I may have a new favorite cook book - Kevin Belten's New Orleans Kitchen. I've made three dishes out of it now, two reviewed below, one review coming next week. I'm really enjoying some '"Nawlin's" flavors. Though I have been modifying somewhat to lighten these because I'm finding these first few to be somewhat overkill in the cream, cheese, and cream cheese department.
The Meal Plan
Sun (L) take n bake pizza (S) Shrimp Bread
Mon (yoga) leftovers
Tues - Korean Noodles and [pork]
Wed (SOUPer bowl potluck) leftover rice and chicken
Thur (snowstorm!) leftover rice and chicken
Fri (Vet appt) leftover Noodles
Lunches - Teriyaki stew with rice
Shrimp Bread (modified from Kevin Belton's New Orleans Kitchen)
Had to modify this one since I live in the middle of the states, just south of the Canadian border and frozen crawfish, raw or cooked, is hard to find.
- I used 1 lb of raw, peeled and de-veined shrimp, coarsely chopped in lieu of cooked crawfish.
- I cut back the cream cheese to 4oz, because, seriously, 8oz? Yikes. Talk about rich! 4oz was still almost too much, but it worked.
- I kept the mayo pretty light because it's more of a moisture barrier than a flavor - I mean, it IS flavor, but when combined with the cheeses, yeah, also very rich. So, I kept it to a thin spread.
Was this good? Oh yeah. Recommended!
Serves 4-6 (I got 5 servings)
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| photo from the internet |
mayonnaise to taste
2 tbsp butter
3/4 cup chopped sweet yellow onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb of raw, peeled and de-veined shrimp, coarsely chopped
3/4 chopped green onion
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp Creole seasoning
4 oz cream cheese, softened and cut into chunks
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Preheat oven to 375* Prepare a baking sheet with either aluminum foil, parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Slice bread in half lengthwise and place on prepared baking sheet. Apply a thin coat of mayo to each cut half.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat and saute the onion until softened, about 5 minutes (depending on your stove). Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add shrimp, green onion, and parsely and cook until shrimp are opaque, about 5 minutes. Add Creole seasoning and stir. Add cream cheese, remove from heat (my notes - I left it on the heat for this part), and continue to stir until cheese is melted and thickened.
Spread mixture evenly over prepared bread halves. Top with cheese and sprinkle with paprika. Bake for about 15 minutes - or until cheese is bubbly. Serve warm
Flan (modified from Kevin Belton's New Orleans Kitchen)
My first time making flan. Ironically, the night after I made it, the episode aired on PBS. Since I had problems with my sugar/caramel mixture, it was helpful. While I followed the recipe and directions, I came to the conclusion there was not enough water. So when I poured the sugar/caramel into my ramikins, it basically hardened immediately into a sucker-solid mass. After baking, I had enough glaze that these were super tasty. My other observation was I did needed a solid 50 minutes to cook 6 ramikins. Next time, I may try the pie plate option.
I would make them again, easy to prep ahead and have in the fridge. Recommended.
Serves 6-8 (six if using large ramikins, 8 if using a pie plate)
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| picture from the internet |
1 tbsp water (I'd bump this up to 4 tbsp next time)
4 eggs
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
1 tbsp vanilla
1 quart boiling water
Preheat oven to 325*
In a saucepan over medium heat, add sugar and water, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon until the sugar caramelizes and turns a light brown color. Immediately transfer the syrup to a glas pie dish and tilt in a circular motion until the syrup covers the entire bottom of the dish.
In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add the condensed milk and evaporated milk and stir to completely incorporate. Add vanillla and stir. Pour egg mixture in a dish over melted sugar.
To create a water bath, pour boiling water in large 3" deep baking pan. Fill halfway with boiling water. Placed filled pie pan into water bath andplace in oven. Bake for about 50 minutes or until flan is set. Remove from oven and cool. Run a dull knife around edge of the flan to loosen and invert onto a serving dish. Can be served warm or cold.
Long Life Noodles with [Beef] and Broccoli (Eating Well, Jan/Feb 2019) allergy alert!**
For those of you who've been with me for a while, you know I'm not wild about beef. So pork was a natural swap here. Sorry, I don't remember what cut I picked out. Really, chicken and tofu would also work in this. Tho if using tofu, might need to make some adjustments.
I don't keep peanut oil in the house so grapeseed oil was my stand in. I didn't want to buy a bottle of rice wine, and I didn't want to open a bottle of white wine (already had a bottle of red open), but the Husband had opened a bottle of his 8 year old honey mead so I used that.
This does come together fairly quickly. Flavors were good and the portion sizes a bit on the large size. I ended up with five meals out of this. Recommended.
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| photo from Eating Well |
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
3 tablespoons
(I used some honey mead - it was open in the fridge)
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1½ teaspoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
1 tablespoon
10 ounces
2 cups sliced mushrooms (I used 6 oz shitake mushroom)
12 ounces
2 cloves garlic, grated
Toasted sesame seeds for garnish (optional)
Cook noodles according to package directions. Rinse and drain well. Toss with sesame oil. Set aside.
Meanwhile, whisk together oyster sauce, rice wine, soy sauce, cornstarch and white pepper in a small bowl; set near the stove.
Heat a large flat-bottom wok or large cast-iron skillet over high heat. Add peanut oil and swirl to coat. Add broccoli and mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Add steak and garlic; cook, stirring, until the steak is no longer pink on the outside, 2 to 3 minutes more. Add the sauce and bring to a boil; cook for 1 minute. Add the noodles and toss to coat. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired.
Slow Cooker - Teriyaki Beef Stew (Taste of Home)
This is very simple and easy to assemble - chop, saute, plop, walk away. I'm not a fan of beef, so I subbed country style pork ribs. I will note, when sauteing the meat, definitely drain before adding to crock pot. Now, I don't have a small 3 qt crockpot (do these even exist?) so adjust the cooking time accordingly. Just use the whole bag of peas, otherwise you'll have a teeny tiny bit left that won't amount to much. Rice is a must - you'll want to serve this over rice otherwise it's pretty boring.
I made this for lunches for the week.
Serves 8 (I got 9 servings)
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| photo from Taste of Home |
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
2 cups frozen peas, thawed (I used the whole bag)
Hot cooked rice,
In a large nonstick skillet, brown [meat] in batches. Transfer to a 3-qt. slow cooker.
In a small bowl, combine the ginger beer, teriyaki sauce, garlic and sesame seeds; pour over beef. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender.
Combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth; gradually stir into stew. Stir in peas. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until thickened. Serve with rice if desired.
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