Perfect Shrimp Po’ Boys

For whatever reason, Allan and I have been craving shrimp Po’ Boys.  Honestly, I have been craving a trip back to New Orleans, but that’s a whole other post.  But for now, let’s just say we’ve been craving its cuisine.

With our taste buds dictating our menu, I decided to try my hand at some Po’ Boys.  I bought a loaf of crusty French bread at our local Publix, a head of beautiful leafy romaine lettuce and a red ripe tomato and put Iron Chef Allan to work as a sous chef slicing the veggies and bread…

…while I prepared the shrimp.

 

When everything was ready, we piled it all high and topped it off with some remoulade sauce, although I cheated a little with the remoulade sauce because I bought a bottle of Boars Head since I was too lazy to make it.  As much as I hated using it because it contained corn syrup, it still work well for our Po’ Boy craving.  Besides a little corn syrup won’t kill me, but the fried shrimp may.

The results were perfect, like something straight out of the Big Easy. Seriously.

Great.  Now, I’m craving a shrimp Po’ Boy all over again.

Shrimp Po’ Boys

Ingredients

1 loaf of crusty French bread cut into fours or 4 French baguettes

1 lb uncooked medium shrimp

¼ canola oil

2 eggs

2 cups Panko bread crumbs

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp Cajun seasoning

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

½ tsp smoked paprika

1 cup shredded lettuce

1 ripe tomato, sliced

1 jar Boars Head Savory Remoulade

Tabasco sauce (optional)

Directions

In one bowl, combine the flour, Cajun seasoning, salt, pepper and paprika and mix well.  In another bowl, prepare an egg wash.  Pour the panko bread crumbs in a third bowl.  Drench each shrimp in the flour mixture and the egg wash.  Then coat the shrimp in the panko bread crumbs.  As you prepare the shrimp, heat about ¼ cup canola oil in skillet on a medium to high heat.

Toss the shrimp into the heated oil and cook until about golden brown or 3 minutes on each side.  Remove from skillet and let shrimp sit on a dish covered with a paper towel.

Hollow out the center of one side of the baguette and pile on the shrimp.  Top with shredded lettuce and some sliced tomato.  Drizzle on remoulade sauce and Tabasco sauce and then serve.

 

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are serving for this week’s Friday Food Fight.

*Also submitted at*

In a Mardi Gras Mood

With all the talk of Fat Tuesday activities a couple weeks ago, I had a hankering for some Creole cuisine.  So I tried my hand at some red beans and rice and man, it satisfied my N’awlins need.  I attempted to recreate the red beans and rice dish at our own NOLA Café in Tampa and I think I did a damn good job.

 

Since it’s difficult to find MSG-free and nitrites free Andouille sausage in these parts, I substituted the Andouille sausage for Al Fresco Sundried Tomato Chicken Sausage.  (Next time, I’d like to try Al Fresco Spicy Jalepeno Chicken Sausage or the Tofurky Kielbasa just to see how that works in place of the Andouille sausage.)  I topped it with some Crystal hot sauce for some extra heat and no one was the wiser.  It was so good, y’all. The only thing missing was the king cake.

 

*ETA March 31, 2011: Archer Farms makes an Andouille Sausage that is MSG and nitrites/nitrates free, which can be found in the meat section at your local SuperTarget or purchased on-line at Target.com.  I used two links in place of the Al Fresco sausage in the recipe below and froze the rest for the next time I’m in a Mardi Gras mood.  The Archer Farms Andouille Sausage offered just the right amount of heat and zest for my N’awlins nosh.*

 

 

Run DMT’s Delicious Red Beans and Rice Dish

2 cans of dark red kidney beans, unrinsed

1 package Al Fresco Sundried Tomato Chicken Sausage, quartered

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 bay leaves

1 bell pepper, diced

1 sweet onion, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried sage

1 cup water

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

1 cup brown rice

 

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan.  Sauté onions, peppers and celery in olive oil until softened.

 

While the vegetables (trinity) are sautéing, slice sausage link in half lengthwise.  Then, slice the links again in half.

 

Once the trinity has softened in the pan, add bay leaves and garlic and let simmer with the vegetables for a minute.  Add sliced sausage and let sauté for about 5 minutes.  Then, add unrinsed canned kidneys beans, thyme, sage and red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and water.  Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

 

For the rice, bring 1 cup of rice in a knuckle deep of water to a boil in a cover pot.  Once boiling, lower heat to a very low simmer and simmer with lid on for 45 minutes or until rice is fluffy.

 

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are serving for this week’s Friday Food Fight.

 

*Also submitted at*

Restore, Rebuild, ReNew Orleans

I struggled with the title of this post as well as the words for this piece.  So many emotions flood my mind as I revisit the devastation of Hurricane Katrina with images from five years ago resurfacing.  I considered naming this piece When the Levees Broke, based on the Spike Lee Documentary.

 

 

However, New Orleans’ creed, Restore, Rebuild, ReNew Orleans seemed more fitting to me as it captures the spirit its people and city.

 

 

Two years ago, Allan and I were fortunate enough to win a trip to New Orleans.  Three years after Katrina, the French Quarter showed little evidence that category five hurricane had ever been through there, but the memory of Katrina’s attack on the city still resonated with its residents.

 

As Allan and I did our own damage soaking up every delicious morsel of Cajun cuisine, the shopkeepers and restaurant owners thanked us for visiting, a small reminder that this great city still struggled to revive itself years later after the storm.

 

As a condition of this trip, Allan was required to build picnic benches for some local schools.  The project coordinator led them through the Lower 9^th District so the participants could see the damage left behind by Katrina and in turn, understand the significance of their contribution.  Building a few picnic tables seemed hardly enough, like a drop in the bucket to a neighborhood that still was drowning in rubble.

 

Once Allan completed hammering out the picnic tables, we pounded down some Po’ Boys and played like true tourists in this romantic, historical city.  With each step on the cobblestone, NOLA charmed us and stole our hearts as she had done to so many others before us.

 

 

Five years later as NOLA still recovers from Katrina and now even more damage from the Gulf oil spill, it saddens me to see such any amazing city suffer again.   But the people of New Orleans have seen devastation and hard times before.  They will use music to lift their spirits and tell their story and to remind all of us to preserve our precious NOLA, her resources and her people.

 

 

Restore

Rebuild

ReNew Orleans

Manly Manhole Covers

Allan’s obsession with manhole cover cufflinks began in New Orleans two years ago. While staying in the French Quarter, we stumbled upon a jewelry store that specialized in custom-made silver jewelry. Allan found a pair of NOLA manhole cover cufflinks that he had to have, but in the end he decided against purchasing them.

 

 

Two years later, he still talked about those cufflinks and how he wished had bought them. Then last Christmas, my sister surprised him with a pair and she mentioned how she had discovered a website that sold manhole cover cufflinks from all over the globe.

 

Upon hearing this news, Allan’s ears perked up and there was a silver glimmer in his eyes. He then devised a plan to collect silver manhole cover cufflinks from various cities as souvenirs. The next manhole cover cufflink up his sleeve would be New York City.

 

But personally, I am a bit partial to Tampa.

 

 

Hosted by Cecilyand Krista

Places I Love

Every week, I visit I Heart Faces and promise to participate in the challenge, but I then I get distracted and forget to submit my photos.  But not this week!  Although this week’s challenge seemed relatively easy, it was difficult to narrow down my favorite places.

 

England
About 5 years ago, we traveled to Chester, England for my friend, Suzie’s, wedding.  During our holiday, we drove to Edinburgh, Scotland (where Allan was born), York (the city where I completed my final teaching internship) and visited Whitby (Allan’s hometown).  Although I had seen many pictures of Whitby, it wasn’t until I physically stepped foot in the town that I understood why Allan gets homesick.  Since my college days, I have always loved England, but I fell in love with little quaint little sleepy seaside town.  Honestly, pictures do not do it justice and simply cannot reflect the beauty of Whitby.  Someday we’ll own a small little cottage summer home there visit again.

 

 

 

New Orleans
Can you believe I spent a weekend in New Orleans and this is the best picture with “faces” I can find?  These cute little Jamie Hayes voodoo dolls were more willing models than my DH.

 

 

This southern city is truly full of soul in more ways than one.  New Orleans has the best food, best music and the best people.  I’m planning a trip back to the Big Easy for my 40^th birthday in 2011.

 

 
BTW…Good luck to the Saints in the Super Bowl!  Who dat?!

 

New York City
Last year, we were fortunate to spend two kid-free weekends in New York City.  Our May trip was Allan’s first time in the Big Apple.  He usually doesn’t like having his photo taken, but he willingly posed for this shot.  Look closely at the photo to see why Allan thought he was being so clever.

 

 

The Beach
I love the beach and so do my girls.  Thank heavens we live in a state that is almost surrounded with soft sand and beautiful blue water.  I can’t wait for the warm weather to arrive so we can start packing the beach bags and head for the waves again.

 

 

Disney
Living in Florida, you either take for granted that you live in a state with miles of beautiful beaches and Mickey Mouse or your take full advantage of it.  It’s been a year since our last trip to the Magic Kingdom and I miss the magic. Therefore for Mother’s Day this year, I requested a weekend at Disney.

 

 

 

Camping
Both Allan and I camped as kids, but until our friends, Erika and John, reintroduced us to the idea of camping a few years ago, we had forgotten how much we loved it.  Now, we camp a couple times of year with our friends and it’s something we all look forward to, except when it’s raining.

 

 

North Carolina
We can also thank our friends, Erika and John, for our love for North Carolina.  For the past three years, our two families have enjoyed sharing a cabin and playing in the snow in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  However, last month was probably our final trip to the mountains for awhile.  We’ll have to see if our next little one will be an intrepid traveler, car sleeper or car screamer like his/her sisters were as infants.  Another car screamer would make me head for the hills for sure!   Fingers crossed we can return to North Carolina in 2011.

 

 

 

 

Hooters
So, I cheated a little with this one, because my friend and absolutely FABULOUS photographer, Kelly, took this family photo.  I really love Hooters, however, my pregnancy nose can’t stand the smell of chicken or fried food, so I’m really missing sunsets over the Gulf and hot wings and pitchers of beer at the New Port Richey Hooters these days.  Food aversions really stink.  (No pun intended.)

 

 

 

Home
Dorothy said it best.  There’s no place like home. As much as I love to travel, it feels so good to come back to the comforts of home after any trip.

 

 

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