Shrimp Etouffee

This is a nightmare from last winter, however I am posting it now in honor of my recent trip to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast along with the my overindulgence in fresh seafood while I was there. 

Rice, mushrooms, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, Tabasco, mayo, radishes, green onions, bell pepper, celery, Worcestershire sauce, shrimp and chicharrones.

Nightmare ingredient - gross, oily, fresh chicharrones.

Chopped celery, onions, garlic and bell peppers.

Lot's of butter is necessary for a great roux.

Melt butter

Add flour and stir continuously.

The mixture will become creamy. 

Your roux is ready when it is just barely turning color.

At this time you will want to add your chopped vegetables.

Along with a can of diced tomatoes

Seafood stock

Stir, stir, stir.

I found these in the drawer and decided to use them for marinated onions.

Marinate onions in cider vinegar and crushed red pepper flakes.

Chopped mushrooms

Making spicy ranch dressing.

Sauteing Cajun glazed mushrooms.

Add shrimp and cook until done.

Shrimp Etouffee

Cajun Ranch Wedge salad with Chicharrones and Roasted Radishes and Marinated Onions

Cajun Glazed Mushrooms

Fusilli Lunghi topped with Fennel Sausage and Mortadella Vodka sauce and Shaved Smoked Caciocavallo

Ah, the joys of getting old and boring.  The first Sunday of SXSW  we headed out for an evening of fun and music, or so we thought.  Upon getting to the venue, the line was extremely long and we just weren't down for mingling and waiting in line with that many local and import hipsters on our Sunday evening.  Since Alex had several SXSW shows the upcoming week, we decided it would be a good idea to relax at home with a good meal.  On our way home we stopped by Mandola's Italian Market.  In the true tradition of Dinner Nightmares, he was to choose several random ingredients for the creation of a meal.  The ingredients are so fresh and fabulous at Mandola's that it wasn't a hard task!

Canned and fresh tomatoes, pistachio mortadella, fennel sausage, smoked caciocavallo cheese, fusilli lunghi pasta, salt packed capers, marinated sweet red peppers and baguette

Pistachio Mortadella, basically like bologna with pistachios.  Yum...

Fennel Sauage

Salt packed capers, that disgustingly I could eat as is.  They are much superior to brine packed capers.  When using salt packed capers be sure to rinse well, or soak.  If not you will end up with a tremendously over salted dish. 

Sweet red peppers

I found this not so good bottle of Vodka in our freezer that nobody would drink.  It was left over from making homemade vanilla extract for Christmas presents. I was inspired to use a dash of it in my pasta sauce. 

To use the sausage for pasta sauce, I slit the casings and emptied the filings out. 

Fennel sausage was browned until just cooked.

In a pinch, the only thing I could think to do with the pistachio mortadella was to chop it up and cook it into the sauce sort of like a bacon.

Parsley, sage, garlic, onions and mortadella were added to the browned sausage.

Once the meat, onions and herbs were nicely browned, I added fresh and canned tomatoes along with Vodka and a dash of cream.  The capers were rinsed and peppers chopped, then added as well.

I love a good bread dip.  In this simple one I combined garlic, sea salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and herbs de provence.  Add some Extra Virgin Olive oil and you have a tasty topping for your baguette.

I thought this fusilli lunghi was so pretty.  It reminded me of long flowing ringlets of blonde hair, or telephone cords (if you can remember those).

I miss my garden lettuce.  The sorrel made such beautiful and vibrant salads.  Here fresh greens are mixed simply with tomato, carrots and a parmesan vinaigrette.

Fusilli Lunghi topped with Fennel Sausage and Mortadella Vodka sauce and Shaved Smoked Caciocavallo

Venison and Brisket Chili

A simple but delicious meal, this chili goes way back to Super Bowl Sunday.  It's a little warm to think about having a nice bowl of chili in Texas right now, but it's always a good time to think about football season.  In case you are curious, it is only 126 days until The University of Texas season opener and 130 until the Thursday night NFL opener.  Once basketball season is over and all we have is (boring)baseball, I will be marking off the days on my calendar.

Chili powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, coriander, cumin seeds, ancho peppers, cinnamon sticks, jalapenos, poblanos, limes, garlic, onions, masa, tomatoes, chipotles, Mexican chocolate

Venison chili meat and leftover brisket.

I can smell the delicious spices browning!

After the spices are slightly browned, finely chop them in a spice grinder or food processor.

Cook the chopped onions in olive oil until transparent.

Chop the peppers and garlic and add them to the onion mixture.

Brown the chili meat, then combine in a crock pot or large stock pot with onion and pepper mixture, brisket and spices.

Add the tomatoes and chipotles.

Cook for at least 2 hours, adding masa and additional water if necessary to get to an ideal consistency.