Shrimp Po Boy Sandwich

Shrimp PoBoys are a staple in Cajun and South Louisiana cuisine; especially in New Orleans.

“Po Boys” is a familiar term used to describe a submarine sandwich served on long French bread rolls.

They are typically filled with some sort of fried seafood or any other hot sandwich meat; like hot roast beef or hot sausage.

Why do they call them “PoBoys”?

There many tall tails as to the origin of the name Po Boys.  The most common story tells of streetcar workers on strike in 1929.  A local restaurant owner and former streetcar conductor would bring the workers sandwiches.  Employees from the restaurant referred to the workers as “Poor Boys”.  Of course with our Louisiana slang they became known as PoBoys.

There are many, many restaurants in New Orleans and surrounding areas where most of their menu is comprised of different kinds of Po-Boys – fried shrimp, fried catfish, fried oysters, and fried soft shell crab.  Are you seeing a pattern here?  Po Boys are nothing like your run of the mill healthy deli sub sandwich, and they are generally served with french fries.

Certainly we can’t forget to talk about “Do you want it dressed?”  What does that mean?

Having it “dressed” means that you want your Po Boy with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles and mayonnaise.

Otherwise, you just have it plain with either spicy Cajun Cocktail Sauce or Tartar Sauce.

One thing for sure Po Boys are here to stay.  Here in Baton Rouge, there are several restaurants that serve wonderful versions of the Po Boy and all good.  Many people in South Louisiana have at least one Po Boy a week for lunch.  I know that I do.  My favorite is a Catfish Po-Boy dressed.  Enjoy!

This particular Saturday night, we made both Shrimp Po Boys and Catfish Po Boys – give it a try!

Ingredients for a Shrimp or Catfish Po Boy Sandwich

1 pound fresh medium to large shrimp (peeled completely and de-veined)
2-3 thin catfish filets (cut into strips)
Corn flour or Shrimp & Fish Fry
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons Tony’s Creole Seasoning
1-2 eggs
Milk
Canola or vegetable oil
French bread or Po-Boy rolls
Shredded lettuce
Tomatoes (thinly cut)
Sliced dill pickles

Optional: yellow mustard, Creole mustard, ketchup, cocktail sauce or tartar sauce.

The Seafood:  Prepare your shrimp by peeling completely and slice the top open to remove the dark vein.  Prepare catfish by cutting into strips somewhat like chicken tender strips.

Seafood Batter:  Prepare the egg wash by breaking an egg into a mixing bowl.  Whisk in some milk (maybe a cup).   Squeeze in a wedge of lemon or lime juice.  In another mixing bowl, pour in the corn flour or Shrimp & Fish Fry mix.  Add ½ cup of flour, 1 tablespoon salt and 2 tablespoons Tony’s.  Stir altogether well.

The Oil:  Using a heavy bottom deep pot, skillet, or electric fryer, pour in fresh canola or vegetable oil.  Always be careful to leave 2-4” from the top to leave room for the oil to bubble up.  Optimal temperature is 350 to 375 degrees.  An electric fryer either has an automatic temperature setting or a button to help you.  If you are using a regular pot and do not have a thermometer, drop a small amount of the frying batter into the oil.  If it bubbles up quickly, the oil is ready.

Note: Oil and water DO NOT MIX!! Keep water away from the hot oil. If you pour water on the oil, the mixture will explode. If the oil smokes or catches fire, cover it with a pan lid or cookie sheet. You can use baking soda to put out any grease fires, but be careful that you don’t spread the flames around.

Battering Seafood:  Using your left hand, drop several pieces of shrimp or catfish in the egg wash and cover completely.  Pull out and drop in the corn flour or Shrimp & Fish Fry mixture.  With your right hand, toss the seafood around to fully coat with corn flour.  Shake off excess and place on a platter.  Continue this process until all seafood is coated.

Deep Frying:  Once the oil is properly heated, carefully drop seafood into the oil.  Be careful not to overcrowd the pan.  Seafood should freely move around.  Seafood will be ready in just a couple minutes.  It should be golden brown and probably will be floating to the top of the oil.  Remove with a slotted spoon and drain excess oil on layers of paper towels.

Serving Suggestions for Shrimp Po Boy Sandwiches

This is optional – prepare French bread or Po’Boys by splitting open and spreading butter on the inside.  Toast in the oven.  Then, add desired amount of seafood, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and mayonnaise.  Some people prefer mustard, cocktail sauce or tarter sauce.  Fold it altogether and cut in half for easy handling.

Oh man – that’s some good eating Cher!

How to Make Crab Meat Etouffee

Crab Meat Etouffee alone or as a topping on Fried Jumbo Shrimp or Grilled Redfish – this dish gives me the warm and cozy feeling of comfort food.

On a Sunday after church, we whipped up this simple dish in a matter of 30 minutes.

No collection of Cajun recipes would be complete without Crab Meat Etouffee.

Ingredients for Crab Etouffee

½ pound fresh crabmeat (claw or white)
¼ cup of flour
5 tablespoons butter
2 cups Cajun Trinity with minced garlic (or 1 bag of Seasoning Blend)
1 can (10 ounce) Rotel tomatoes
1 cup white rice
1 teaspoon Tony’s Creole Seasoning
Chopped green onions or parsley for garnish

To begin, in a medium saucepan – boil 2 cups water.

Add 1 cup rice. Stir.

Cover and turn down the heat to medium low (#3) for 20 minutes.

Next in a large deep skillet melt 1 tablespoon of butter and sauté the Cajun Trinity and minced garlic.

Set aside in a bowl.

In the same skillet make a roux.

Melt 4 tablespoons butter on medium heat (#6).

Gradually add in ¼ cup of flour stirring constantly.

For an etouffee, continue to stir until golden brown caramel coloring.

Carefully add the Cajun Trinity back to the skillet.

Add Rotel tomatoes and 2 cups water.

Stir well and simmer on (#4) for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent burning or scorching.

Fold in the crab meat.

Season with 1 teaspoon of Tony’s Creole Seasoning.

Simmer another 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

Serving Suggestions for Crab Etouffee

Serve Crab Etouffee over rice in a deep plate.

Garnish with chopped green onions or fresh chopped parsley for color and a side of garlic French bread.

Um Um that Crab Meat Etouffee is some good stuff cher!

Homemade Mashed Potatoes

Homemade Mashed Potatoes, or what I like to call REAL mashed potatoes, are made with real white potatoes, butter, milk and sour cream.

Real home made mashed potatoes are extremely tastier than your run of the mill mashed potato flakes that come in a box.

For just a little bit of effort, you can make this mashed potatoes recipe for your family and they will rave about it!

Serve this wonderful Cajun comfort food with stews and gravy and meat loaf and all sorts of things.

Homemade Mashed Potatoes: Ingredients

8 medium size white potatoes (2 medium potatoes per person)
¼ teaspoon Shrimp & Crab Boil (optional)
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup sour cream
½ cup milk or cream
Sea Salt (or plain salt)
Tony’s Creole Seasoning

Homemade Mashed Potatoes Are Simple to Make

Prepare a large pot of water. Add dash of sea salt.

Bring to a boil.

Peel potatoes. Cut into 1 inch cubes. Rinse in a colander.

Place in boiling water. Cook for 10-15 minutes until potatoes break apart with a fork.

Carefully drain in the sink in a colander. Pour into a large mixing bowl.

Add butter, sour cream and milk.

With an electric mixer, mix on high until creamy smooth.

Voila and Bon Appétit!

Serves 4 – 6

Beryl

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Cajun Cooking TV features Beryl Caillouet Stokes and her grand-daughter Addison cooking up some good eating Cajun recipes from their kitchen in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Please Follow Us On Facebook for Daily Updates and New Recipes:
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The Cajun Cooking TV show airs on local Baton Rouge, Louisiana channel WLFT MeTV channel 30.1 and on Cox cable channel 117 on Tuesday mornings at 10 am.

You Can Write Beryl At:
Cajun Cooking TV
7516 Bluebonnet Blvd # 179
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70810

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How to Make Cajun Rice Dressing

Cajun Rice Dressing, Rice Stuffing, or Cajun Dirty Rice – whatever you call it – this dish is a staple of Cajun Holiday traditions.

In this episode, we made Cajun Rice Dressing in a matter of three basic steps. It’s really easy and sure to be a hit at your dinner table.

Ingredients for Cajun Rice Dressing

1 pound ground round beef
1 pound lean ground pork
2 links of fresh pork sausage (we used a spicy Andouille sausage)
4 cups Cajun Trinity
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 stick of butter
1 cup chicken stock
3 cups rice
6 cups water
Tony’s Creole Seasoning and salt to taste
Chopped green onions for garnish
½ cup chopped pecans for garnish

Making Cajun Rice Dressing

Step One: Make rice according to package directions.

Step Two: Melt butter in a deep skillet. Slice into the casing on the sausage and remove the meat inside. Place all meat in the skillet. On medium high heat, cook the meats by chopping to a fine ground meat mixture. It should take about 10 minutes. Add the Cajun Trinity, minced garlic and ½ cup chicken stock. Cover and simmer on medium heat for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking and clumping.

Step Three: Using a large mixing bowl, blend together meat mixture and rice. It should be a good 50/50 mix. Season to taste and stir well. Pour into a casserole dish or 13 x 9 baking pan. Garnish with chopped green onions and pecans. Serve hot.

Notes: May be used as a stuffing for turkey, chicken, or a pork roast. Rice dressing, or rice stuffing, is also a great side dish. When served as a side item, we call it Dirty Rice.

Many Cajun recipes also call for the use of poached chicken livers and giblets. Certainly add if you want. We chose not to.

Beryl

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Cajun Cooking TV features Beryl Caillouet Stokes and her grand-daughter Addison cooking up some good eating Cajun recipes from their kitchen in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Please Follow Us On Facebook for Daily Updates and New Recipes:
https://www.facebook.com/CajunCookingTV/

You Can Write Beryl At:
Cajun Cooking TV
7516 Bluebonnet Blvd # 179
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70810

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Grilled Redfish Recipe

Grilled Redfish is on the menu this Saturday night at the Stokes’ home. Any quality fish will do for grilling, we’ve grilled grouper, red snapper, tuna, catfish and trout, just to name a few. Your best bet is to buy fresh fish from a local and trusted seafood market. Some people don’t care for Cajun recipes, but this is one Cajun recipe that fish lovers all over the world can enjoy.

Ingredients for Grilled Redfish

Fresh Redfish or Catch of the Day (skin on) – 1 filet for each person
Spray canola oil
Lime
Worcestershire sauce
Garlic powder
Tony’s Creole Seasoning
Sea Salt

1 stick of butter
2 cloves minced garlic
Green onions – chopped
Fresh or dried cilantro

Prepare your grill along with soaking mesquite smoking chips.

(Please see our Grilling Tips video for details on proper grill preparation.)

My favorite charcoal grill is the Old Smokey Grill.

Lay fish filets out on a tray.

Spray both sides of the filets with spray oil; especially the skin side.

Squeeze lime juice over the redfish and shake out Worcestershire sauce.

Sprinkle on Tony’s Original Creole Seasoning, garlic powder and sea salt.

Place skin down on the grill and put the lid on.

We will not be turning the fish.

Next, prepare the Cilantro Lime Butter Sauce by melting the butter in a saucepan.

Squeeze in another half lime.

Add in the chopped green onions, minced garlic, and cilantro.

Blend well.

Spoon out a bit of the butter sauce in order to drizzle on the redfish while on the grill.

After about 20 mins, we checked the fish for a white flaky doneness.

(Time on grill will vary depending on how hot it is.)

Bring the redfish inside and pour over the remaining butter sauce.

If all that butter is too much for you, at least scoop out the green onions, garlic and cilantro to spoon over the fish.

Serving Suggestions for Grilled Redfish

Serve with a fresh steamed broccoli or asparagus or whatever you like, and crusty garlic bread. It was so good!

Hurricane Gustav Cajun Cooking

Hurricane Gustav hindered our Cajun recipes cooking production, but not our spirit, nor our appetites for great Cajun food.

We were without electricity and Internet connection for 14 days, and had a major clean-up job after that. But, we’re happy to say we’re back to Cajun Cooking and will be bring you Cajun recipes weekly once again.

We’re also adding a “Cajun Culture” category, where we’ll be publishing articles on all sorts of things Cajun.

So, we’re happy to be back, and we’ll get those Cajun recipes and videos rolling again.