My Kind of Festival Food {Creamy Shrimp & Grits w/ Andouille}

Spring is "Festival Season" in Louisiana.  The Holidays are done.  Mardi Gras is over.  The temperatures and humidity levels are still bearable.  People have the time and motivation to get out and enjoy festival music and food.

Like one of my favorite festival foods: Shrimp & Grits.

 Of course, Fall is also considered "Festival Season" and we have festivals year round.  When you have a festival for everything under the sun, it's hard to pack everything into just the Spring months.

We don't go to every festival out there, but we try to make a few every year.  Apparently, we've been doing it for a long time.

At the Kolache Festival in Caldwell, Texas, 2002.

That baby is now 12.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Many festivals focus on a certain type of food.  If that's the case, I feel obligated to eat that food item while I'm there.

But I'm always drawn to Shrimp & Grits.  There are many variations--I like trying them all.

Next week, I'll have a Creole version for you.  Today, it's one of my biggest weaknesses: a creamy sauce.

And lots of green onions.
Because that's how I roll.
In piles of green onion.

I could eat grits every day.  The Boy not so much.  If you don't eat grits (and, really, what's wrong with you?), this is also good over pasta.

Print It!

Creamy Shrimp & Grits (w/ Andouille)

1/2 TBSP olive oil
8 oz button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 lb andouille sausage, cubed
1/2 medium onion, chopped or sliced
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped or sliced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 TBSP flour
1/2 lb small-medium shrimp
salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, to taste
3/4 c half and half
1/2 cup sliced green onion, divided

Add olive oil to a large skillet set on medium high heat.  When the pan and oil are very hot, add the mushrooms and sear until well browned and the mushrooms no longer give off liquid.  Remove from the pan.

Lower the heat to medium and add the andouille.    Saute until the sausage begins to brown in spots, about 5-7 minutes. Then add the onion and bell pepper.  Saute until the vegetables have softened, about 10 minutes.  Add the mushrooms back to the pan along with the garlic.  Cook for about 1 minute.  Sprinkle in the flour and add the shrimp to the pan.  Season to taste with salt, black pepper, and cayenne.  Cook, stirring, for about 6-8 minutes until the shrimp are no longer pink.

Slowly pour in the half and half, stirring to incorporate.  Add half of the green onions.  Simmer for about 10 minutes to thicken.  (Make the grits while the sauce simmers).  Serve over grits and top with the remaining green onions.  Serves 4.

For the grits:

olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 c chicken broth
salt and pepper, to taste
1 c grits
1 c grated cheese

Add a splash of olive oil to a saucepan.  Briefly saute the garlic until fragrant.  Add the chicken broth and season to taste with salt and pepper (grits need a fair amount of salt).  Bring to a boil and whisk in the grits.  Simmer until grits are tender.  Remove from heat and stir in the cheese.



Some June Festivals in Louisiana:
The Buggy Festival of Church Point, LA
French Market Creole Tomato Festival, New Orleans, LA
Louisiana Cajun-Zydeco Festival, New Orleans, LA
Louisiana Catfish Festival, Des Allemands, LA
Le Festival de la Viande Boucanee (Smoked Meat Festival), Ville Platte, LA
Beauregard Watermelon Festival, DeRidder, LA
Louisiana Peach Festival, Ruston, LA

More Grits...

In the Past...

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Twelve Years {and Guinea Gumbo}

I ate gumbo twelve years ago today.

How do I remember what I ate twelve years ago?
My son was born twelve years ago, that's how!

We were having a damp, cold spell that January.  Even though we were living in Bryan, TX at the time, gumbo weather is gumbo weather to a Cajun.  So my husband made one.

Not the wisest menu choice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alert:
What follows is not an appropriate story for a food blog.  
I'm not always known for saying and doing appropriate things.
Oh well!

Low key is how I'd describe being pregnant with my son.  I was never sick.  I was not hormonal.  (The Husband says I was the Mr. Spock of pregnant people.)  I was not uncomfortable.  I just was.

Even in the delivery room, I handled the pain well.  Didn't snap at anyone (unusual for me) and even calmly buzzed the nurse and said, "I think I'm ready for an epidural, please."

But things kinda went south at some point.  After an entire nine months of not being nauseous...there it was.  I told the (on call) doctor I might throw up.  I told my husband.  The nurse.  No one seemed to be doing anything about this piece of information I had so nicely alerted them to.  I said again, "I'm going to puke."  Finally, the nurse handed me a tiny little plastic bin.  Barely bigger than a teacup.

Now just what the hell was I supposed to do with that?
So there it was.  I barfed.  Sort of into the tiny little plastic bin.  But mostly all over the doctor...who didn't seem to believe I'd do it in the first place ...and didn't have his face shield in place.  My calm, nice, sweet demeanor faded (out of embarrassment) and I snapped, "I told you I was going to throw up."

The nurse asked my husband, "where ya'll from?"
Husband: "Louisiana."
Nurse: "I'm from Baton Rouge.  I thought that looked like gumbo."
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Not surprisingly, The Boy loves gumbo.  It's one of his most favorite meals.

In honor of his birth story/birthday, I can't help but put a gumbo up today.

Made with a guinea hen, which many people here raise, the broth is deliciously rich and decadent--more so than a gumbo made with your average chicken.

Our guinea came from Bubba Frey who raises them, processes them, and sells them in his store just down the road in Mowata, LA.

The husband has been tinkering with his Chicken and Sausage Gumbo from way back.  This Guinea Gumbo is a variation of it.

Happy Birthday to my gumbo lover!

Print It!

Guinea Gumbo

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 1/2 to 2 cups flour
5 large onions
(at least) 10 cloves garlic, 4 unpeeled, whole and smashed, 6 peeled
6 stalks celery
1 bell pepper
1 guinea hen, cut up
1 lb andouille sausage, sliced in half moons
chicken stock (see below, Step 1)
salt, black pepper, cayenne/red pepper
cooked white rice
2/3 cup green onions (optional)

Step 1: Rough chop 3 onions, 6 cloves garlic, 3 stalks celery, and 1 bell pepper so they fit into the bowl of a food processor. Process the vegetables until mushy. This results in a richer, more flavorful gumbo, but you can hand-chop your vegetables if you don't have a food processor.

Meanwhile, fill a large pot with water, 2 onions (cut in half), 4 cloves of unpeeled smashed garlic, 3 stalks of celery, a generous amount of black pepper and cayenne pepper. Yes, I season my stock...whatcha gonna do about it? Bring the pot to a boil, add the guinea pieces and cook on a low boil for about 45 minutes. Remove the guinea pieces, let cool, then remove the meat from the bones. Set meat aside or refrigerate if you are making the stock ahead of time.  Return the bones to the stock pot and continue to simmer for several hours. Strain the stock and reserve it for adding to the gumbo later.  The stock can be made ahead of time.

Brown the andouille in a skillet and set aside.

Step 2: Make a roux by adding 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil in a cast iron, or stainless steel pot. Do not use non-stick cookware. Heat the oil on medium-high heat. Wait until oil is very hot. Then, gradually add flour a little bit at a time, stirring/scraping constantly with a flat-edge spatula. Keep adding flour as roux browns; you will know you've added enough when all of the vegetable oil has combined with the flour and when the roux no longer looks oily.

Stir constantly. This step takes time, usually about half an hour. Roux is done when it is a dark brown color and has gotten considerably thicker than when you began.

Step 3: Assemble the Gumbo. When the roux is done, add the guinea meat and gradually stir in about 6 cups of stock.  This will stop the roux from cooking further.   Add the processed vegetables to the pot .  Simmer for about an hour, then add the andouille.  season to taste with salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.  Let gumbo cook over medium heat for as long as possible (minimum 1 hour). About half an hour before serving, add green onions and check again for seasoning.  This is also when you want to begin cooking your rice.

Step 4: Serving. Serve gumbo over rice. Top with green onions. Leftover gumbo can be refrigerated or frozen for later use. (Note: do not refrigerate or freeze gumbo with rice in it. The rice will absorb the liquid. Store leftover rice separately or make fresh rice for each meal).

Everyone should have more gumbo in their lives

What's in the past... still tastes good

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Ugly {and Cajun Smothered Potatoes}

Down here we don't say something is rude or impolite.

We say that it's ugly.

A mother might tell her child:
"stop being ugly"     "don't be ugly"    "that's ugly"    "you were ugly to your brother"

We might say:
"you don't have to act ugly"   "he acted ugly to his mamma"   "let me stop being so ugly"

Ugly.

They say beauty is only skin deep.  Under that skin, some people have black, ugly little hearts.

This past summer I was snooping around through my blog traffic sources.  For kicks.  And boy did I get a kick.  An ugly kick.

One of my blog pictures was re-pinned to a Pinterest board.  A board titled along the lines of misunderstanding the idea behind Pinterest.  (I'm trying not to be ugly.  Specifics withheld)

An ugly comment was included.  Based on a few of this person's comments, it's safe to say that she may be scatologically fixated.

My picture and the blog post are from 2008.  Long before Pinterest.  It is also not something I ever pinned.  It has been shared & pinned often.  By other people.

Because they liked what they saw.

So why did this bother me so much?  Sure.  It hurt my feelings.  It was embarrassing.  But there's more to it than that.

The fact that this dish, Cajun Rice & Gravy, was added to someone's pinboard of fails...along with the comment "hot diarrhea vat" cuts at my culture.

People outside of Louisiana think that our (Louisianians) favorite dishes are gumbos and etouffees. Jambalayas and courtbouillons.  Because these things are romantic and exotic sounding.  Mysterious.  Enchanting.

It is certainly true that we love these things and cook them in our homes.  Yet if you were to ask a Cajun which dish he/she would most want to eat, it's very likely to be a simple rice and gravy.

No.  It isn't beautiful.   It isn't meant to be stunning restaurant food stacked high and (up)tight.  It's a dish that can be prepared economically.  It can feed many for not a lot.  It's real food that feeds hard-working people.  It's a dish that, while ugly, reminds everyone of their mammas and maw-maws.

I'd argue that some of the ugliest, messiest foods are the best.

Case in point: drippy roast beef po boys.

Another case in point: Cajun Smothered Potatoes

These potatoes are cooked down with smoked sausage (in my case, andouille) and onion, creating a flavorful sauce.  The potatoes drink up the "sauce" as they cook.  Leaving you with soft, almost mashed potatoes studded with savory bits of smoked sausage and onion.

It isn't pretty.
In fact, it's pretty damned ugly.
But it's also pretty damned good.

So pin this to your ugly Pinterest board.
I have a feeling people will know what's what.

Another version of Smothered Potatoes


Print It!

Cajun Smothered Potatoes

2 Tbsp bacon drippings
½ lb Andouille cut into half moons
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 Irish potatoes, cut into 1 “ cubes
1/2-3/4  tsp salt, or to taste
½ tsp black pepper
about ½ cup water

Heat bacon drippings in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the Andouille and onions.  After about 5-7 minutes when the onions have softened and start to brown, stir in the garlic, potatoes, salt, and pepper.   Sauté for about 7-8 minutes.  Add ½ cup water and cover.  Lower to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add more water during cooking if potatoes start to stick.

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