Fried Crawfish Po'Boys and a Po'Boy Cookbook Review

Po'Boys are one of my favorite foods.  Nothing beats a good, dressed* Po'Boy for supper on a Saturday night.

Roast Beef Po'Boys dripping with debris gravy* are my favorite.  But other classics like fried shrimp, catfish, oyster, or crawfish are ok with me too.

   

I tend to pick straight on classics then quirk things up with a flavored mayo, mustard, or some other sauce.

This time around I made a garlicky, lemony mayo with lemon juice and my son's favorite thing to put on everything:  Cajun Power Garlic Sauce.

served with a side of Creole Oven Fries

The foundation of a really great Po'Boy is the bread--a crisp crust and soft, cottony inside.   After that, pretty much anything can be made into a Po'Boy.

And that's where this book comes in.

The Southern Po'Boy Cookbook: Mouthwatering Sandwich Recipes from the Heart of New Orleans 

by Todd-Michael St. Pierre

This isn't a new cookbook; it was published in 2013.
But it does have some new po'boy ideas like a Pain Perdu (French Toast) Po'Boy for breakfast and a Cheesy Pepperoni Po'Boy to make the kids happy.

There are also twisty takes on standards.
The old carb lovers dream--the french fry po'boy (yes, there is such a thing) becomes a Poutine Po' Boy.  The classic fried catfish po'boy is sexed up into a Pecan-Crusted Trout Meunière Po' Boy.

There are roughly 52 po'boy recipes.
One po'boy per week for a year.

I have work to do.  I've only tried two so far.

The Ultimate BLT
aka The Slidell

This po'boy is made with basil mayo, mozzarella, bacon, and arugula (I used lettuce), and tomatoes that are slowly roasted with a garlic-herb dressing.  Two slices of bacon per po'boy just seemed skimpy so I doubled it.  The author likes to make the joke that he doesn't like a heavily dressed po'boy--he prefers a scantily clad one.  But one cup of mayo split between two po'boys was really a bit much.  Overall, this was a good po'boy and one I'd make again.  The tomatoes were my favorite part and the basil mayo was a nice touch.

Eggplant Parmesan Po'Boy

aka The Bywater

I thought this was a clever idea for a meatless po'boy that doesn't involve seafood or frying (the eggplant is baked).  This is also a clever idea for using up leftover eggplant parmesan...which is what I would suggest.  The author makes these eggplant parm po'boys right from scratch.

This is something I noticed throughout the book.  The Plaquemines (Turkey & Stuffing Thanksgiving Po'Boy) uses Thanksgiving leftovers.  I find that many of the recipes in this book would be fun ways to serve leftovers.  I'm sure the author doesn't want to assume that you have leftover glazed ham and mac & cheese to make The Mama's Boy, leftover red beans and andouille sausage to make The Metairie, or leftover crawfish etouffee to make The Atchafalaya.  But I don't think I'll be soaking red beans overnight or baking a glazed ham to make a po'boy--no matter how much I love po'boys.

For the record, the only po'boy I'd spend hours on would be a roast beef.

At first glance, the names of the po'boys seem fun and slick.  Most of the po'boys are named after areas in and around New Orleans (The Garden District, The Marigny, The Harahan, The Treme) or are NOLA related (The Jazz Fest, The Satchmo, The Snug Harbor).

Some of the names make sense.  The St. Charles Avenue is a fried lobster po'boy with remoulade sauce.  Upscale like it's namesake.  The Havana features cuban style pork.  The Lafayette is a po'boy filled with boudin, a Cajun sausage popular in the Lafayette area.

Most of the names are just out of left field though.  And that bugs me.
Why is The Metairie called the Metairie?  Red beans are eaten all over New Orleans.  Why is The Pontchartrain--a huge source of seafood for the New Orleans area--a breakfast French toast po'boy?  Why was the name not given to a po'boy featuring seafood?  Similarly, why is the classic roast beef po'boy called The Lakeside?  And on a personal level, why is The Algiers a po'boy featuring fried scallops and chipotle sauce?  I'm not saying fried scallops with chipotle sauce wouldn't be good.  But I grew up in Algiers and can assure you that we did not eat scallops.  Or chipotle.  This not standard Algiers fare.  Like I said, it just bugs me.

Summing it up:
I found the book to be interesting because of my passion for po'boys.  The food pictures and artwork, showing New Orleans scenes, make me want to eat po'boys all day and spend some time in my hometown.  I don't know that I'll really follow many of the recipes as they are written, but the book did give me a lot of jumping off points for branching out when it comes to the good ole po'boy.



Print It

Fried Crawfish Po'Boys w/ Cajun Power Mayo

for the mayo:
1/2 cup Blue Plate Mayonnaise
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp Cajun Power Garlic Sauce

Mix together in a small bowl.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

for the po'boys:
1 12" French Bread
oil for frying
1 lb crawfish tails
3/4 cup flour
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
10 oz of your favorite fish fry (I use LA NOLA style fish fry)
shredded lettuce
sliced tomato
pickle slices (optional)

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the bread in half lengthwise, leaving a "hinge" on one side.  Cut the bread into two equal pieces to make two po'boys.  Place on a cookie sheet and bake for about 10-12 minutes to warm and crisp the bread.  Remove and set aside.

Heat oil to 350 degrees.  While oil is heating, dust the crawfish with flour and shake off the excess.  Combine the egg and milk.  Dunk the crawfish in the mixture, then coat with fish fry.  Shake of the excess and carefully add to hot oil.  Fry until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels.

Spread the bottom side of each po'boy with the mayo.  Pile on the crawfish.  Top with lettuce, tomato, and pickle (if using).

~~~~~~~~~~~~
*FYI:
Dressed means to order a Po'Boy with mayo, lettuce, tomato, etc.
Debris Gravy is a rich roast beef gravy, filled with little bits of beef (the debris).  It's the best part of a roast beef Po'Boy.

Products and sources:
(note: these are NOT affiliate links)
Louisiana Fish Fry: New Orleans Style w/ Lemon
Cajun Power Garlic Sauce
Louisiana crawfish tail meat
~~~~~~~~~~~~                


More Crawfish...

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Breakfast for Dinner {Breakfast Hash}

I plan our meals a week at a time and also shop for the week ahead.  That's about as much as I can handle on one shopping trip, otherwise I get squinky.

And that ain't pretty.

Sometimes even planning a week of meals fries my brain.  You'd think that I'd have a huge, outrageously long list of food to try.

And, well, I do.

But you don't think I actually use it, do you?
Most of the time I have no clue what to cook.

Nights like that usually call for Breakfast for Dinner.
You know, Brinner.

It's easy, cheap, and full of lots of possibilities.
Sweet like pancakes or Pain Perdu.
Or savory like this Breakfast Hash from Nigel Slater.

Served with a fruit salad, this made made a filling and easy (breakfast for) dinner.

Slater uses "herby sausages."  I used 1/2 pound of breakfast sausage.  He cracks eggs over the hash, making them sort of a cross between poached and fried.  Or at least I imagine.  I don't eat runny eggs.  So my hash had scrambled on top.

With hot sauce on top of that.

Here's the original recipe.

My version:

Print It!
Breakfast Hash
adapted from Nigel Slater

1 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp butter
1/2 lb breakfast sausage (I used hot)
1/2 tsp ground sage
1 onion, sliced
1 large Irish potato, including skin
2-3 eggs
hot sauce
1 Tbsp chopped parsley

Add the oil and butter to a skillet.  Heat over medium.  When the butter gets foamy, add the sausage and sage.  Brown, breaking the meat up as it cooks.  Add the onion and stir to combine.

Meanwhile, grate the potato onto a clean dishtowel.  Wrap the grated potato in the towel and squeeze the water out over the sink.

When the sausage has completely browned and the onion has softened, add in the potato.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the potato has softened.

While the potato cooks, scramble the eggs.  Top the hash with the eggs, shake on some hot sauce, sprinkle on the parsley, and serve.



This post is part of I Heart Cooking Clubs Weeknight Favorites.

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.

linking with:

Garlic & Sage Crispy Potatoes {Pantry Magic at IHCC}

No doubt you've seen these potatoes before.

They're only one of the most popular potato dishes on the interwebs.  The name may vary depending on the website.  Crash Hot Potatoes, Crashed Potatoes, Hot Crashed Potatoes, Cracked Potatoes, Crispy Smashed Roasted Potatoes, or Crispy Smashed Potatoes.

I make the basic version in place of  French fries since they have that crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside thing going on.

Donna Hay's version has garlic and sage added.

Review:
1) I don't normally add garlic to the baking pan when I make these.  We're big garlic lovers--this sounded like a great idea to me.  Unfortunately the timing and/or temperature is a bit off.  Most of my garlic cloves exploded  and slammed into the oven door.

2) Crispy Sage...also something I don't add to the pan.  But I like sage.  A lot.  I think it is an herb that is too often overlooked.  The crispy sage is a component I'll keep for these potatoes.  It added another layer of crispy to the dish, another layer of earthiness, and made my dish look way more sophisticated than I really am.

3) The method for smashing these potatoes differs from what I normally do--which is to place a clean dish towel on top of the cooked (baby) potato and press down with your palm.  Donna Hay's recipe instructs you to smash them with the back of a spoon.  Having some experience with smashing little baby potatoes, I knew going in that too much pressure and one bad move means the difference between smashed and smooshed.  I went with what I know and had smashed potatoes.

4) I skipped the accompanying malt vinegar.  I made this dish for I Heart Cooking Clubs' Pantry Magic theme and didn't have malt vinegar.  I always have olive oil, garlic, and salt in the pantry,  and often have potatoes in there too.

Donna Hay's recipe can be found HERE

linking with:
Pantry Magic @ IHCC

One Pot Wonder {Madhur Jaffrey's Spinach and Ginger Soup}

Have I ever mentioned that spinach is my favorite vegetable?
I like it raw in salad or on a sandwich in place (or butted up against) lettuce.
Briefly sauteed with mouth wash worthy amounts of garlic.
Ribboned through pasta.  Shrimp & pasta.  Chicken & pasta.
Creamed up into a dip.  Or casserole.  Shingled on pizza.  Scattered in soup.

Madhur Jaffrey's Spinach & Ginger Soup Perfumed with Cloves sounded like a great idea since the majority of the soup is spinach.

I came home from work and started on the soup.  It was easy and fast enough that I could have goofed off a little longer before starting to cook.

As I started cooking, I also started to have doubts.  There was a small amount of liquid and a large amount of vegetables in my pot.  I wondered if the carrots and potatoes would cook through.

I missed the clove part of the title and thought I was making spinach soup perfumed with ginger.  The cloves threw me, but I was tired and not in the mood to argue with my supper.

Once the spinach wilted down, things were underway just fine.  And it turned out that the cloves worked well as a perfume for spinach.

Review: This soup is highly flavorful.  While it is packed with vegetables, there really aren't many spices involved besides ginger and cloves.  For any spinach haters out there...first, we just can't be friends.  Second, the spinach does not stand out in the soup.  I can't say that any one flavor stood out; everything simply blends together well.  It's a filling soup, which is a hard thing for me to find.  While I thought it could pass for swamp water in appearance, The Husband liked the color.

This week's I Heart Cooking Clubs theme is "One Pot Wonder."

  

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Spinach & Garlic Soup Perfumed with Cloves
adapted from At Home with Madhur Jaffrey

4 c low sodium chicken broth
1 10 oz bag of spinach, washed; reserve about 6 leaves for garnish
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 large Irish potato, peeled and chopped
1 Serrano pepper, chopped
1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp black peppercorns
Salt, to taste
1/4 c heavy cream, plus about 4 TBSP for garnish
juice of 1/2 a lemon
freshly ground black pepper

Add the chicken broth to a large pot.  Tear the spinach leaves as you add them to the pot.  Add the remaining ingredients except for the cream, lemon juice, and ground black pepper.  Stir to make sure the carrot, onion, and potato fall to the bottom of the pot.  Bring to a boil and stir occasionally to distribute the vegetables as the spinach wilts.  Lower the heat to a simmer and cover.  Simmer for about 20 minutes until the carrots and potatoes are fork tender.  With a stick blender, puree the soup until smooth.  Add the 1/4 cup of cream and lemon juice.  Stir and cook until heated through.

Chiffonade the reserved spinach leaves while the soup heats again.  Taste the soup for salt and add as needed.  Ladle into four bowls.  Drizzle about 1 TBSP cream into each bowl of soup.  Scatter reserved spinach over each serving and top with fresh, coarsely ground black pepper.

Cajun Dynamic Duos

One of my favorite duos in Cajun cooking is shrimp & andouille.  The sweet, clean taste of Gulf shrimp is the perfect thing to level out andouille's smokey, spicy richness.

This dynamic duo can be found in shrimp & andouille jambalaya, tossed with pasta, topping off grits, together on a Po Boy, or turned into a tasty sauce and poured over a baked potato.

Shrimp & Andouille Baked Potatoes

Another dynamic duo found in Cajun country...Steve Riley & David Greely.
At the end of January, the Music of Acadiana Performance Series featured Steve Riley & David Greely at NuNu's.  The program consists of an hour-long jam with the spotlight artist(s), an interview, and a performance.

We arrived early because the featured performers are The Boy's favorites.  He was actually a little nervous at the thought of jamming with them.

It was a great spring-like day even though it was January 29th.  Doors were opened, chairs moved, and the jam took place outside.

NuNu's, an art gallery/cafe/music venue, occupies an old lumber building.  I love this old door.

Jammers jamming

A sample of what was played on a sunny day, with wildflowers just starting to pop up from the ground

And another

After the jam, everyone moved inside for gumbo and the interview.  Steve Riley spoke fondly of Cajun music greats who came before him--people he idolized.  He still speaks about them with a certain amount of awe and appreciation.  I wondered if he realizes that young people, like The Boy I live with, feels the same way about him.

Riley and Greely then performed for the crowd.
Twin fiddles...

And their more common roles

What I like about these two is that when they play, you know they love it.

Great music and great food is a big ole chunk of life here.

For the baked potatoes--bake them any way you like.  I prefer Alton Brown's method of rubbing the skin with oil, salting, and baking.  Love the way the skin turns out.

The sauce is basically a quick and dirty back road to etouffee.

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Shrimp & Andouille Baked Potatoes
1/2 tbsp oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
3 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2-2 Tbsp flour
1 1/4 c chicken stock
10-12 oz andouille, small dice
12 oz shrimp, medium to small in size
salt, pepper, Tony's Creole seasoning, all to taste
green onion for garnish
4 medium russet potatoes, baked how you like them

Heat oil in a skillet.  Saute sausage with onion and celery until softened and the onion starts to turn golden.  add the garlic and saute a few more minutes.

Sprinkle about 1 1/2 Tbsp flour over the mixture.  Stir to coat and saute for a few minutes to cook the flour. Add the liquid and season with salt, peppers, and Tony's.  Simmer about 10 minutes.

Add the shrimp and simmer about 7-8 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through.

Split open each baked potato and top with the andouille and shrimp mixture.  Garnish with chopped green onion.

Linking this week with:

Food on Friday: Potatoes @ Carole's Chatter

Also linking with
Feed Your Soul @ Around My Family Table


Southern Sundays @ A Slice of Southern


Tuesday Trivia & Linky Party @ Memories by the Mile