Oyster Stew

Dec 20 2017

Last night we had oyster stew, I always called it
soup. I am surprised the wife likes it. I used Paula
Deans recipe. A quart of half & half, a pint of
oysters, 1/2 stick of butter, green onions, salt,
pepper and I had a little hot sauce in mine.

The oysters were large, two bite size. we had some
good crusty sour dough bread and it all tasted
great!

My supper

Shrimp Boil 2017

Aug 02 2017

Nothing tastes better in the summer than fresh picked corn on the cob unless it’s cooked in a shrimp boil. The corn was picked fresh today. I had a pound of raw shell on jumbo shrimp, a pound of smoked sausage, a pound of new red potatoes, a med. onion sliced open, a bulb of garlic with top sliced off, a lemon cut in half, 2 TBS. Zatarains liquid crab boil and a good TBS. Of Old Bay seasoning. I used 4 ears of corn broken up.

I placed the potatoes and sausage in my pot, added the garlic, onion, and seasoning. I covered with water to cover plus more for adding the rest. I brought it to a rolling boil and after 20 minutes added the corn. In 5 minutes I added the shrimp for 5 minutes. I raised the basket to drain and dumped all on a tray to serve. I had some sourdough bread and garlic butter to serve with it.

The kids and grandson came down to eat with us. The DIL ate a salad & tomatoes but I think she sneacked in there and had some potatoes and sausage! There was just some of the sausage left. It all sure tasted good. The red potatoes take on the garlic and seasonings for an extra good flavor. I hope I can have this once more before corn season is over. 

Ingredients

In the pot

Served

My supper (first plate!)

Louisiana Oyster Pot Pie

Mar 19 2017

This recipe I found at Louisiana Cooking blog. I have made oyster soup some but good oysters are hard to come by here in Ohio. It was one thing I was surprised my wife likes. If I lived on the East Coast I would have it more often.

When I saw the recipe I knew I had to try it. I had to go to 3 groceries before I found some oysters. I got two half pints; I just wanted a pint since I would cut the recipe in half for the wife and me.  I also used Grands southern style biscuits instead of making ones per the recipe.

I fried up the bacon and then added the veggies and made my roux using Wondra flour. I never did get to the light brown stage since it kept drying up as I added the cream and oyster liquid. For the oyster liquid I added chicken broth to it to make a cup.

I did the half recipe using my Stargazer 10 inch cast iron skillet and it was just right. After getting it all cooked and oysters, bacon and seasoning added I baked at 400 deg. for 20 minutes. When I added the Grands biscuits I noted their directions were to bake at 350 deg. so I lowered my oven to 375 deg. and it was done in 15 minutes. I only put 3 biscuits on the oysters and baked two separate for my supper tonight.

That sure tasted good! The wife even had seconds.

Click Here for my half recipe

Click Here for link to full recipe

Ingredients

Browning the bacon

Veggies added to bacon grease

Making the roux

Oysters, bacon and seasonings added in

20 min. at 400 deg.

Biscuits added and ready to serve

My supper

Grits & Shrimp Creole

Oct 23 2016

Another inside cook on my new range. I cooked up some stone ground grits and made up the Creole sauce to cook the shrimp in. I had 10 oz. of nice jumbo gulf shrimp to use; just enough for the wife and me.

The sauce was:

1 15 oz. can of crushed tomatoes

A couple slices of sweet onion chopped

½ green pepper chopped

½ cup celery sliced

2 green onions sliced

1 tablespoon Worcestershire

1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Fresh parsley chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Hot sauce to taste

I was out of Worcestershire so had to skip that. I got my grits on cooking and started the sauce. I started with sautéing the onions, then added the peppers and celery, then the green onions and then the crushed tomatoes. I added in the parsley and seasoning and let it simmer while I finished the grits. I like them thick.

When the grits were done I set them on the warmer burner and cooked the shrimp in the sauce. I did them for 6 minutes turning half way. Tasted good, but missed having bread and butter with them!

The grits were on the warmer until after we ate. When I emptied out the pan they were not stuck to the bottom. I am going to like the warmer for grits if nothing else.

Ingredients

The shrimp

Sauteing the onions

Celery and peppers in

Grits cooking

Green onions added

Tomatoes, seasonings and parsley added

Shrimp are done ready to serve

My supper

Grilled Shrimp Boil & Tomato Pie

Aug 07 2016

I know grilled shrimp boil does not sound right! I forget where I got the idea but they made skewers with the normal ingredients you would use in a shrimp boil. Those are shrimp, smoked sausage, potatoes, and corn on the cob. I was leery of doing them all on a skewer since the shrimp only takes about 6 minutes and all else longer. I had 10 oz. of raw wild caught shrimp from Krogers.

I decided to do it on my Weber Spirit; I would do the sausage, potatoes and corn in my wire basket and the shrimp on skewers to do at the last minute. I nuked some new red potatoes in the microwave for 5 minutes since they take longer to cook. For the flavors from my usual shrimp boil I seasoned all with some Old Bay seasoning, Cajun seasoning went on the shrimp and melted a half stick of butter with a half teaspoon of Zatarain’s liquid shrimp boil and some garlic powder.

I got my basket of sausage, potatoes and corn on the Weber heated to 400 deg. and it was on about a total of 18 minutes and basted several times with the butter mix and turned. The shrimp skewers were

basted on both sides with the butter mix and grilled on the back side of grill grates for 3 minutes each side.

All was served with a piece of Hub’s tomato pie on the side. The pie was great and will be doing it again!

I will use this recipe again just for the wife and me; it’s hard to go wrong with the flavor profile and a lot less prep and clean up than doing a boil.

All ready for the grill

All done

Served

Tomato Pie

My supper, pretty tasty!

Shrimp & Corn over Grits

Aug 02 2016

I love shrimp, grits and fresh corn on the cob; all three together is even better. When I saw this recipe by Dawn Perry on Epicurious I knew it had to be a winner. I adapted it by cutting the water to one cup instead of 1 ½ and 1 cup of grits instead of 3/4 and more butter. I like my grits thick enough to eat with a fork. I also changed the seasoning from oregano and paprika to Cajun seasoning.

I had my tomato cucumber salad for a side and cut my focaccia bread into strips, sprayed with olive oil and toasted under the broiler.

In the photo you see some Palmetto Farms Yellow Cornmeal; I used their stone ground white grits instead. I had white sweet corn from Suter’s picked fresh this morning for the corn.

I got my liquids on boiling for the grits. After 10 minutes the grits were starting to thicken so I stirred the grated corn into the grits and heated the oil for the shrimp. I added the garlic and then the shrimp, then I realized the corn was supposed to go in to brown some. I quickly added the corn and let cook 3 minutes; stirred and let cook another 3 minutes.

I served the grits in a bowl with the shrimp and corn over with a pat of gorgonzola butter and some fresh chives over top. I must say that was delicious!

Click Here for recipe

Ingredients

Grating the corn

The cut kernels

Grits cooking

Garlic, shrimp, corn and seasoning in

Ready to serve

My salad

My supper

Shrimp Boil for Memorial Day & B-Day

May 30 2016

We celebrated Memorial Day and our son’s birthday today with a shrimp boil. Our daughter had come home for the week-end. Saturday I fixed cheeseburgers on the grill and some potato salad for her and the wife. Sunday night I did skirt steaks on the grill for Fajitas and made some roasted corn salsa. No pics, it was fun to just cook and enjoy.

I had 2 pounds of frozen Texas Gulf shrimp in the shell thawed. I bought some corn on the cob at the grocery I didn’t think would be too great; it always tastes better with fresh picked corn. The smoked sausage was from my butcher Kah Meats.

I added some cabbage wedges this time for the daughter in law; she is a veggie and not a shrimp lover. I fixed some bowls of garlic butter for dipping the shrimp. Loving butter this is a perfect meal; I had a little on my bread, a little on my potatoes and had to have some on the corn! Everyone thought it tasted great. Almost all was gone but a few shrimp. Our daughter in law made a great dessert. It was kind of a creamy peanut butter icing over some kind of chocolate cookies. 

Ingredients

The shrimp

Boiling and ready to add the corn

Served

My first plate!

My Shrimp boil

1 to 2 lbs. good shell on shrimp

1 to 2 lbs. smoked sausage, sliced

1 to 2 lbs. new red potatoes, any bad spots removed

4 to 6 ears of corn; broken in pieces

Cabbage wedges (optional)

1 whole garlic bulb, top sliced off

1 to 2 medium onions, top sliced off.

1 to 2 lemon halves

1 Tbs. Zatarain’s liquid shrimp boil seasoning

1 Tbs. Old Bay seasoning

Hot sauce to taste, I like Cholula, about 2 teaspoons

A large pot with a strainer basket and enough water to cover all. Bring the pot of water with garlic, onions, lemons, Zatarain’s, Old Bay and hot sauce to a boil. Add in the potatoes, sausage and cabbage if using. Continue to boil for 20 to 25 minutes; I do a nice rolling boil. Add the corn and boil for 5 minutes; then add the shrimp and boil another 5 minutes. Lift the basket out and let drain then pour on a large platter or in the middle of the table. Serve with some good crusty bread and plenty of butter. We like some garlic butter to dip the shrimp. A wet cloth is also handy!

This is my basic recipe from over the years; using the larger amounts will feed at least 6 people.

Canadian Walleye Fillet

May 24 2016

I made a run to a Kroger’s store 7 miles away to get some shrimp for the week-end. I got 2 pounds of large frozen gulf shrimp shell on for a shrimp boil. Besides Memorial Day May 30^th is our son’s birthday.

I was going to mow so looked for something to do quickly on the grill for supper.

I saw this nice Canadian wild caught walleye fillet marked down; it had started at $15.99 a pound! I don’t usually buy packaged fish near the end of the use by date but thought it might be good. It was just the right size for the wife and me.

When I opened it, it didn’t smell bad. I pulled what pin bones I could find out and got it in to marinade for 3 hours. I used about half balsamic vinegar infused with honey, and soy sauce, some roasted garlic, lime juice and a little olive oil. I ended up with about ¾ cup. I put the fish in a plastic bag, added the marinade and in the fridge. I turned it half way through.

I nuked 4 small yellow potatoes in the microwave, sliced them up, some onion and had some orange pepper strips thawed. They went in my wire basket with butter and seasoning pored over. My wife made up some salads for us. Our grandson had his last day of school today and was here playing with neighbor kids. He wanted to know if he could stay for supper. I and the wife’s portion of fish just got smaller!

I heated my Weber up on medium 350 to 400 deg. I put the potatoes on for about 10 minutes and then did the fish on the back of grill grates skin side down; it was on about 15 minutes and flipped half way.

It looked like blackened fish but that was from the honey in the vinegar. Tasted great, fish was mild and done just right.

The walleye

Skin side

On the grill

My salad

My supper

Salmon Cakes, Potatoes and Lime Corn

May 17 2016

Another cook I moved inside because of rain. Turned out I probably would have been ok but I am a little lazier in my old age. I like to get the cook over and the grill cooled down and covered when I am done.

Nothing great here but some may like the salmon cake recipe or something to work with. My wife gets the canned Atlantic salmon at Sam’s Club. I like to use two 7 oz. cans but only had one so did with it. One can was just enough for 2 cakes.  Two cans will give you 3 nice cakes. Following was my recipe.

1 7oz. can of good salmon

1 egg

2 Tbs. small dice sweet red pepper

2 Tbs. snipped fresh chives

1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup Panko bread crumbs, or cracker crumbs

2 Tbs. chive butter for topping

Use 2 cans of salmon and double the recipe for 3 larger salmon cakes.

I made up the salmon cakes a couple hours before cooking, covered and in the fridge to help set up.

I melted 2 Tbs. of butter and added some snipped fresh chives for on top of the cakes.

My sides were some fried canned new potatoes and some Birds Eye frozen fiesta lime corn. I started by nuking the corn some and then into a saucepan with 2 Tbs. of butter and some garlic herb salt to heat up. I then heated my CS skillet with a little olive oil and butter to fry the potatoes.

After the potatoes had been on about 10 minutes I heated my CI skillet with some olive oil and butter to fry the salmon cakes. I fried the salmon cakes about 5 minutes per side and added the chive butter to melt some before serving.

A pretty tasty supper and the wife said the salmon cakes were good.

 Ingredients

Salmon flaked

Cakes made

Cakes with chive butter

The lime corn

Potatoes are ready

My supper