Crawfish Pasta Salad

1 bag 12 ounce size of rotini pasta
1 pound crawfish tails
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup ketchup
Zatarain's crab boil
Tabasco (to taste)
Salt (to taste)





Boil the rotini noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside. In a separate pot, season water with crab boil and add crawfish. Bring to a boil, remove from heat. Let the crawfish soak in the seasoned water. This way the crawfish can absorb more flavor. Drain before combining with other ingredients.

In a glass bowl, make a dressing with the mayonnaise, ketchup and Tabasco. Toss in the noodles, celery, and crawfish. Serve warm or refrigerate and serve cold.

5/2009

Spicy Coleslaw

1 head green cabbage, shredded
2 carrots, grated
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 green onions, chopped
1 red chile, sliced
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1/4 cup Creole mustard
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 lemon, juiced
Pinch sugar
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
Several dashes hot sauce
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper




Combine the cabbage, carrot, red onion, green onions, and chile in a large bowl. In another bowl, mix the mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, and sugar; stirring to incorporate. Pour the dressing over the cabbage mixture and toss gently to mix. Season the coleslaw with celery seed, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Chill for 2 hours in refrigerator before serving.

6/2008 - Tyler Florence

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

For Dry Rub:

3 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
3 tablespoons coarse salt
1 (5 to 7 pound) pork roast, preferably shoulder or Boston butt

For Cider Vinegar Barbecue Sauce:

1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 cup yellow or brown mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
12 hamburger buns
1 recipe Spicy Slaw, recipe follows
Pickle spears





Mix the paprika, garlic power, brown sugar, dry mustard, and salt together in a small bowl. Rub the spice blend all over the pork and marinate for as long as you have time for, as little as 1 hour or up to overnight, covered, in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Put the pork in a roasting pan and bake for about 6 hours. Basically, roast the pork until it's falling apart and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 170 degrees F.

To make the barbecue sauce: combine the vinegar, mustard, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic, salt, cayenne, and black pepper in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer gently, stirring, for 10 minutes until the sugar dissolves.

Remove the pork roast from the oven and transfer to a large platter. Allow the meat to rest for about 10 minutes. While still warm, take 2 forks and "pull" the meat to form shreds. Using 2 forks, shred the pork by steadying the meat with 1 fork and pulling it away with the other. Put the shredded pork in a bowl. Pour 1/2 of the sauce on the shredded pork and mix well to coat.

To serve, spoon the pulled pork mixture onto the bottom 1/2 of the hamburger bun, and top with the spicy coleslaw (see recipe here). Serve with pickle spears and the remaining sauce on the side.

6/2008 - Tyler Florence

French Onion Soup

2 1/2 pounds yellow onions, halved, and sliced 1/4-inch thick (8 cups)
1/4 pound unsalted butter
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup medium-dry sherry
1/2 cup brandy or Cognac
1 1/2 cups good dry white wine
4 cups beef stock
4 cups veal stock
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
Freshly grated Parmesan




In a large stockpot on medium-high heat, saute the onions with the butter and bay leaf for 20 minutes, until the onions turn a rich golden brown color. Deglaze the pan with the sherry and brandy and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Add the white wine and simmer uncovered for 15 more minutes.

Add the beef and veal stocks plus salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf, taste for salt and pepper, and serve hot with grated Parmesan.

1/2009 - Ina Garten

Hummus

2 cups canned chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
6-8 garlic cloves
6-7 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons water
6-8 dashes of Tabasco Sauce
1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste)





Add garlic to food processor and blend until garlic is finely chopped. Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and process until the hummus is coarsely pureed. Taste, for seasoning, and serve with warm pita bread.

Pan-Fried Haloumi Cheese

2 packages of haloumi cheese (8-10 ox. per package)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 bulb of garlic
4 - 6 tablespoons of flour
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper





Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Slice the haloumi into broad flat slices of 1/4" thick. Peel the garlic cloves and make into a puree using either a mortar and pestle or a small food processor. Place garlic paste in to a small bowl and mix in about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil to make garlic a thinner consistency. In another bowl mix flour and cayenne pepper together for dredging. First dredge the haloumi slabs through the garlic paste mixture and then throught the flour mixture to give a light coating of each.

Lay the cheese slabs into the skillet and fry on one side until flecked with golden brown, about 2-4 minutes. Flip carefully and fry on the other side until the other side is also flecked with golden brown spots. Remove from the pan and place on plate with a paper towel to absorb any excess oil.

Serve with warm pita bread and hummus, if desired.


Serves 4-6.

4/2009

Mexican Lasagna

1/2 pound ground mild pork sausage or ground pork
1/2 pound ground beef
1 (15-ounce) can jalapeno ranch-style pinto beans, drained
2/3 cup canned diced tomatoes and green chiles
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of celery soup
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (10-ounce) can enchilada sauce
9 (6-inch) corn tortillas
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
4 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 medium avocado, chopped




Cook sausage and ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring until meat crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain. Stir in beans and next 5 ingredients; cook until thoroughly heated.

Stir together soups and enchilada sauce in a saucepan; cook until thoroughly heated.

Spoon one-third of sauce onto bottom of a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish; top with 3 tortillas. Spoon half of beef mixture and one-third of sauce over tortillas; sprinkle with half of Cheddar cheese. Top with 3 tortillas; repeat layers ending with tortillas. Sprinkle with Monterey Jack cheese and next 3 ingredients.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Top with avocado.


5/2009 - Southern Living