Sunday, June 20, 2010

Treasures from the Gulf

This week has been odd in that the power was out for almost 48 hours this weekend. Needless to say, that did put a damper on my food plans. I usually spread out the food and cooking over two days, Saturday and Sunday. However, since only Sunday was available, I split up the menu and will prepare the rest next week. My plans were to use some of the wonderful seafood from the Gulf. Most of it is still readily available and safe to eat. This week I prepared:

Ginger-Soy-Lime Marinated Gulf Shrimp
Crayfish Stuffed Tomatoes
Strawberry Beignets

Whole Foods had Gulf shrimp that were very fresh and very large. A marinade of shallots, fresh ginger, garlic, soy sauce, lime juice, sugar, green onions, black pepper and EVOO is blended and the shrimp marinated for 25 minutes. Then they are grilled for about 3 minutes per side until pink and cooked through. The marinade was great on the shrimp and I expect would pair well with other seafood. Shrimp could be eaten hot or cold. Messy but good!

I really enjoyed the stuffed tomatoes. A mixture of cooked crayfish, basil, a bit of mayo, Dijon mustard, lemon juice and Creole seasonings is placed in a hollowed out tomato, chilled and eaten on a lettuce leaf. I could have eaten the filling alone in a bowl with a spoon. Yum!

The Beignets were an interesting challenge. If you've been to New Orleans and had them at Cafe DuMonde with coffee/chicory au lait, you know how light and lovely they are. I can't imagine how they make them all so uniform, like small pillows with powder sugar sprinkled over them. Mine looked like mutant amoebas I remember from sophomore biology class. They were tasty however and I found a strawberry dipping sauce that went well.

Although abbreviated, this week was successful and hopefully the entree and salad will be the same next week. Enjoy the week and happy eating.

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