Crawfish Etouffee

I promised a recipe and I will give you one that my mom used to make, but I do not put in the tomato paste or tomatoes in the sauce.  I learned another way to make the "etouffee" from a friend who was from Beaux Bridge, LA.  That is where they have a crawfish festival every year.  We made the sauce and also put shrimp in the place of crawfish.  The original New Orleans recipe calls for fish stock, but you can make stock with shrimp shells when making it with shrimp or use a fish stock if you can get your hands on some. 

1 teaspoon tomato paste, 2 cups fish stock or seafood stock by boiling the shells and then drain the broth or water, 1-2 pounds of crawfish tails that have been peeled and cleaned, 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, 1-2 tsp. of salt or to taste, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper, 1/2 cup chopped green onion, 1 finely chopped sweet white onion, 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 cup chopped celery, 1 cup of tomatoes seeded and cut up.  To make the roux you can either use 4 Tbsp. of butter and 3-4 Tbsp. of flour.
In a large saucepan(I use a large black iron skillet) melt the butter and remove from heat.  Stir in the flour and stir until smooth.  Return to heat and continue stirring until the roux browns. This takes about 10 minutes and the color will be dark brown like the color of chocolate.  Stir in the white onions and celery and cook about 10 minutes.  Add the garlic, seasonings, tomato paste (if using) and stock and stir into roux.  Add crawfish and tomatoes(if using) and simmer about 20 minutes.  Add the parsley and green onion about 5 minutes before serving.  Serve over steamed white rice. 
My friend from Breaux Bridge used the same ratio of canola oil to flour for the roux.  She then sautéed the vegetables except for the green onion and parsley in the about 2-3 Tbsp. butter for about 15 minutes until they softened. She then added the roux.  She did not use fish or shrimp stock, just water to thin roux out. She then added the crawfish or shrimp and did not use tomatoes or tomato paste.  We always in my family put the parsley and green onion in about 5 minutes before serving.  You may find the some Cajun families make the etouffee  a little different.  The shrimp version may also be called Shrimp Creole.  We visited St. Genevieve in Missouri on the way to St. Louis one vacation and I purchased this cookbook entitled La Cuisine Francaise des Premieres Annees de l'Amerique du Nord which means The French Cuisine the First Year in North America. This  paperback cookbook is by Patricia B. Mitchell.  The French Canadians settled also along the river in Missouri, as well as in Maine and some northern states when the disposition happened, not just Louisiana.  The recipes in this cookbook are in French. One day I may type up the Ecrevisse Etouffee recipe.  Ecrevisse is the word that the Cajun French called crawfish.  They gave the crawfish this name since it was new to them in the new land. Enjoy! Do not forget the Louisiana Hot Sauce!!!

Resurrection Lily 'Lycoris squamigera'

Spring break has been very busy.  We went to the camp in Warm Springs for a couple of days. We call it the camp because it is loaded with deer, wild turkeys and has a pond for fishing.  My parents have passed away and this was their home and estate. We have inherited the estate and maintain the property with care.  Mom planted these wonderful resurrection or surprise lilies a long time ago.  I transplanted some about 5 years ago when she was living with us after Dad died while we still maintained her estate. I dug some more up and sold them at a yard sale.  I  have posted a picture of the foliage of mine here in the flower bed. They show themselves in the Spring with foliage and then the foliage dies down.  These lilies are forgotten until August or September when beautiful lilies pop out of the ground and surprise!! It is as if early Spring comes back in late Summer or early Fall.  These bulbs will multiply and can be dug up and transplanted  to a new area for more happiness. I will put a link for more information.
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=a464

Aunt Jerris' Watercolor " Echapper"

Aunt Jerris' Water Color" La Famille"

My Aunt Jerris was such a wonderful lady.  She was an RN, like myself, and loved to paint in watercolor.  She took our Acadian life and gave us some memories.  This is of a family of crawfish entitled "La Famille" which means" the family" in French and they are by their little mud house. I will also post a picture of her watercolor : "Echapper" which means the one that got away (the crawfish, that is, they are sneaky). In Louisiana we love crawfish.  Crawfish etouffee, crawfish bisque, crawfish pie, and of course boiled crawfish, just to name a few. I will have to post these recipes soon, along with Aunt Jerris' cornbread recipe.  I am putting together a cookbook with handed down recipes of both my Acadian French and Italian relatives. Thank you Aunt Jerris for reminding me of home.

Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sally's Baking Addiction

1 1/2 cups plus 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature, 3/4 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 egg, room temperature, 1 Tsp. milk, 2 tsp. vanilla extract, 2 1/2 tsp. red food coloring, 1 cup white chocolate chips (you can use semi-sweet chocolate chips if you want very chocolate cookies).
     Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.  In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars with a mixer and scrape the sides down.  Add egg, vanilla and milk and beat together until well mixed.  Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until well mixed.  Add food color and stir in well.  Add white chocolate chips and mix in well.  Mixture will be slightly sticky.  Form a ball as you transfer to plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.  When ready to cook, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Take 1 1/2 tsp. of dough and roll into balls.  Place dough balls evenly spaced on a lined baking sheet with parchment paper.  Bake for 10-15 minutes and do not worry if they do not flatten.  Before cooled flatten lightly with spatula.  These are perfect for Valentine's day.  I found this recipe on Sally's Baking Addiction and made these today for the Do-It-Herself workshop.  The cookies I made came out so awesome!

Scented Geranium

I have been babysitting my friend's scented geranium for the winter.  She had no room in her house to winter it back.  I used to grow these years ago when I was in the Herb Society and had so many varieties.  The rose scented plants are my favorite.  We can pass by this and barely brush the leaves, then a wonderful perfume permeates the air.  I have propagated 2 plants from this one by simply making a cutting and putting the cuttings in a pot with potting soil.  Of course, water and keep in a sunny location.  This scented geranium is supposed to be a citronella or mosquito plant, but it smells like roses instead of lemons.  It may be a 'Rober's' ? Anyway, the Victorians put these plants in their parlor and when guests arrived, they would touch the plant to emit the wonderful perfume.  The first air freshener.  These plants originate from Africa. Wow! I would love to see these in their native environment.  I guess I will bring this one back to my friend when we warm up so she can put it back outside. I will enjoy my little babies from this plant.

 

For more information on Scented Geraniums, visit Sunland Herbs.

 

 

Garbanzo Bean Crepes

A gluten free crepe using garbanzo bean flour.  I found this recipe from Pulses recipe book from Canada.  It contains information on gluten free foods and recipes.  This has 1 cup garbanzo bean flour, 1 egg, 1 cup milk, about 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley and 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese.  Mix all the ingredients and heat up a non-stick skillet.  I use canola spray in between each crepe.  When the skillet is hot, add 1/4 cup and swirl around to make crepe.  Cook about 2-3 minutes and flip to the other side to cook for 2-3 minutes.  I sprinkle some parmesan cheese in between each crepe.  The parmesan cheese is salty enough and I do not add salt to batter.  This morning, I cooked turkey bacon  and wrapped it in the crepe.  My family loves these.

Helleborus (Lenten Rose) Survived

I have had this Lenten Rose for at least 14 years.  I thought it might not survive this harsh winter we have had here in Arkansas. This is the prelude to Easter.

You can find more information about the Lenten Rose here.