s Southern Style Kitchen.” You can find her original post at https://www.melissassouthernstylekitchen.com/hushpuppies/. I added extra seasonings in my version.

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Hushpuppies

Homemade hushpuppies are a pretty easy side dish to create.
Course Appetizer, Side Dish
Keyword cornmeal, fried, garlic powder, hushpuppies, Old Bay, onion powder, seafood seasoning, yellow onion

Ingredients

  • 1 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons seafood seasoning I used Old Bay
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup buttermilk or regular milk with a splash of vinegar
  • 1 yellow onion minced
  • 4 to 6 cups canola or vegetable oil

Instructions

  • In a large mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, seafood seasoning, salt, garlic powder and onion powder and stir until everything is well combined.
  • In a small bowl, beat the egg with the buttermilk, and then add the mixture to the larger bowl, mixing until all of the dry ingredients are evenly moistened.
  • Fold in the minced onion, and then set the mixture aside.
  • In a stock pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat to 350 degrees. (You’ll want to put enough oil in the pot to make it a couple inches deep.) Using a two-inch ice cream scoop or a large spoon, carefully drop the batter into the hot oil. (I was able to do about five hushpuppies at a time in my pot.) As the hushpuppies cook, slide a slotted spoon underneath them to make sure they’re not sticking to the bottom.
  • Let them fry, turning them to let them evenly brown, for about four minutes or until your hushpuppies have reached your desired color.
  • Carefully remove them with a slotted spoon and place them on a paper-towel-lined plate. Sprinkle them with a little more seafood seasoning, if desired.
  • Wait until the oil is back to 350 degrees, and repeat until you have used all of the batter.
  • Serve hot.

These were everything Joey had been dreaming of, and he was super excited with how they turned out. I was, too. They were a little sweet but also had fabulous onion flavor without it being overwhelming, and they were a great side dish.

Truth be told, I could probably just eat a plate of them for dinner by themselves, too.

We ended up having a wonderful dinner together with Will, and we’ll be sorry to see him go back home this week. He’s been a great addition to our crew. Maybe someday we’ll be able to entice him into coming back and working with us again. I mean, at least he knows he’ll eat well.

This piece first appeared in print on Aug. 18, 2022.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Side Dish

A quick Cajun dish will do ‘rice’ly

Cajun rice comes together easily and is a flavorful side dish.
Cajun rice comes together easily and is a flavorful side dish.

During a recent lazy weekend, we were getting a meal ready to eat in front of the television to watch a basketball game. As is often the case, Joey and I decided to share duties in the kitchen to get our meal prepared. Joey was going to cook a rack of ribs, and I told him I’d take care of the side.

He was making some Cajun ribs, so I decided a nice side of Cajun rice would be perfect, already tasting the sweet red peppers and warm seasoning in my mouth.

Except he wasn’t making Cajun ribs. He was making chipotle ribs.

I have no doubt that he told me the right flavor profile. In fact, I’m sure he told me exactly what he had planned, and I think my brain just filled in what it really wanted to hear.

So, this week I’m sharing a recipe for some Cajun rice with you, despite us not eating anything else even remotely Louisiana-related with it.

This comes from the blog “The Mountain Kitchen” by David and Debbie Spivey. You can find their original post at https://www.themountainkitchen.com/easy-cajun-rice/. I changed up the amounts of some items in my version.

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Cajun Rice

Cajun rice comes together easily and is a flavorful side dish.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Cajun
Keyword bell pepper, rice

Ingredients

  • 1 cup white rice cooked to package directions
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large red bell pepper diced
  • 6 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon Cajun or Creole seasoning
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the peppers and saute until they reach your desired tenderness.
  • Add the garlic and saute until it just starts to brown. Stir in the tomato paste and let cook for about one more minute.
  • Add in the rice, lemon juice and seasonings, stirring to combine everything and making sure the rice is heated through. Serve.

On the plus side, I can tell you from experience that this rice does, indeed, pair well with chipotle-seasoned meats, so if you want an adventure, go for it.

Also, if you want to make this a meal by itself, season some peeled shrimp with some of your Cajun seasoning and saute it in a little butter or olive oil over medium heat. Add it to the rice, and it’s a great meal.

I’m glad I have an understanding husband who just rolled his eyes at me and dished up a large scoop of rice alongside his ribs.

I suppose if you’re going to be a bad listener, the least you can do is apologize with something delicious.

This piece first appeared in print on Jan. 16, 2020.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

Can’t stop thinking ‘gumbout’ New Orleans dish

New Orleans shrimp and sausage gumbo is a spicy, filling meal.
New Orleans shrimp and sausage gumbo is a spicy, filling meal.

Sometimes I let my fridge do the talking when I’m trying to figure out what to make for dinner, so when I had several leftover stalks of celery, most of an onion and lots of diced bell peppers at my disposal, I took to the Internet for a solution.

Much to Joey’s delight, I decided on trying a recipe for gumbo.

I headed to the grocery store to finish out my ingredient list and realized that one item on the list, gumbo file, which is made from sassafras leaves, is not sold in most Kansas grocery stores (if someone knows a hidden spot it exists, let me know).

After doing a little research, I decided to get a little weird and substitute for the gumbo file with a bit of root beer, since it has much the same flavor. I tried my gumbo before and after adding it, and I had to admit that it had a nice influence on the taste, so just go with me on this one.

I found this recipe on the blog “Little Spice Jar.” You can find it at http://littlespicejar.com/new-orleans-gumbo-shrimp-sausage/. I added more garlic and changed up the type of Tabasco (which I highly recommend), and of course, subbed in root beer in my version.

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New Orleans Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo

New Orleans shrimp and sausage gumbo is a spicy, filling meal.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Cajun
Keyword Andouille sausage, bell pepper, celery, gumbo, New Orleans, onions, shrimp

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup high-heat oil I used canola
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 onion diced (I used yellow)
  • 2 bell peppers diced (any color)
  • 4 stalks celery diced
  • 8-10 cloves minced garlic
  • 8 ounces Andouille sausage sliced
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning I used Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
  • 2 tablespoons Tabasco sauce I used chipotle Tabasco
  • 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
  • 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 14.5 ounces stewed tomatoes and juices diced
  • 2 pounds raw shrimp peeled and de-veined
  • 4 tablespoons root beer
  • White rice for serving

Instructions

  • Heat oil over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven. Whisk in the flour until it is smooth and then stir continuously for about 20 minutes or until the roux turns to a medium brown (the author calls it “peanut butter color”).
  • Stir in the onions, bell peppers and celery and keep stirring until they soften (about 10 minutes).
  • Add the garlic and sausage and keep stirring until you can really smell the garlic.
  • Now add the bay leaves, Cajun seasoning, Tabasco sauce, cayenne, chicken broth and tomatoes, making sure to scrape the pan to get all the good bits off the bottom.
  • Bring the mixture to a very low boil and lower the heat to medium-low and leave the lid on for about 15 minutes.
  • Stir in the shrimp and cook for about 10 more minutes or until the shrimp is done (they will curl up a bit and become opaque). Add the root beer and salt and pepper to taste.
  • Remove the bay leaves and serve the gumbo over white rice.

We reheated this on the stove over the next week so as not to overcook the shrimp, and it was good every single time. It makes a ton of food, especially when you’re serving it over rice, so we had quite a few meals of gumbo before it was all gone.

It’s definitely on the spicy side, so you could leave out the cayenne and replace it with paprika to tame it a bit if you like, but it was super good with the amount of kick it had.

It also helped me clean out my fridge and gave me a new use for root beer that I wasn’t expecting.

Sometimes you have to be inventive and flexible in your Midwestern kitchen.

This piece first appeared in print on April 5, 2018.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

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