Shrimp Po Boys

Seafood po boys are just ridiculously delicious, so I decided I had to make one. The bread typically used has a slightly softer crust than the baguette I used, but being far away from Louisiana I had to make do with what I had (and with a seriously good baguette from a local bakery, I can’t complain too much). Remoulade adapted from: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/remoulade_sauce/

Shrimp: (for 1 sandwich)

6-8 jumbo shrimp

1 cup water

3 tbsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

Flour

1 egg + 1 tbsp water

Panko Bread Crumbs

Canola/Vegetable Oil

I bought my shrimp whole, so the first step was to devein and deshell: hold the shrimp in your hand, belly side up with the tails facing your fingers and take a paring knife underneath the tail section and run it down the center of the shrimp. Peel back the shell, and remove the blue vein from the center of the shrimp.

Once your shrimp is prepped, mix 1 cup of water, 3 tbsp salt, and 1 tbsp of sugar in a bowl and add the shrimp. Brine for 20 minutes.

Set up a dredging station: 1 container with flour, 1 with a beaten egg + 1 tbsp of water, and 1 container with panko breadcrumbs.

Remove the shrimp from the brine and bread them by dredging first in the flour, then the egg wash, and then the panko. Repeat for remaining shrimp.

In a medium pan add enough canola oil to cover the shrimp. Heat the oil to 350°F. Add the shrimp and fry for 4 minutes. Remove to a paper towel lined plate.

Remoulade:

1 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tbsp paprika

2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning

2 teaspoons pickle juice

1 tablespoon chopped pickes

2 teaspoons hot sauce

½ teaspoon garlic powder

Mix everything in a bowl. Makes approximately 1 ¼ cup.

To Finish:

Baguette

Butter Lettuce

Tomato slices

Fried Shrimp

Remoulade

Lemon slices (optional)

Cut the baguette in half and smear some remoulade on the bottom. Add lettuce, tomato and shrimp. Serve with lemon slices (optional).

Seafood Gumbo

I’ve been meaning to try some Cajun recipes for a while now, but haven’t had the chance. Gumbo always seemed a little intimidating as well – I thought the dark roux required would be a much longer time commitment, but really as long as you’re near the stove there’s not much to it. This recipe is a mashup of these two:

http://www.marthastewart.com/344207/emerils-classic-seafood-gumbo

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Seafood-Gumbo-241194

using the little bit of shrimp I had on hand and what was good/cheap at the fish market.  Typically you see oysters, shrimp, and crab (blue crabs, shell on) in this dish. If you don’t have shellfish stock on hand (this is the first time I’ve ever had it, thanks to some lobsters I had a few months ago), you could substitute chicken stock as well. You’ll probably want to use whole crabs in that instance to impart some additional flavor in the broth; the lump crab meat in this recipe only cooks for a minute.  Also, I used a “seasoning salt” recipe from a bbq book in place of Cajun/Creole seasoning on account of the fact that it’s fairly similar and was already in my pantry.

Gumbo:

¼ cup bacon grease (or vegetable oil)

1/3 cup flour

½ large onion, diced

2 “frying peppers” (that’s what the produce store called them; they’re about the size of poblanos) or 1 bell pepper, diced

2 ribs celery, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

1 quart lobster stock (or other shellfish stock)

½ lb. frozen cut okra (not thawed)

1 cup diced tomatoes

Bay leaf

5 sprigs thyme

1 teaspoon Worcestershire

1 tablespoon seasoning salt (recipe follows)

1 tablespoon paprika

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 lb lump crab meat

1 lb bay scallops

2 lb mussels, cleaned

½ lb. shrimp, deveined and deshelled

Green onions

Parsley

Ground Filé powder

Seasoning Salt:

½ cup salt

¼ cup paprika

2 teaspoons dry mustard powder

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon ground thyme

½ teaspoon ground oregano

Method:

Melt the bacon grease in a 6 qt. dutch oven, and add the flour. Stir to combine, and continue to stir regularly/frequently for 20 to 25 minutes. You don’t have to be hunched over the pot, spoon in hand for the duration, but stay nearby. The roux should darken to the color of chocolate milk.

About 1 minute into cooking

20 minutes of cooking

Add onion, peppers, celery and cook for 5 minutes, stirring to incorporate with roux. Add in garlic and cook for another minute.

Add stock, frozen okra, tomatoes, bay leaf, thyme, Worcestershire, seasoning salt, paprika, smoked paprika, and black pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and simmer for half an hour, uncovered. Adjust seasonings. 

Add shrimp, mussels and bay scallops and cook for 2 minutes. Add in the crab meat and cook for another minute. The shrimp should be pink, and the mussels should be open to indicate that they’re cooked.

Serve over rice, and stir in filé powder (add to individual servings, not the whole pot – it will make the gumbo stringy if you try to reheat it with filé in it) and garnish with green onions and parsley.