San Francisco fun!

We are in San Francisco all this week for my birthday...the big 40! We had Delicious dim sum in Chinatown, pasta and Osso Buco in Little Italy last night, oysters on the half shell, and chocolate at the Ghirardelli cafe. I will be posting some pics of our food soon! Cheers!

Shrimp Creole

Shrimp Creole

 Shrimp Creole was one of my favorite dishes growing up, but I never tried making it myself until now for some reason.  We used to get frozen shrimp creole that was premade from Farmer's Seafood Market in Shreveport.  For my first attempt, this was a tasty and easy recipe from a cookbook that I received for Christmas from my dad's wife.  The cookbook is called "Krewes in the Kitchen".  It's a collection of recipes from Mardi Gras Krew members in Northwest Louisiana.  I made a few revisions to the original recipe in the book......namely lots more Tabasco and 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire instead of only one.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 ribs celery chopped

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

½ cup (1 stick) butter

1 tsp all purpose flour

1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tsp Worcestershire cause

5-10 dashes of Tabasco sauce (5 for a little spice, 10 for more spicy like I like it)

2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined

Salt and pepper to taste

Hot cooked rice

Simmer the onion, celery, garlic and bell pepper in the butter in a large skillet for 10 minutes.  Do not let it brown. 

Stir in the flour, tomato sauce, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce. 

Add the shrimp, salt and pepper.  Simmer slowly for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Serve over rice with a side of garlic bread.

Mexican Chicken Soup

 Spring is almost here and that means swimsuit season is just around the corner.  It's time for me to put aside the heavy, more carb loaded recipes for lighter recipes with fresh veggies.  This chicken soup recipe is South Beach friendly (minus the corn), healthy and fresh!

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons ground cumin

5 cups lower-sodium chicken broth

1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 cups refrigerated salsa

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 can corn, drained

1 can black beans, drained

Cholula hot sauce

1-2 handfuls fresh Cilantro, chopped

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and jalapeno; cook, stirring often until vegetables are tender, 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cumin; cook 30 seconds more. Add broth, increase to high heat, and bring to a rapid simmer. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink, about 3 minutes. Stir in salsa, beans and corn, bring back to a simmer, season with salt and pepper and Cholula to taste, and serve hot.  Sprinkle in chopped fresh cilantro just before serving.  I have also served this over wild rice as well. 

Snowy Mimosa Saturday

Mimosa Saturday!

This is how I celebrate  snowy Saturday in Colorado...... Louisiana style!   Making biscuits and sausage gravy (spicy of course) for brunch....... Pic and recipe to come!

Spicy Chicken Lettuce Wraps




Spicy Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Not only is this recipe spicy, but it contains one of my favorite hot sauces.....Cholula!  My husband, Troy, actually came up with idea of cooking the chicken in a combination of Worcestershire and Cholula hot sauce in his bachelor days.  He cooked this with the chicken only for me when we were dating and I liked the flavor so much that I fixed it up into a chicken wrap with some delicious guacamole to compliment the spicyness of the chicken. 

 When the guacamole and chicken are spooned together into lettuce leaves, the result is a unique lettuce wrap with the awesome tangy flavor of the Worcestershire and the peppery, delicious flavor of the Cholula.  The sauce is almost like a buffalo sauce but without the vinegar taste.

Ingredients

Guacamole salsa
3 ripe avocados, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 tsp Garlic powder
1 handful Cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1 Fresh jalapeño, finely chopped
5-6 Cherry tomatoes, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together guacamole salsa ingredients and set aside in the refrigerator, covered.

Chicken with Cholula sauce
2 large chicken breasts, sliced into ½ inch pieces
3/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

                                                                  ½ cup Cholula hot sauce

4-6 whole Romaine lettuce leaves or butter lettuce leaves for holding the chicken and guacamole salsa. 

In a large saucepan, cook the chicken and Worcestershire sauce on medium to medium low (not too fast) allowing the chicken to absorb the Worcestershire.  Drain the Worcestershire from the pan, leaving about 2 tablespoons in the pan with the chicken.

Add the Cholula to the chicken and turn heat up to medium high, tossing and stirring chicken constantly to coat and thicken the sauce.
After sauce is thickened to desired consistency, coat with a bit more Cholula and stir.   

Wash the lettuce leaves and dry them. Spoon the chicken and the guacamole salsa into the lettuce leaves and serve with black beans on the side. 

This could also be made into a salad or piled on top of tostadas!