Blackened Catfish

I love Cajun-style blackened fish - it is so good! So I was really excited to get to make it myself. We used the recipe for blackened redfish from the Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen cookbook, except we used catfish fillets instead.

It turned out really tasty, and I'm looking forward to making it again.  

Ingredients:

• 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter
• 4 8-10 oz. catfish fillets
• Seasoning Mix:
• 1 tbsp. paprika
• 2 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
• 3/4 tsp. white pepper
• 3/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves 

Yield: 4 servings

Melt the butter in a skillet.

Pour 2 tbsp. of melted butter into 4 small cups. Set aside and keep warm.  Reserve the remaining butter in its skillet. 

Thoroughly combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl. 

Dip each fillet in the reserved melted butter so that both sides are well coated.

Sprinkle the seasoning mix generously and evenly on both sides of the fillets, patting it in by hand.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over very high heat until it is beyond the smoking stage and you can see white ash in the skillet bottom (the skillet cannot be too hot), at least 10 minutes. We did this outside on the grill - it can get a lot hotter than our stove and that way we wouldn't have to deal with the smoke in the house. 

Place the fillet in the hot skillet and pour 1 tsp. melted butter on top of each fillet. Be careful since the butter will probably flame up.

Cook, uncovered, over the same high heat until the underside looks charred, about 2 minutes (the time can vary depending on the heat of the skillet and the fillet's thickness).

Turn the fish over, and again pour 1 tsp. melted butter on top and cook until the fish is done (about 2 minutes more).  

Pour the 2 tbsp. of melted butter your set aside in the small cups earlier over the fillets and serve while hot!

Enjoy!

Seafood Dirty Rice

For Mardi Gras this year, we made seafood dirty rice for dinner and King Cake for dessert.  It was my first time making the King Cake by myself and I was really happy with how it turned out.  My mom and I made the seafood dirty rice together - we used the recipe from the Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen cookbook.  It was really good!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound shrimp (with shells)
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp. peanut oil
• 1/2 cup canned tomato sauce
• 3 tbsp. very finely chopped onions
• 2 1/2 tbsp. very finely chopped bell pepper
• 2 tbsp. very finely chopped celery
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. white pepper
• 1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 cups shrimp stock
• use the shrimp shells to make the stock
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3 1/2 cups cooked rice
• 3/4 cup very finely chopped green onions
• 1 cup (about 1/2 pound) lump crabmeat

Yield: 4 servings

Peel the shrimp and use the shells to make the shrimp stock.

Melt the butter with the oil in a large skillet.

Add the tomato sauce, onions, bell pepper, celery, garlic, salt, white pepper, thyme, and cayenne.  Sauté over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the stock and continue cooking over high heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the cream.

Simmer for about 4 minutes.

Add the shrimp and simmer for 3 minutes longer, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the rice, green onions, and crabmeat, keeping the lumps of crabmeat as intact as possible.

Heat through and serve immediately.

This recipe is so good - I highly recommend trying it if you like cajun food.

Crawfish Enchiladas

Hi!  I know I haven't posted much recently, but this month has been pretty crazy. But I have been making some tasty things and I can't wait to share them with you and get back to posting. 

One of the yummy things we made recently was crawfish enchiladas. This is another one of our favorite recipes from Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen. They taste so good!

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onions
• 2 chopped jalapeños (about 1/3 cup)
• the original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of chopped green chilis, but we prefer the taste and heat of jalapeños
• 3/8 cup finely chopped bell pepper
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 4 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 pound peeled crawfish tails
• 1/3 cup finely chopped green onions
• 1/4 cup peanut oil
• 10 corn tortillas
• Seasoning Mix 1
• 5/8 tsp salt
• 3/8 tsp white pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/8 tsp oregano
• 1 minced garlic clove
• Seasoning Mix 2
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1/4 tsp oregano

In a large skillet, melt 1/2 stick of the butter. Add the onions, jalapeños, bell peppers and Seasoning Mix 1. Sauté over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring often.

Stir in the heavy cream and bring mixture to a rapid boil; then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add the sour cream and stir continuously until the cream is dissolved, about 2 minutes.

Add 1 1/2 cups of the cheese and stir until melted.

In a 4-quart saucepan, melt the remaining 1/2 stick butter. Add the crawfish, green onions, and Seasoning Mix 2. Sauté over medium heat for about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the cheese sauce to the crawfish mixture and stir well. Simmer until the flavors are well-blended, about 6-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a small saucepan, heat the oil to about 325º. Hold the tortillas one at a time with metal tongs and dip each in hot oil just long enough to soften, about 30 seconds.

Drain on paper towels.

Spread a thin layer of the crawfish sauce on an ovenproof baking dish.

Spoon about 1/3 cup of the crawfish sauce and a small amount of cheese on each tortilla and roll the tortilla around the filling.

Pour the remainder of the crawfish sauce on the enchiladas.

Cover the tortillas with the remaining cheese.

Place the baking dish in the oven and bake for 350º for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese melts.

Serve immediately.

These are really good - they're one of my family's favorite meals!

Crawfish Étouffée

A couple days ago, I shared the recipe for the King Cake we made for Mardi Gras.  But we had some tasty Cajun food before we had the King Cake - we made crawfish étouffée.  We used the recipe from Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen.

Ingredients:

• Seasoning Mix
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. white pepper
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. dried sweet basil leaves
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 1/8 cup chopped onions
• 1/8 cup chopped celery
• 1/8 cup chopped bell peppers
• 3 1/2 tbsp. peanut oil
• 3/8 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups seafood stock
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 pound peeled crawfish tails (get Louisiana crawfish if you can - they are much better than the Chinese ones!)
• 1/2 cup very finely chopped green onions
• 2 cups hot cooked rice

Yield: 4 servings

Thoroughly combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the onions, celery, and bell peppers.

In a large heavy skillet (preferably cast iron), heat the oil over high heat until it begins to smoke (about 4 minutes).  With a long handled metal whisk, gradually mix in the flour, stirring until smooth.  Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the roux is a dark red-brown (about 3-5 minutes).  Be careful not to let it scorch in the pan or splash on your skin.

Remove from heat, and immediately stir in the vegetable mix and 1/2 tbsp. of the seasoning mix.  Continue stirring until cooled (about 5 minutes).

In a 2 quart saucepan, bring 1 cup of the stock to a boil over high heat.  Gradually add the roux and whisk until thoroughly dissolved.  Reduce heat to low and cook until the flour taste is gone (about 2 minutes), whisking constantly.  Remove from heat and set aside.

In a 4 quart saucepan, melt 1/2 stick of the butter over medium heat.  Stir in the crawfish and green onions, sauté about 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add the remaining 1/2 stick of butter, the stock mixture, and the remaining 1/2 cup of stock.  Cook until the butter melts and is mixed into the sauce (about 4 to 6 minutes), stirring constantly.

Add the remaining seasoning mix, stir well and remove from heat.  Serve immediately by mounding 1/2 cup of rice on each serving plate, topped wth 3/4 cup of the étouffée.

This was really yummy, if you like Cajun food, I definitely recommend it!