Pelican Publishing

As some of you know, I have submitted a proposal to Pelican Publishing to publish my cookbook. Friday, I received a letter requesting an outline and the first three chapters of the book for the editors to decide on whether or not to publish it.

Fudge Brownie Pie

I am surprised that no one has inquired about this recipe. This was the most popular dessert at Cannon's Restaurant. Who could resist a warm brownie topped with ice cream.

Fudge Brownie Pie

Brownie

2 sticks + 2 Tablespoons Melted Butter

1/2cup + 2 Tablespoons Cocoa

2 ½ cups Sugar

1 ¼ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

¼ Teaspoon Salt

5 Eggs

1 ¼ cups Pecan Halves

1 ¼ cups Flour

Frosting

10oz Powdered Sugar

3 Tablespoons Cocoa

½ +1/8 Teaspoon Salt

2 Tablespoons Melted Butter

¼ cup Hot Coffee

1 cup pecan Pieces

Brownie

Place sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add melted butter and blend, using wire whisk. Add eggs and continue blending until smooth. Add vanilla and cocoa, continue blending. Measure out flour and salt together in a separate bowl. Add flour to batter, being sure to blend in slowly. Fold in pecans and pour into 2 greased pie shells. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes. Allow to cool before frosting.

Frosting

Stir sugar into bowl. Add cocoa, salt and melted butter and blend. Add coffee slowly, blending with a wire whisk. Frost cool pies. Top with pecan pieces. To serve, warm in microwave and top with a scoop of Ice Cream.

Enjoy

Crawfish Etouffee

Had another crawfish boil yesterday. We had more crawfish leftover this time. So this time, Crawfish Etouffee will be made with the leftovers. Etouffee means smothered. Etouffee does not have to include tomatoes. Mine is made without tomatoes. My wife is not a fan of red sauce dishes.

Crawfish Etouffee

1 lb Crawfish Tails

Creole Seasoning

4 Tablespoons Butter

1 Medium Onion, minced

3 cloves Garlic, minced

½ cup Green Bell Pepper, minced

½ cup Water

1 bunch Green Onions, chopped

1 bunch Parsley, chopped

Cooked Rice

Coat crawfish with Creole Seasoning. Melt butter and add the onions, garlic and bell pepper, stirring constantly, and cook until wilted. Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add the crawfish and simmer another 15-20 minutes. Add green onions and parsley and simmer 5 more minutes. Serve over hot rice.

Enjoy

Eggs Benedict

With Sunday being Easter, my mind turns to brunch. Easter Brunch is a big celebration in the grand restaurants of New Orleans. To me, Easter Brunch means one thing: eggs. The most popular egg dish is Eggs Benedict. To me, this is the essential brunch dish. I use the Blender Hollandaise recipe that I posted in January.

Eggs Benedict

8 Eggs

1 Tablespoon White Vinegar

1 Teaspoon Salt

2 Tablespoons Butter, divided

8 slices Canadian bacon

4 English Muffins split

Hollandaise Sauce (see recipe under January)

To poach eggs

Fill a large deep skillet with water. Add vinegar and salt. Cover and bring to a gentle boil. Break one egg in a small cup. Gently slip the egg into the slowly boiling water. Repeat with remaining eggs, keeping track of the order the eggs are going in. Reduce heat; simmer eggs for 2 to 3 minutes, until the whites are firm near the yolk. Remove with slotted spoon in the order you put them in and place in a pan of ice water. Set aside.

Heat oven to 200 degrees. Heat one tablespoon butter in a large skillet. Add Canadian bacon and cook for 4 minutes, 2 a side, until browned. Divide and toast muffins. Spread remaining butter on muffin halves. Place muffin halves in oven and keep warm.

If you need to reheat the eggs, fill deep skillet with fresh water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Add eggs with slotted spoon and heat for a minute.

To assemble:

Arrange 2 muffin halves on a plate. Top each half with a slice of Canadian bacon. Top with eggs. Make sure to drain them well before plating them. Top with Hollandaise Sauce and serve immediately.

Enjoy

Asparagus Soup suggested by Nicole Coco Barrios

Here is a recipe based on another Cannon's soups. This was a popular soup that was only served seasonally. When asparagus were in season, they were of great quality and low price. But out of season, the price was outrageous. We had to replace it with another soup. Customers could not wait for this wonderful soup to come back to the rotation.

Asparagus Soup

1 lb Steamed Asparagus

2/3 cup Flour

11/2 quarts + 2/3 cup Chicken Stock or Broth

1 Bayleaf

1 teaspoon Salt

½ Teaspoon White Pepper

1 stick Butter 4oz

1 lb Chopped Onions

1 teaspoon Creole Seasoning

1 pint + 1 cup Heavy Cream

Melt butter. Saute onions until transparent. Add flour, salt, pepper, bay leaf, and chicken stock to pan. Reduce half way and is thickened.

Take 1 pint of stock out of the pot. Put portions of steamed asparagus in blender with enough stock to allow the blender to spin freely. Pour blended asparagus in a separate contained until all asparagus is blended. Add blended asparagus and remaining stock to pot. Blend well. Add heavy cream and allow to thicken.

Enjoy

VooDoo Rolls suggested by Melissa Briggs Kramarich

I am not a big fan of egg rolls. So this is my take on that iconic Chinese dish. I used crawfish that I boiled on Saturday. I also tried the first batch with the onions and garlic for the boil. I had hoped they would add a little heat to the VooDoo rolls. Unfortunately, none of the flavor came through. The second batch was will fresh onions and garlic. There was a tremendous difference between the two batches. See how you like them.

VooDoo Rolls

10oz Crawfish Tails

2 Teaspoons Creole Seasoning

¼ c Minced Onions

3 cloves Minced Garlic

6oz Andouille Sausage, cut in a small dice

5 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

8oz Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

20 Egg Roll Wrappers

Put creole seasoning on crawfish and toss to cover. Saute onions and garlic in Worcestershire sauce for 2 minutes. Add crawfish and Andouille. Saute for 3 minutes. Drain and allow to cool. Mix cheese with the cool meat mixture. Place egg roll wrapper on a dry surface. Place 2 Tablespoons of the meat and cheese mixture in a roll in the middle of the wrapper.  Fold the sides of the wrapper ½ inch over the mixture. Wet one end and roll the roll toward that end. Press to seal. Fry rolls at 375 degrees until golden, about 2 minutes. Make sure to turn the rolls so that both sides cook evenly.

Enjoy

Hot Crab Dip suggested by Lisa Foley

After posting my crawfish dip, Lisa asked about a hot crab dip. She said that she already had one but thought others might not. This is a great recipe for any get together. When my family gets together for exchanging Christmas presents, we each prepare an appetizer. Often I get asked to bring Spinach Dip. Other times, I have done mini Crab Cakes. I may have to make this soon.
Enjoy

Hot Crab Dip

16oz Cream Cheese

8oz Shredded Pepper Jack Cheese

2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce

1 ½ cups Chopped Green Onions

¼ cup Chopped Fresh Parsley

1 lb Crabmeat, picked thru for shells

½ c Half & Half

Creole Seasoning to taste

Combine cheeses, Worcestershire sauce, green onions, parsley, and half & half in a medium sauce pan. Cook over low heat until the dip reaches desired consistency. Add crabmeat and creole seasoning. Cook for three minutes. Serve with crackers.

Hot Crawfish Dip suggested by Laurie Fikes

This recipe is one of the first ones that a friend from Arkansas suggested. Laurie Fikes asked me if I had a recipe for a hot Crawfish Dish. I was so pleased to get this request. I have had many people ask me for recipes from former places of employment. This was the first request made from someone who I did not work with while in the restaurant business. I did not want to post this recipe then, because it was not crawfish season. Since crawfish are in season, and Saturday I will be boiling for the first time this season, here is another crawfish recipe.

Crawfish Dip

1 lb Crawfish Tails, chopped

1 Diced Onion

1 Diced Green Bell pepper

3 stalks, Celery, diced

1 Garlic clove, minced

1/2 cup Butter

8 ounces Cream Cheese

1/4 cup Mayonnaise

1 teaspoon Dry Mustard

Creole Seasoning, Salt, Black Pepper to taste

1 Tablespoon Fresh Chopped Parsley

Sauté bell pepper, onions, celery, garlic and crawfish in butter. Add cream cheese, lower temperature and cover to let cream cheese melt. Add mayonnaise, salt, pepper, Creole seasoning to taste. Simmer approximately 15-20 minutes.  Add parsley. Serve warm.

Enjoy

Crawfish Cakes with Roasted Garlic Crawfish Sauce

This is a recipe that I entered in the Gilroy Garlic Festival cook off. I think it is a great dish. They, on the other hand, did not. I did not receive an invitation to the festival. My guess is that those people in California are not familiar with crawfish. Since we are now int he middle of crawfish season, I figure that here is a different dish to use leftover crawfish.

Crawfish Cakes

1 pound Crawfish Tails, cooked and Roughly Chopped

1 Tablespoon Butter

4 Cloves of Garlic, chopped

1/3 cup Green Onions, chopped

¼ cup Fresh Parsley, chopped

1 Tablespoon Old Bay Seafood Seasoning

¾ cup Seasoned Bread Crumbs

¾ cup Heavy Cream

¼ teaspoon Salt

¼ teaspoon Black Pepper

¼ teaspoon Fresh Basil Leaves, chopped

Over medium heat, melt butter in a medium saucepan. Sauté garlic in butter until golden brown.  Add green onions and cook until soft.  Add parsley and cook one minute. Add crawfish to pan.  Add Old Bay Seasoning and mix thoroughly.  Add heavy cream and mix well.  Add breadcrumbs and mix well.  The mixture should not be liquidity.  If so add more bread crumbs.  Allow mixture to cool.  Form cakes in hand, making a 2 ½ ” circle.  Place on a foil lined cookie sheet.  Refrigerate for at least two hours.

Cook in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.  You may also deep fry them by heating a fryer to 360 degrees.  Dip crab cake in mixture of milk and beaten egg, then cover with breadcrumbs.  Cook them for 3 minutes or until golden brown.

Roasted Garlic

1 Head of Garlic

1 ½ Tablespoon Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut about ½ inch off the top of the garlic head. Cut the roots so that the garlic will sit flat. Remove most of the skin from the garlic, but leave enough so that the cloves stay together. Place the garlic in a small baking pan, drizzle olive oil over it, and cover with foil. Bake for 1 hour. Allow the garlic to cool before you handle it.

Roasted Garlic Crawfish Sauce

¾  Cup Crawfish Tails, slightly chopped

2 Tablespoons Creole Seasoning

½  Cup Minced Onions

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

2 Cups Heavy Cream

3 Tablespoons Roasted Garlic

2 Tablespoons Butter, cut in to pieces

Coat crawfish with Creole seasoning. Combine crawfish, onions and Worcestershire sauce in a sauté pan. Saute for 2 minutes. Add heavy cream and roasted garlic. Reduce for 10 minutes. Remove from fire. Add butter and stir until butter is melted and incorporated.

Enjoy