1/4cup of canola oil
8cups of “Cajun Trinity” (diced sweet onion, bell pepper & celery)
2Tbsp of garlic
28oz can of Rotel
8cups of chicken stock
1Tbsp of salt
1Tbsp of Tony Chachere
3lbs of cut okra
2qt Water
5 bay leaves
2 sticks of butter
1cup of flour
2lbs of crab meat
3lbs of Lg shrimp (peeled)

http://www.CajunCookingTV.com/ -

Seafood Gumbo from the Cajun Recipes collection at Cajun Cooking TV.

Duration : 7 min 52 sec

Looking for a delicious twist for party sandwiches? This article has three great recipes if you’re looking to go beyond those same old boring ham and cheese or chicken salad sandwiches.

Smoked salmon

Sandwiches are the ideal small dish to make for an important day with a large amount of guests. Hand held and bite-sized you can make them for brunch, tea parties, and even for dinner. Here are three great sandwich recipes for your special occasion.

Smoked salmon is the ideal sandwich for a brunch because it is tasty, but still connected with bagels and lox. This recipe takes a spin on the traditional smoked salmon bagel.

Ingredients:

- 1 pack of smoked salmon
- 1 loaf of thinly chopped pumpernickel bread
- 1 tub of cream cheese
- 1 cucumber thinly cut, skin removed
- 2 stalks green onion, diced tiny

Take your loaf of bread and cut it into fourths from corner to corner to make tiny triangles. In a little bowl, mix together your cream cheese and sliced green onion. Take 2 pieces of bread, spread the cream cheese blend thinly on each side, and add 1 layer of cucumber and 1 layer of smoked salmon. Stick a toothpick through the sandwich to secure if you don’t use enough cream cheese to make the sandwich stick together. Finish until your ingredients are all used up.

Gourmand Griddled Cheese

This sandwich is popular with grown ups and kids alike. If you do not like spice, leave out the sriracha hot sauce, but it’s a dazzling hot sandwich perfect for a buffet line.

Ingredients:

- 1 loaf of thinly cut sourdough bread
- 3 avocados, seeded, peeled and thinly chopped
- 1 block sharpened cheddar, thinly chopped
- Mayonnaise to cover the bread
- Sriracha, for flavour
- Salt and pepper

Take your sourdough bread loaf and cut off the crust. Take two pieces of bread: on one spread a slim layer of mayonnaise, on the other drizzle some sriracha (depending on how spicy you like it). Layer with cheese and avocado, speckle with pepper and salt, and assemble the sandwich together. Roast on a grill, pan, or a George Foreman griddle until crispy and the cheese is softened. Cut in 4ths and serve.

Chocolate Banana Dessert Paninis

Here’s a great dessert sandwich which will please your visitors. It’s always great to have something sweet to compliment your savory sandwiches.

Ingredients:

- 1 loaf brioche, thinly chopped
- 4 bananas, thinly cut
- Nutella

Like the grilled cheese recipe above, take two pieces of brioche and spread nutella on each cut. Layer with bananas and throw on the griddle until the bread is a little brown. Cut into triangles by cutting from corner to corner. Serve warm.

Amy Turman wrote this recipe for Experts123.

Resources:

Cooks.com

Epicurious.com

Reenie’s Recipes

Looking for a tasty seafood recipe? Well this recipe for Emeril Lagasse’s “Crawfish Monica” will definitely be a treat!

Down in the South, we LOVE good food and music! One of the best places to get both is at Jazz Fest in New Orleans, LA. The music at Jazz Fest is great, but for some, the food – specifically the Crawfish Monica – is what really hits the spot. If you think eating a hot, creamy bowl of crawfish pasta in the sun is insane, well sha you can call us crazy! In NOLA, we live for the stuff under any weather condition. Grab a fork and find a spot to properly devour this delicousness. No matter if you’ll be in NOLA to try this divine creation at Jazz Fest, you can now have it whenever it would please your heart and stomach! With this recipe from New Orleans’ very own super chef Emeril Legasse. Oh, and you’re welcome!

Crawfish Monica

Crawfish Monica

Ingredients:

1lb of linguine or fettucine
2Tbsp of olive oil
6Tbsp of unsalted butter
1cup of yellow onions (chopped)
2Tbsp of minced garlic
2tsp of Essence**
1/2tsp of  salt
1/4tsp of cayenne
1/4cup of dry white wine
2cups of heavy cream
1Tbsp of fresh lemon juice
1lb of crawfish tails*
1/2cup of green onions (chopped)
1/2cup of fresh chopped parsley leaves
1cup of grated Parmesan
Preparation:

Cook your pasta in a large pot with boiling salted water until al dente (for about 8mins). Drain, and reserve 1/4cup of your cooking liquid. Return the pasta to the pot and toss with olive oil and the reserved cooking liquid. Cover it to keep warm.

Get a large saute pan or a skillet, and in it, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add your onions and cook, stirring, until they’re soft ( for about 5mins). Add the garlic, salt, Essence and cayenne. Then cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Next add the white wine and cook it over a high heat until nearly all evaporated. Then, add the lemon juice and cream. Cook that while stirring occasionally, until it is slightly reduced. Add your crawfish tails and cook them, stirring, till warmed through. Add the onions and your parsley and cook that for about 1 minute. Add your cooked pasta and toss it to coat with the sauce. Then, cook until your pasta is warmed through (for about 1 minute). Remove from heat and add 1/2cup of the cheese.

Put it into a serving bowl and top with the remaining 1/2cup of cheese and serve.

*Peeled medium shrimp can be substituted, but the cooking time must be increased to allow thorough cooking.

**Emeril’s ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (a.k.a Bayou Blast):

2 1/2Tbsp paprika
2Tbsp salt
2Tbsp garlic powder
1Tbsp black pepper
1Tbsp onion powder
1Tbsp cayenne pepper
1Tbsp dried oregano
1Tbsp dried thyme
Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Yields: 2/3 cup

Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse on Food Network.

Resources:

Emeril Lagasse

How long can I keep seafood and produce out of the refrigerator?

I want to pick up groceries on my lunch break but I need to get seafood and produce. If I bring these items into the office (about 72 degrees) how long will it last?

It’s items like crab legs, scallops, apples, lettuce

Thank you

Here are some tips that will help you know what to do so that your seafood will stay fresh longer:
Tips on what to look for when you buy seafood:

1. Check the reputation of the retailer. Ask family and friends where they buy their seafood. Someplace that has a good reputation is a great place to start.

2. Smell – The location should not have stench. There should be a gentle smell of the sea but not of rotting seafood or fish. Any type of out of date odor is not something you should be comfortable with.

General Appearance – Does the place look clean? Does it look like things are kept in good repair? What you see in the front or retail area is usually the most presentable. So if the front looks bad then the area behind closed doors is probably not something you want to see or purchase from. The seafood itself should look like it was freshly caught. The texture should look moist, fresh and firm. The eyes should look clear and have a plump look. The eyes should never be sunken.

Make sure and have an ice chest – You want to make sure you have something to keep the seafood cool for the journey home. An ice chest or some type of chiller bag is a must. Being prepared makes all the difference. It is best to purchase your seafood only when you are going straight home.

Storing your seafood at home – As soon as possible make sure and place your seafood in the refrigerator if you do not plan to cook it right away. Never allow the seafood to sit it’s own juice. Keep it in the coldest part of the refrigerator and cover with ice. Never allow fish or seafood to sit not cooled for any length of time.

Keeping your seafood in the freezer – You should freeze seafood as soon as possible and when it is as fresh as possible. When freezing fish it is best to filet it rather than freezing it whole. If you are going to freeze the fish whole make sure and clean and gut if first. You should however leave the scales on. Wrap the fish in a plastic wrap then place inside a freezer bag. Make sure and remove all air from the bag. Place in the freezer with a label and date on the outside.

Shrimp should be frozen in a block or encased in ice type form.

These are just a couple of suggestions to help you in storing seafood. Make sure that if the seafood or fish has a strong smell you throw it out rather than take a chance.

Everyone of us love to eat a variety of food items ranging from fried, grilled, toasted, deep fried, etc. Is your mouth watering when I talk about food items? Hmmm….however, for some people, certain food items would create allergy and they should avoid eating such food items. What is food allergy? It is the immunologic effect that is caused by the existence of food proteins.

4 Food Allergies - How To Overcome Them And Enjoy Your Food

A simple search in any of the famous search engines will give you a list of books and materials that details about food allergy. I recently came across a book titled “5 Years without Food: The Food Allergy Survival Guide: How to Overcome Your Food Allergies and Recover Good Healthy.” An interesting book that explains what is food allergy and food items that would cause allergy. If you are allergic towards a certain food item, it doesn’t mean you will have to forfeit the nutrients that you would have got, am I rite? You also get to understand the food items that can be taken as a supplement or as an alternative. It also explains few treatments related to food allergy. Don’t forget to read the book.

Apart from the tips given in the book, I too have listed a few, which would benefit readers who are prone to food allergy.

In general, food items such as shellfish, fish, soya, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts may create allergy in adults. Does it mean kids are not allergic towards food items? Definitely not…Milk, eggs, peanuts are known to create allergies in children. It is always a good idea to be knowledgeable about the food item that are allergic to you.

A key to food items and allergies:

1. Allergic towards egg: A person who is allergic towards egg is said to be hypersensitive towards nutritional substances derived from eggs such as yolk or the white of egg, albumin, Globulin, eggnog, etc. This may result in overreaction of the immune system.

It is advisable to stay away from food items made with egg if you are allergic towards egg. However, you need not worry about not eating egg. Many subsititutes for egg are available in the market today, which includes potato starch, tapioca, etc., and you may use them without any trouble. You can even use apple sauce as an alternative to egg.

2. Allergic towards tree nuts: What is tree nut allergy? Hypersensitive towards tree nuts is said to be called as tree nut allergy. Don’t confuse yourself with tree nuts and peanuts allergy. Both are different. Dry fruits are believed to be tree nuts where as peanuts are legumes. Children are prone to nut allergies than adults.

You can use soy nuts as an alternative to tree nuts. If you are of the opinion that soy nut is a nut, I would like to clarify a point here. It is not a nut, but actually soybean that goes through the procedure of soaking, which is then baked to get the crispy soy nut.

3. Allergy towards milk substances: Are you allergic towards proteins that are present in cow’s milk? If yes, you are allergic towards milk substances.

You may use rice milk or soy milk as a substitute to cow’s milk. This way you get the nutrients that you would have got from taking cow’s milk.

4. Allergic towards seafood: Allergy created by the intake of food items such as scaly fishes, crustaceans or shellfishes is termed as allergic towards seafood.

The best way is to stay away from seafoods. If you use a lot of canned food items, ensure that they don’t contain ingredients that are made of seafood.

Be picky about the food items that you eat. This may help you surmount the allergic reaction. Certain allergies can be cured in a short period of time; however, you can’t treat certain food allergies in your entire life span.

Abhishek Agarwal
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/4-food-allergies-how-to-overcome-them-and-enjoy-your-food-708826.html

Duration : 0:1:13

How do I prepare a whole fish that I buy from the market for dinner?

I buy seafood from a local market and they have many kinds of fish for sale, the whole darn thing right there on ice. How do I get it from there to a dinner ready version? Cut the head off? The tail? What about the insides? And the skin and bones?

Hopefully the fish has been gutted, or you’re in for trouble. If you’ve never filleted a fish before, it can easily become a horrible looking piece of meat. Sometimes when you buy a whole fish, you can ask them to fillet it for you. I personally don’t like to deal with the skin on fish, because of the scales, having to descale the thing. ( I always end up with scales EVERYWHERE)
But if you are determined to cook a whole fish, just stuff the cavity with fresh parsley, lemon, salt, pepper and throw it on the grill until its done. But like I said, you’ll still have to deal with the skin issue.

Whether you are a gourmet chief or the homemaker that cooks for the neighborhood band of crumb snatchers, you know the importance of quality seasonings and spices. There are some basic spices and seasonings that are a must for any kitchen. There are also the unusual and hard to find types. Regardless of which type of spice or seasoning you chose there are some basic things to bear in mind. Here are some tips to help you accomplish the goal of quality spices.

1. Spices are dried and often ground or grated into a powder. The absence of fillers or pouring agents is desirable.
2. Fresh is best: When ingredients that are used are fresh you are going to get the most out of each ounce. Buying smaller quantities is desirable so as to not have quantities stored for long periods.
3. Packaged in barrier bags with sterile air will seal in freshness and flavor.
4. Packages should be stored in cool, dry locations. Refrigerated is best for colored spices. Refrigeration or freezing can be used for those with high oil content.

An example of a site to use would be Pendery’s World of Chilies and Spices. This is a site that offers a wide variety of spices and chilies. This company has been around since the 1800’s. One of my favorites on their site is their hungarian paprika.

Duration : 0:6:14

Duration : 0:3:24