Later Gator! My valiant effort at cooking Creole-style food…

I took this picture in Louisiana during a visit to the bayou in 2007

Cajun & Creole cuisine are a couple of my favorite types of food to eat. These cuisines are similar to each other but also quite different, which is something I learned a few months back from my friend, ex-Army veteran, Derrill Guidry.  He is a great cook from Louisiana and should know such things, so I trust him. Also on his food page, The “G” Spot,  he displays his skills in the Cajun and Creole arena. Both of these cuisines have roots stemming from French cuisine, along with influneces from Africa, Spain and to a lesser degree a few other countries. One of the major differences between Creole and Cajun food is in the type of roux (pronounced “roo”) used as the base of sauces, soups, stews, and other savory dishes. Creole roux is made from butter and flour (as in France), while Cajun roux is made from lard or oil and flour. Most people have the misconception that all Cajun food is spicy, which is not the case. There are a few more differences, and I hope to cover this subject in more detail in a later post, but right now let’s get on with tonight’s dish: Alligator & Shrimp Creole!

Creole Roux

Now most of the people I know (excluding chefs) hear the word “alligator” and run for the hills! They wont go anywhere near it, even when it is cooked  — and no longer baring teeth. The fact is, alligators have been hunted and consumed by humans for centuries. The tenderloin I purchased looked no different from boneless chicken cutlets (certainly not green and slimy like some of you think). There are two different species of alligators, one in North America and the other in China. The Chinese alligator is listed as a critically endangered species, while the American alligator is plentiful, and can be found throughout the Southeastern United States. Louisiana and Florida have the most alligators: over one million wild alligators in each state with more than a quarter million more on alligator farms. Obviously, I will use farm raised alligator, and obviously an alligator from Louisiana since it’s Creole. The meat yielded a mild taste somewhat like chicken, and unlike its wild counterpart, which I am told tastes a tad bit more like frog legs or fish. The soft texture is sometimes compared to veal. While this wasn’t my first time cooking gator, it was my first try at a Creole-style dish and it was just absolutely delicious! The Creole flavors where exciting to the taste buds and the alligator and shrimp cooked to perfection.  Bon Appetit!

Ingredients:

3/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 cup butter
1 cup peeled chopped tomato
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 whole chopped green bell pepper
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 1/4 cups chicken or fish stock
1 cup tomato sauce
2 tsp  Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp white sugar
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce
2 bay leaves
1 lb alligator tenderloin cut into 1 or 1 1/2 inch sized cubes
1 lb large/jumbo shrimp, shelled (tail on is optional)
3/4 lb smoked chicken sausage, sliced (Traditionally, you’d use Andouille sausage, which a more heavily spiced sausage, but I used chicken since I don’t eat pork)

Directions:

Mix together oregano, salt, white pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, thyme, and basil in a small bowl; set aside. Brown the sausage slices is a small frying pan and set aside.
Melt butter in a large saucepan oven over medium heat; stir in tomato, onion, celery, green bell pepper, and garlic. Cook and stir until the onion is almost translucent, about 4  minutes. 

Stir in chicken or fish stock, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, hot pepper sauce, and bay leaves. Reduce heat to low and bring sauce to a simmer. Stir in seasoning mix and simmer until the flavors have blended, about 20 minutes.

Gently stir in shrimp and alligator; bring sauce back to a simmer add sausage and cook until the shrimp and gator are done, about 20-30 more minutes. Remove bay leaves and garnish with yellow celery leaves or parsley.  Serve with a crusty bread or rice.

Shrimp & Alligator Creole

Stir-Fried Calamari, Shrimp, & Tilapia With Cilantro and Garlic

This is a quick and easy stir-fry recipe for seafood. This is the type of meal I usually prepare during the work week when I get home and I am too tired to cook a more complicated meal. I am sure there many of you home cooks and foodies who do not cook for a living  feel the same way. With this recipe I suggest that if you are impatient with prep work (we all are) buy your squid already cleaned  and ready to cook. I chose to clean my own squid, but it was well worth it as I was able to salvage and cook the tentacles as well as the calamari rings. So I hope you enjoy this quick and easy Stir-fry! Bon Appetit!

Ingredients:

1 lb shelled and deveined shrimp

1 lb squid cleaned and cut into bite sized pieces

2 tilapia filets cut into 2 inch chunks

2 tablespoons of peanut oil

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1 Tbsp fresh minced

1/2 tsp – 1 tsp red pepper flakes (adjust the heat to your taste)

1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1/2 cup fish stock

cooked Jasmine or white rice

Cilantro (minced) or chopped scallions for garnish

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

First rinse and pat dry the cleaned shrimp, squid, and fish. Heat a wok or skillet over high heat and add the peanut oil. Immediately add the red pepper flakes, garlic, and ginger. Cook for 10-15 seconds stirring a couple of times, and when the garlic begins to color add the fish, shrimp, and squid and cook stirring frequently until all the seafood is opaque. Add the stock  and cilantro leaves; stir and simmer for about 2 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking. Garnish with fresh minced scallions or cilantro and serve with cooked rice of your choice.

The Negoti-Eater! (Part 1)

Pan Seared Pork Chop & Grilled Apples

I am a veal lover but the only time I get to eat it is when my girlfriend and I go out to eat. You see, she does not eat veal, so I never get to cook it in our home. On the other hand, she loves pork, which I do not eat.So this called for some serious negotiating, or should I say “Negoti-eating”! While at the local market I told her we should buy some veal chops (like I always do) and she responds with “No” (like she always does). On display next to the veal were these beautifully cut pork chops. So I suggested to her that if we purchase veal for me, I’d cook her the best pork chop she ever had. After some hesitating she agreed and I won the first part of the battle!

Pork is a meat I have never cooked, and I worried about over cooking it. These chops were over an inch thick! I made a marinade of mustard, caraway seeds, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper, and a few other ingredients. I placed the chop in the marinade for about 6 hours. I planned on roasting the chop in the oven, when disaster struck! My oven, which I have had previous problems with, did not turn on. But the top burners still worked. Oh well, time to switch to plan B, and cook it stove-top. I know my marinade is on the money, so I need to trust the old black cast iron pan and instinct on this one. I decided that I would start off with lightly oiled pan, then quickly sear it over high heat on one side then flip it, and immediately lowered the heat to not over-cook and dry the chop out. While that cooked I grilled up some apples with a very small sprinkle of light brown sugar. After removing the chop from the pan to allow it to rest, I added some dry red wine to de-glaze the drippings and made a sauce to top the apples with. The pork chop was cooked perfectly, it was juicy and flavorful according to my girlfriend. Stay tuned for what I did with that veal chop….. Bon Appetit!

Gourmet De-Constructed Cookbook?

As you all may have noticed, I have not been blogging much lately. Well that is because I finally began working on my cookbook! Be prepared for some creative home-cooked gourmet cuisine! Here are just a few of the dishes that will be featured. Enjoy!

Tilapia with lime aoili & ancho crusted filet mignon

Southwestern Style shrimp!

Asian Style Roasted Duck with Spicy Plum/Soy Glaze & Nutty Baby Bok Choy

Spicy Cilantro Mahi-Mahi

Countless surf & turf ideas!

Creative seafood dishes such as my "Dirty" basil/chili shrimp

Wild game dishes such as Venison Tenderloin with Plum/Blackberry Sauce

French-Style Antelope Chop /w Herbed Merlot Sauce

Now to put the spotlight one of my favorite meats, antelope! Many of you have never tried it, but trust me, I think it’s time you should. Antelope is indigenous to Africa, and parts of Europe & Asia. North American antelope are referred to as “Pronghorn”. I do not hunt so I purchase most of my game meat from www.Fossilfarms.com. The animals are farm raised and fed naturally with no hormones. The meat is very lean and high in protein, and most of all it’s tasty. This was my first try at antelope chops and I loved it!  They may resemble deer but they are actually members of the same animal family as goat.  The meat is mild tasting with a similar taste to venison, finely grained, and get this, one-third the calories of beef!

Antelope that are hunted in the wild are said to have “gamey” or “sagey” taste.  As I explained in previous posts, the “gamey” flavor comes from the fact that the animals in the wild eat a very varied diet of weeds, acorns, wood bark, etc. This flavors the meat distinctively. Sagebrush makes up a large part of the antelopes diet, which may explain the “sagey” flavor. Since we are used to eating meat that is grain fed, which has a much milder flavor, game meat tastes strange to us now. We don’t need to worry about that here since this meat is farm raised. I cooked this the same way I would prepare a lamb chop, pan seared it and popped it in a 450 degree oven for a few minutes. I then pair it with roasted asparagus & potatoes (cooked in a bit of duck fat), and added my herbed merlot sauce to seal the deal. All I can say is wow! It was very tasty and a big hit in my household. So I highly recommend you try antelope – you wont regret it. Bon Appetit!

French-Style Antelope Chop /w Herbed Merlot Sauce

Pan Roasted Halibut w/ Parmesan Baked Asparagus

Roasted Halibut w/Parmesan Baked Asparagus & Herbed Potato Medley

Ok home cooks & foodies, This is a relatively easy recipe for a very delicious fish, Halibut!  You can use fresh or frozen, this is sure to be a hit at your dinner table.This no-fuss recipe is big on flavor and looks delicious on the plate. You can use halibut, cod, or haddock for this dish, it does not matter because they all work. I served it up with parmesan baked asparagus (recipe coming soon) and potatoes. Bon Appetit!

Ingredients:

1 lb  halibut fillets (thickly cut)

2 Tbsp olive oil (divided in half)

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (you can use less if you can’t tolerate heat)

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

1/4 tsp ground coriander

1/8 tsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt or to taste

pinch of dried parsley & oregano

Directions:

Combine all the dry spices and mix well. Rinse the fish in cold water then pat dry. Brush the fish with half of the oil and season it generously with the spice mix. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put the remaining oil (or you can use a high heat non-stick spray) in a cast iron skillet or other heavy bottomed pan and heat over medium-high flame. Sear the halibut on one side for 3 minutes. Flip the fish and place the pan in the pre-heated oven for 5-7 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Plate the fish and served immediately. Enjoy:)

Rabbit Cacciatore

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion

1 cup of sliced white mushrooms

1 large celery stalk,  julienned

1 large carrot, peeled and julienned

3 Lb rabbit cut into 8 pieces ( you can use chicken if you like)

1 large garlic clove crushed

1 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup of tomato sauce

1 cup of vegetable or chicken broth

1 Tbsp freshly chopped oregano

2 Tbsp freshly chopped parsley

additional parsley for garnish

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat; then add mushrooms and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside and keep warm. In a large  5- to 7- quart wide heavy pot , heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat . Add onion, carrot and celery; cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened, about 7 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the pot and place on the side with the mushrooms.

Season the rabbit  generously with salt and pepper. Add  rabbit  pieces and cook, turning pieces several times until lightly golden, about 5 minutes per side. Add the reserved vegetables and mushrooms to the pot, then add the wine. Increase heat to high and cook until liquid is reduced by half, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Add the tomato sauce, mix well and bring to a simmer then add half of the stock and bring to a gentle boil. Add chopped parsley and oregano, stir well, reduce heat to low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally and adding remaining broth gradually as sauce thickens, until rabbit is very tender, about 1 hour. Garnish with parsley and serve with pasta of your choice. Here I served it up with cheese stuffed ravioli (recipe coming soon) Bon Appetit!