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Monday, February 29, 2016

Crawfish Po Boys





The weather here has been insanely warm. I'm trying to take full advantage of it.
Had the urge for crawdads n shrimp the other day so I set up my fancy cooker and went to work.



I gave both the shrimp and crawdad tails an egg-milk wash with a bit of garlic powder and cayenne pepper added...


used my handy Bass Pro breader... (not sure if that's a word :))



dusted with one of my favorite seasoned flours... this isn't a good pic. The flour is Western Star and it's made in Kansas.





I added a bit of Swamp Dust crawfish seasoning  to the flour for the shrimp. Gave it a nice kick!



Heating the oil on my fancy cooker...



Fried the crawdad tails first...





As usual, I ate more of them that I should have while cooking the rest....they are so tasty hot out of the cooker!




next the shrimp....


They were pretty tasty, I'll use that Swamp Dust again with these...




Next I build the sandwich while the goods were still hot.


Used  a remoulade sauce, lettuce and tomatoes... I used a store bought sauce. It was Louisiana brand.










I was too full to make a shrimp po boy but was happy with the crawdad one. It was pretty tasty!

 I was able to sit out on my back deck, the weather was so nice. Something about these sandwiches, reminds me of summer.
Can't believe March is here. Winter is flying by! I have fishing and garden fever. The wild onions are sprouting up around the farm and I saw my first robin today.
Hope everyone is having a great winter too. :)



Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Crab Stuffed Salmon on the Grill





I'm still making this stuffed salmon every so often. It's one of my favorites!

I trim the skin-on salmon filet, remove the belly and thin tail. Just makes the rest of the salmon about the same thickness for even cooking.





I mix up the stuffing... crab meat, scallions, garlic powder, salt, a squeeze of lemon juice and lemon pepper to taste. Also added minced fresh parsley..



sliced a few lemons...



cut slits in the salmon without going through the skin...then put lemon slices and the crab stuffing into the cuts.
I drizzled the fish with oil and sprinkled with more lemon pepper and salt...



Onto the Hasty Bake grill.  I usually set the fish right onto the grate but used a grill pan this time...
dang it worked great! I should have used one of these before for this dish. It made moving the salmon on and off the grill SO much easier than how I used to do it. lol



I add the trimmings too. They cook fast and are great for snacking on while the salmon finishes cooking.



I watch for the juices to start rising on the fish...



when the salmon was almost ready, I added asparagus to the grill. Olive oil, kosher salt and cracked black pepper on the asparagus..





The salmon was ready in about 20 minutes. It really cooks fast!







I love this stuff!







I've made this with shrimp stuffing but the crab is my favorite. The addition of light smoke from the grill really adds a lot to salmon (in my opinion).  I need to make this more often!

Hope everyone is keeping warm. I hear there is bad weather in the east and north. It's been SO warm here... I've been out soaking up the sun the last few days. I need to take advantage of the warm weather while it's here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Rabbit Hunting




I thought about leaving out the skinning-of-the-rabbit photo but figured what the heck... it's a part of what this post is all about. A wild cottontail rabbit dinner. :)

This year, there is an abundance of wildlife in my area. The cottontails are thick! So are the owls and hawks who prey on them. I hadn't eaten rabbit in a few years so decided it was a good time to do so.
Rabbit hunting doesn't involve much.... I step out onto either my front porch or my back porch with the .22 and pick a nice tender bunny.

After cleaning and skinning the rabbit, I let it soak overnight in salt water...



trimmed the rabbit and cut the backbone to lay flat...



drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, black pepper and smoked paprika...



I wanted to give the rabbit a shot of smoke and also brown the meat a bit...so into the drum with a kiss of hickory...







meanwhile, I cooked some bacon til crisp, added butter, scallions, onions and garlic to the drippings....cooked them til tender.


also placed a few of my dried morel mushrooms in water to hydrate...




I cut the lightly browned rabbit into sections.. the hind legs, front legs (wings) and divided the saddle...



into the pot of onions and garlic... I also added a few potatoes to the cooker for smooshed tatoes.



I then added a bay leaf, parsley, chicken stock and a little bit of wine. Then let it simmer...


When the potatoes were tender I sauteed scallions and garlic in butter, added flour, then milk to make a sauce....then mixed in the smoked, cubed potatoes...milk and butter, salt and pepper to taste.



smooshed them up a bit.... I make these tatoes often. I love the garlic and smokey flavor. :)



back to the wabbit...

the morels went in next, I let them simmer til tender...I thickened the gravy with a cornstarch slurry.




That's pretty much it.
The smoked garlic smooshed tatoes topped with tender wild rabbit and morel mushroom gravy...









The rabbit was so tender and juicy.. I had forgotten how tasty they are!




I hope to get a couple more rabbits before season ends.

The weather has been beautiful the last few days. Very mild for this time of the year. I'm hoping to go fishing sometime soon.
The Oklahoma earthquakes are getting interesting. We had a 5.1 quake in Fairview this morning that had my house shaking. They seem to be getting stronger!


Hope everyone has a nice Valentine's Day tomorrow. Give your loved ones a hug while you have the chance. :)