March 10th - I took the cookbook to school with me. I thought I might be able to sneak a quick peek at it and grab the ingredients on the way home. That plan, at least, worked out well.
I decided on Crawfish and Pasta with Stir-Fried Vegetables. Jerry had purchased some frozen crawfish tails at Kroger and so I was feeling pretty confident about getting this dish made. Unfortunately, there were no frozen crawfish tails, but the recipe forgivingly said I could use shrimp. Shrimp...check. On to the produce aisle.
This recipe was so healthy, I thought I would shame myself serving it to my butter-loving family. I cheated, and cheated, and cheated. Everything except for the shrimp, pasta and mushrooms had to be julienne-cut. I purchased a ton of it already prepared for me. Shredded cabbage, julienne carrots were all I could buy pre-done. I then did the zucchini and celery myself. I skinned the tomatoes, seeded them and diced them. I coarsely chopped the onions and carefully quartered the mushrooms. The veg prep seemed to take forever, mainly because I had already spent what seemed like forever on my feet already.
The meal turned out great (LOVE it when you can slip turnips in undetected!!!). It was a strange mixture of Cajun flavor and Asian texture. It was pretty darn great heated up the next day at work too.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Catching Up
I am wondering if anyone is still out there reading. If you are, are you wondering if we are still eating? I haven't posted in so long that I am surprised that the authorities haven't shown up to see if we are still feeding our children.
To answer that question...yes, we are still eating. Not as well as we did during the holidays and perhaps the scales are grateful. Heck, I know the scales are grateful but would be more grateful if I would extend the normal eating routine for a longer period. It has been difficult to arrange a meal when the schedules around here are so crazy this semester. I have after school responsibilities four out of five days. Sometimes we have to eat early so Jerry can go to school. Some days we eat late because Jerry is just getting home from school. It is a nightmare of sorts. I am so looking forward to summer!
Here is what we have been up to:
January 26th - Jerry cooked the Honey-Glazed Tarragon Carrots as a side dish. I really didn't like them. They didn't have much flavor and the flavor they had I didn't like. They had, duh, honey and tarragon and lemon. Jerry has a dozen other recipes for carrots that I like better and I hope he reads this so he won't make these again.
January 29th - Redemption. We made the Shrimp Creole recipe from the Commander's Palace cookbook. It was really good and served over rice. The one thing it needed more of was the seafood seasoning. I have found that I really like julienne-cut veggies. Who knew? Something about the texture, maybe? Maybe that is why I like Chinese food so much. They use the julienne-cut often too, right? At any rate, this dish had Worcestershire sauce and Louisiana Red Hot sauce and so it had me at hello.
February 1st - I vividly remember making this meal. I thought, "I have never had corned beef before in my life." In Texas, we smoke brisket and eat it either as a roast sort of thing or do fajitas. What on earth was I getting myself into? I figured that no self-respecting person of distant Irish heritage could avoid it forever and so February 1st was my day of reckoning. Mother in heaven, this was one of my all time favorite dishes and I wish I could dance a jig and speak Gaelic so that I could eat it all the time. But I must say that I appreciate my dear sweet Cajun heritage, because it added the heat that made this meal absolutely unforgettable. I am absolutely giddy that St. Patrick's day is coming up so that I have an excuse to make this again and drink Guinness.
February 2nd - The weather was frightful during this time period and so I thought that chicken and dumplings would be good. I made the very fancy sounding "Stewed Hen with Buttermilk Herb Dumplings." Funny. Jerry said that they were the best dumplings he had ever eaten. The downside is that he still doesn't like dumplings. They were good, but I have to agree with him. Something about gooey bread clumps in a soup is just not as appealing as they were when I was six and at my Nana's house. However, the soup part of it was worth doing again, especially if I add the extra Creole meat seasoning!!!
February 3rd - A FLOP!!!! This is why I don't like doing this blog thing when I am back at work. I don't have time to spend on a dud of a meal. I need something that satisfies my soul and makes me drift off into a peaceful, full-bellied slumber. the Roast Tarragon Tangerine Chicken with Carrots and Shallots was not that meal. Granted, the tangerines were terrible...dry and tough. I know that it is winter and that asking for good quality citrus may be asking for a lot. No, heck no. This is 2010 and by golly, we have planes and fast boats, trucks and trains. Get me some produce that is ripe and edible. No, never mind. I won't make this recipe again. I think it reminded me of those Honey glazed citrus carrots too much.
February 4th - We go down...we come back up. Shrimp Victoria was absolutely delicious. We served it with the pasta option instead of the rice. Next time, we will go with the rice. It was a very quick meal to prepare with the mushrooms, onions, shrimp and cream. Yummy. I don't want this recipe to get too far in the back of the recipe file. It is absolutely wonderful to make during the week!
To answer that question...yes, we are still eating. Not as well as we did during the holidays and perhaps the scales are grateful. Heck, I know the scales are grateful but would be more grateful if I would extend the normal eating routine for a longer period. It has been difficult to arrange a meal when the schedules around here are so crazy this semester. I have after school responsibilities four out of five days. Sometimes we have to eat early so Jerry can go to school. Some days we eat late because Jerry is just getting home from school. It is a nightmare of sorts. I am so looking forward to summer!
Here is what we have been up to:
January 26th - Jerry cooked the Honey-Glazed Tarragon Carrots as a side dish. I really didn't like them. They didn't have much flavor and the flavor they had I didn't like. They had, duh, honey and tarragon and lemon. Jerry has a dozen other recipes for carrots that I like better and I hope he reads this so he won't make these again.
January 29th - Redemption. We made the Shrimp Creole recipe from the Commander's Palace cookbook. It was really good and served over rice. The one thing it needed more of was the seafood seasoning. I have found that I really like julienne-cut veggies. Who knew? Something about the texture, maybe? Maybe that is why I like Chinese food so much. They use the julienne-cut often too, right? At any rate, this dish had Worcestershire sauce and Louisiana Red Hot sauce and so it had me at hello.
February 1st - I vividly remember making this meal. I thought, "I have never had corned beef before in my life." In Texas, we smoke brisket and eat it either as a roast sort of thing or do fajitas. What on earth was I getting myself into? I figured that no self-respecting person of distant Irish heritage could avoid it forever and so February 1st was my day of reckoning. Mother in heaven, this was one of my all time favorite dishes and I wish I could dance a jig and speak Gaelic so that I could eat it all the time. But I must say that I appreciate my dear sweet Cajun heritage, because it added the heat that made this meal absolutely unforgettable. I am absolutely giddy that St. Patrick's day is coming up so that I have an excuse to make this again and drink Guinness.
February 2nd - The weather was frightful during this time period and so I thought that chicken and dumplings would be good. I made the very fancy sounding "Stewed Hen with Buttermilk Herb Dumplings." Funny. Jerry said that they were the best dumplings he had ever eaten. The downside is that he still doesn't like dumplings. They were good, but I have to agree with him. Something about gooey bread clumps in a soup is just not as appealing as they were when I was six and at my Nana's house. However, the soup part of it was worth doing again, especially if I add the extra Creole meat seasoning!!!
February 3rd - A FLOP!!!! This is why I don't like doing this blog thing when I am back at work. I don't have time to spend on a dud of a meal. I need something that satisfies my soul and makes me drift off into a peaceful, full-bellied slumber. the Roast Tarragon Tangerine Chicken with Carrots and Shallots was not that meal. Granted, the tangerines were terrible...dry and tough. I know that it is winter and that asking for good quality citrus may be asking for a lot. No, heck no. This is 2010 and by golly, we have planes and fast boats, trucks and trains. Get me some produce that is ripe and edible. No, never mind. I won't make this recipe again. I think it reminded me of those Honey glazed citrus carrots too much.
February 4th - We go down...we come back up. Shrimp Victoria was absolutely delicious. We served it with the pasta option instead of the rice. Next time, we will go with the rice. It was a very quick meal to prepare with the mushrooms, onions, shrimp and cream. Yummy. I don't want this recipe to get too far in the back of the recipe file. It is absolutely wonderful to make during the week!
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