Tag: Louisiana cooking

A Louisiana Twist on Chicken Tenders

If you’re looking for a delicious and easy-to-follow recipe, then look no further than Louisiana Cookin’s delicious recipe for Pecan-Crusted Chicken Tenders. This dish is perfect for a weeknight meal or entertaining guests. This dish is perfect for a summertime picnic or potluck. It’s also great for a quick and easy weeknight meal. The chicken tenders are coated in homemade pecan breading and then fried to perfection. They’re served with a sweet and tangy blackberry honey mustard dipping sauce that provides the perfect balance of sweetness and tanginess.

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds of chicken tenderloins (about 16 tenderloins total)
  • 3 large eggs (whites and yolks)
  • 1 cup of all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups of pecan halves
  • 1 cup of panko Japanese bread crumbs
  • ½ cup of blackberry preserves
  • ⅓ cup of Dijon mustard
  • ¼ cup of honey
  • 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
  • ⅛ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
  • 1 ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt
  • 2 ½ teaspoons of Creole seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon of paprika

Directions

  1. You’ll want to begin this delicious recipe for pecan-crusted chicken tenders by preheating your oven to 400°F. Ensure that there’s a rack inserted into the middle of the oven to even cook temperatures throughout. As your oven is preheating, you’ll want to place a wire baking rack on top of a baking sheet. Consider putting a layer of parchment paper or aluminum foil beneath the rack to catch any drippings and ensure that you don’t have to wash the sheet tray afterwards. Spray the wire baking rack with cooking spray afterwards.
  2. Next, you’ll want to prepare your three-bowl dredging station. So, take a food processor and in the work bowl you’ll want to pulse your 2 cups of pecan halves until they’re finely chopped. Transfer the finely chopped pecans to a shallow dish and stir in your bread crumbs, salt, garlic powder, paprika, and Creole seasoning. Mix this all together so that the ingredients are well-incorporated. In a separate shallow dish, place your flour for the dredging, and in a medium-sized bowl whisk your eggs.
  3. Once you’re ready to prepare your chicken tenders, you’ll want to dip one tenderloin in the egg bowl, dredge it in flour on both sides, dip it into the egg bowl again, dredge it in the pecan mixture, and press the pecan mixture firmly to the tenderloin on both sides to completely coat it. Lay the tenderloin on the prepared rack and repeat this process for the remaining tenderloins.
  4. Once the oven is prepared, you’ll place your wire rack of chicken tenderloins into the oven and bake them until they are golden brown. This should take approximately 20-25 minutes to complete, and you can serve it along with your favorite dipping sauce or the following blackberry honey mustard.
  5. You can achieve the delicious blackberry honey mustard by whisking your ½ cup of blackberry preserves, ⅓ cup of Dijon mustard, ¼ cup of honey, 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt, and ⅛ teaspoon of cayenne pepper in a medium-sized bowl until these ingredients are all well-combined.
  6. You’ll then strain this bowl of mixed ingredients through a fine-mesh sieve and either serve alongside your pecan-crusted chicken tenders or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
  7. Enjoy!

 Note:

There are a few things that go great with pecan-crusted chicken tenders. One option is to serve them with a side of roasted vegetables. Another option is to pair them with a fresh salad. And, of course, you can’t go wrong with serving them alongside some delicious mashed potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts, or honey-glazed carrots. These all have similar cooking methods and will cook in about the same amount of time as the chicken. If you want to switch things up, try serving the chicken with a simple salad or some steamed rice.

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Delicious Recipe for Louisiana Shrimp and Crab Stew

Wintertime means that it’s the perfect time of the year to whip up some classic Louisiana recipes. So, if you’re in the mood for a hearty, rich, and delicious shrimp and crab stew, then look no further than this recipe from Louisiana Cookin’.

Ingredients for Shrimp and Crab Stew 

Directions for Shrimp and Crab Stew

  1. You’ll want to begin this recipe by scalding your dozen blue crabs with hot water in order to stun them. You’ll then remove the back from each crab (which is the top shell) so that you can clean out the gills (also affectionately referred to as “dead man fingers”), lungs, and the center of each crab. Afterward, crack the crabs in half and remove the claws, placing them aside for a future seafood stock. You’ll also want to peel and devein your shrimp for this recipe. You can also put the shrimp heads and shells along with your crab claws for a future homemade seafood stock.
  2. Next, in the large heavy stockpot, you’ll want to combine your vegetable oil and flour over medium heat. Begin stirring slowly to make a dark brown roux, and continue stirring for about 15-20 minutes. Once your roux is of a dark brown coloration all over, you’ll add your celery, bell peppers, and onion (also known as the holy trinity in South Louisiana cooking circles). You’ll cook the vegetables in the roux until the vegetables are soft, which should take about 5 minutes if you are stirring frequently.
  3. After the vegetables are soft, add your bay leaves, salt, cayenne pepper, and seafood stock to your stockpot. Stir all of the ingredients in order to combine them, and bring the mixture to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the stew ingredients and base are boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low, add in your crabs, and let them simmer for approximately 20 minutes.
  4. Next, add your crabmeat and shrimp, and continue to cook for another 10 minutes. Remove the stockpot from the heat, add your parsley, and serve the dish hot. Enjoy!

Notes for Shrimp and Crab Stew:

  • To make cooking easier and more humane, place your live crabs in the freezer for about 15 minutes before preparing them. Fill your largest stock pot with heavily salted water and add 3 bay leaves, a tablespoon or so of black peppercorns, and a teaspoon of paprika. Bring the water to a boil and then, using a pair of tongs, grasp each crab from behind so you don’t get pinched. Depending on the pot’s size and the number of crabs being cooked, you may want to cook one at a time. Lower each crab into the boiling water with its legs facing down and allow it to cook for roughly 15 minutes (when it floats to the top give an extra two to three minutes). To cool off after cooking, prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with cold water and ice cubes then drop in each crab briefly before beginning the cleaning process.
  • Crab and shrimp stews definitely pair nicely alongside some homemade potato salad, french bread, or rice.

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Delicious Stuffed Acorn Squash Recipe

It’s widely known that Cajun cuisine is delicious, but many often feel guilty for how loaded with carbs it can be at times. Luckily there are ways of cooking traditional Cajun flavors of smoked andouille sausage and pork rinds while placing them within vegetables, making them healthier while still being delicious. Spice up your mealtime with this delicious andouille sausage-stuffed acorn squash recipe from the Louisiana Cookin’ food blog. Perfect for a cozy night in or as a unique feature on your next dinner party spread, this flavorful dish is sure to be a hit. Find out just how easy it is to make these andouille-stuffed acorn squash halves, plus get the tips you need to ensure that the perfect balance of flavor comes through in each bite.

Ingredients

Directions

  1. You’ll want to begin this Creole-infused acorn squash recipe by prepping all of your ingredients by portioning and finely chopping all of the necessary pieces. Once you’re ready to put it all together, preheat your convection oven to 400°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
  2. Next, you will fully remove all of the seeds from your three medium-sized acorn squashes and halve each of them lengthwise. Take all six pieces and place them atop your foil-lined baking sheet tray. Pour your extra-virgin olive oil over the acorn squash and ensure that the oil is all over the squash with gloved hands. Then, sprinkle your Creole seasoning over the squash and place the pieces cut-side down onto the foil-lined pan.
  3. Bake your seasoned acorn squash until they’re just barely tender, which should take approximately 20 minutes. Afterward, turn the squash over with the cut side facing upward, leaving the oven on.
  4. Then take a large saucepan and place your ground pork into it. Take your smoked andouille sausage with the casings removed and ensure that you’ve finely chopped the sausages in a food processor and then add it to the saucepan with the ground pork. Place this large saucepan over medium-high heat and break the meat up with a wooden spoon.
  5. Cook the ground pork and shredded sausage for approximately 10 minutes until the meat becomes brown and crumbly. Once the meat is of this texture and coloration, add in your chopped celery, diced bell pepper, chopped onion, and minced garlic to the pan. Cook the vegetables along with the meat while stirring occasionally with the wooden spoon until the contents of the pot become softened and fragrant, which should take about another 5 minutes to cook.
  6. At this point, remove the large saucepan from the heat and fold in your two cups of chopped fresh baby spinachand the single teaspoon of chopped fresh sage. Then, spoon the cooked sausage and vegetable mixture into your squash halves and sprinkle your crushed ½ cup of pork rinds on top.
  7. Bake the final product until it is heated through and golden brown, which should take about 15 to 20 minutes in total.
  8. Serve each acorn squash half separately alongside steamed vegetables, a side salad, or grilled asparagus, and enjoy!

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Creamy Crawfish Fettuccine Recipe

Creamy Crawfish Fettuccine is the perfect southern dish for the fall or winter season, and this particular recipe from Louisiana Cookin’ is certainly no exception. This recipe only requires a single pound of crawfish tail meat, which might be hard to find in some areas, but you should know that the frozen alternative isn’t necessarily a step-down.

Ingredients Crawfish Fettuccine:

Directions Crawfish Fettuccine:

  1. To begin this recipe, you’ll use a medium-sized pot. Fill it with water, bring it to a rolling boil, and cook the fettuccine pasta according to the fettuccine packaging directions. After it’s cooked, set it aside.
  2. Next, take a large pot or a Dutch oven, set it to medium heat, and melt your 1 ½ cups of butter in the Dutch oven. Once the butter is fully melted, add in your onions and cook them for about 7 minutes or just until the onion pieces are translucent. Once they are, stir in your chopped celery, bell peppers, garlic, parsley, and green onion. After all of these ingredients are stirred into the pot, cook the contents for about 10 minutes or until the vegetables are all equally softened.
  3. The next step is to stir in your all-purpose flour until it’s well incorporated. You’ll cook the flour for about five minutes or until the Dutch oven develops and emits a nutty fragrance. At this point, you’ll lower the heat to medium-low and slowly stir in your half-and-half. Bring the contents of the pot to a full boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook this for about 4 minutes or until it’s slightly thickened.
  4. Slowly stir in your American cheese about ¼ cup at a time. You’ll want to let each addition of American cheese melt fully before adding the next portion. After integrating all of the American cheese, you’ll stir in the Monterey Jack cheese using the same process until it’s fully incorporated. Stir in your salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper afterward.
  5. Then, add your pound of freshly cooked crawfish tail meat to the Dutch oven. Cook this for a minimum of 5 minutes or until the meat is heated through. At this point, you’ll want to combine your cooked fettuccine noodles with the crawfish sauce and top it with your grated Parmesan cheese.
  6. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Notes:

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A Delicious Take on Louisiana Shrimp and Grits

When you find yourself hungry for shrimp and grits, there’s nothing quite like a Louisiana recipe for garlic shrimp and tasso grits to help satisfy you. That’s why this outstanding recipe for a spicy, protein-rich skillet of garlic-infused shrimpand white cheddar grits from Louisiana Cookin’ is a certified classic dish that’s sure to make a perfect breakfast entree or even a stand-out side dish for dinner.

Garlic Shrimp Ingredients:

 White Cheddar Corn Grits Ingredients:

Directions

  1. You’ll want to begin the preparation of your garlic shrimp by procuring a 12-inch enamel-coated cast-iron skillet. Place the skillet on a stove burner that’s set to medium heat, and then place 1 tablespoon of your divided unsalted butter in the skillet. Once it’s melted, you’ll add your tasso to the skillet and cook it for about 15-20 minutes until it’s browned. Be sure to stir the tasso occasionally, and then once it’s browned, you’ll transfer thetasso ½-inch cubes into a medium bowl. Set the bowl aside for later, and reserve the drippings in the skillet.
  2. Next, you’ll want to add your chopped bell pepper, onion, and minced garlic cloves to the tasso drippings in the skillet and cook it all. Stir the contents of the skillet constantly for about 3-4 minutes until the vegetables are softened. Afterward, transfer these softened vegetables to the bowl with your browned tasso.
  3. Add your shrimp to the skillet and cook them for 2-3 minutes until they’re pink and firm. Afterward, transfer the shrimp to the bowl with vegetables and tasso.
  4. Add your remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the skillet and let it melt. Then, whisk your flour into the skillet and cook it for 1 minute while whisking continuously. After, whisk in your broth, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper. Bring it all to a boil over medium-high heat. Once it’s boiling, reduce the heat back to medium and simmer until thickened, for about 2 to 4 minutes.
  5. Return your shrimp, tasso, and vegetable mixture to the skillet, and stir until it’s all heated through for about 2 to 4 minutes. You’ll then serve this immediately with your White Cheddar Corn Grits. Garnish the top of your dishes with black pepper, chopped red pepper, and chopped fresh parsley.
  6. In order to cook your White Cheddar Corn Grits, you’ll take a medium saucepan and place it over medium-high heat. Bring your broth, butter, and salt to a boil, and then whisk in your grits. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover the saucepan, and cook the grits for about 20 minutes while whisking occasionally. This should take about 20 minutes.
  7. Remove the grits from the head when the grits are properly thickened, and gradually whisk in your Cheddar,mascarpone, and cream. If your grits are too thick, you can remedy the situation by whisking in an additional 2 to 4 tablespoons of warm cream. Be sure to time the cooking of your grits to match when you finish cooking your garlic shrimp so that you can serve this dish immediately. Enjoy!

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18th Annual Great American Seafood Cook-Off Crowns Queen of American Seafood

The 18th annual Great American Seafood Cook-Off was held in New Orleans at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in early August. The event was a humongous success, as it attracted 14 culinary master chefs from across the United States who competed to earn a royal title, as per this feature article from Nola.com.

The Great American Seafood Cook-Off served as the primary attraction of the Louisiana Restaurant Association’s 18th annual showcase for dozens upon dozens of vendors displaying and distributing their products and services for the general public to enjoy. Hundreds of people attended the event and made up the crowd at the main event where each competing chef was given only 30 minutes to produce a seafood dish that would be judged by a team of judges against the 13 other contenders.

The executive director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, Samantha Carroll, commented on the 14 chefs who participated in the cook-off, calling them among the most “competitive and qualified” in the history of the Great American Seafood Cook-Off.

After the judges of the event had sampled all 14 entries, Erin Miller of Cambridge, Massachusetts was crowned the “Queen of American Seafood.” Miller won the cookoff by preparing a dish, the Cape Ann Tide Pool, which was complemented by a consommé of lobster tails as well as dune rose pits. As reported, “the winning creation included a scallop custard with corn and a sauté of sweet margarine, corn, mussels, and scallops, finished with a butter-poached lobster tail and scallops with sea beans.”

Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser commented on the event and crowning, saying, “what an outstanding competition we had today with one of the best lineups of competing chefs in the history of the Great American Seafood Cook-Off. It went great, the dishes are incredible. The personalities of each chef from each state from each state. This was definitely a tough decision for our judges.”

This year’s judges of the event included Louisiana Celebrity Chef John Folse, California Chef Shirley Chung, Two-time Chopped Champion and Florida Chef James Briscione, and Kentucky-based Sri Lankan-American Chef Sam Fore.

Competition winner, Chef Erin Miller had trained at the French Culinary Institute of New York, and she is reportedly proud to count her restaurant, Urban Hearth, “among the small number of acclaimed woman-owned and led restaurants in the Boston area.” Coming in second place was Floridian Chef Al Massa from Brotula’s Seafood House & Steamer in Destin, Florida, and Ohioan Chef Christian Gill from Boomtown Biscuits & Whiskey in Cincinnati, Ohiowas awarded third place.

Chef Erin Miller, who was crowned as the first-ever Queen of American Seafood, commented on her winning dish by saying, “we wanted to really focus-in on the breadth of seafood available in Massachusetts, not only the fish and shellfish we know really well but also the things that grow along the shore. So the dish is built around multiple layers of seafood and multiple layers of textures integrated with the sea beans and the garnishes that grow in the rocky shoals in Massachusetts. I’m in probably my favorite city in the world right now. It just means so much to represent my state and be here with these extraordinarily creative chefs. It just makes this mean so much more.”

The Great American Seafood Cook-Off, which just finished its 18th year of competitions and crownings, was initially started by the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board in 2004. The Cook-Off was purposeful in its origins, as it aimed to promote domestic, sustainable seafood.

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