What are you going to eat for Christmas? We only eat turkey once a year, so we definitely won’t be having that. I’d be happy with a ham, but we normally have beef. We usually have a rib roast, but they have gotten so expensive. One year Dad grilled ribeyes, and that was a nice dinner for Christmas.
To be honest, after all that Thanksgiving food I’d be happy with a big pot of Mom’s spaghetti with some nice garlic toast and a big salad.
Seafood also sounds good. Here is a recipe for seafood gumbo that sounds pretty dang good. You can buy roux at the grocery store if you’re lazy like me. This doesn’t have okra in it but could definitely be added.
Seafood Gumbo
2 pounds unpeeled fresh large shrimp 1/2 cup butter, divided 2 (32-ounce) cartons chicken broth 1 pound andouille sausage, sliced 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 cup all-purpose flour 2 cups finely chopped yellow onion 1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper 1 cup finely chopped celery 2 tbsp minced garlic 1 bottle amber beer 1 tbsp Cajun seasoning 2 tsp Worcestershire 1 tsp dried thyme 2 bay leaves 1/2 cup green onion tops 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley 1 pound lump crabmeat Cooked rice for serving Peel and devein shrimp, placing shrimp shells in a large pot. Refrigerate shrimp until needed.
In a large pot, melt 1/4 cup butter over medium heat. Add shrimp shells and cook until pink. Then add broth.
Bring broth to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat and keep warm until needed.
In a large Dutch oven, cook sausage until browned. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add oil and remaining 1/4 cup butter to Dutch oven. Heat over medium heat until butter is completely melted.
Add flour and stir with wooden spoon until smooth.
Reduce heat to medium low and cook, stirring frequently until roux is a dark caramel color. This will take 30 to 40 minutes.
Add onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add green pepper and celery and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring often.
Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
Add beer and stir in well. Pou r sh r imp s tock through a fine-meshed sieve into Dutch oven. (I like to add it in 3 separate additions, mixing well between additions.
Add Cajun se a soning, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and bay leaves, plus the reserved andouille sausage. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
Add green onions, parsley, and shrimp. When shrimp are pink, remove from heat and stir in crabmeat. Serve with white rice. —kwc— The first time my country behind had calamari in Houston I thought they were little onion rings, and I couldn’t get enough of them. I love them and often order them at restaurants. Here’s a home version that you can make with frozen calamari rings.
Fried Calamari
1 pound frozen calamari rings, thawed Kosher salt 1/2 cup 2% milk 1-1/2 cup all purpose flour 1/3 cup cornstarch 1/2 tsp baking powder 3/4 tsp dry oregano 1/2 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper Grape seed oil as needed 1 lemon cut into wedges to serve In a medium bowl, stir 1 teaspoon kosher salt in ½ cup milk. Add the calamari rings to the milk mixture and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together the f lour, cornstarch, baking powder, oregano, black pepper, and cayenne (make sure the mixture is well combined).
Prepare a large colander and set it on top of a large bowl. Using a pair of tongs, take a portion of the calamari rings (about ½ of them) shake off excess milk and toss the calamari in the flour mixture. Toss the calamari to coat evenly. Put the coated calamari in the colander. Repeat with the rest of the calamari.
Turn your oven on a low 150 degrees. Prepare a large sheet pan and set a wire rack on top. Top the wire rack with paper towel.
Heat 4 inches of grape seed oil in a 2.5 quart cooking pot to somewhere between 350 and 365 degrees. To test your oil, drop one calamari ring, many bubbles will form around it and the calamari will begin to float.
Once your oil is ready, using a pair of tongs, gently add some of the calamari in and fry for about 3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the calamari from the oil and arrange it on the paper towel on top of your prepared wire rack. Immediately season with kosher salt, then transfer to your warm oven to keep warm while you work on the rest. Repeat until you have fried all the calamari.
Transfer the fried calamari to a serving plate and finish with a squeeze of lemon juice. Serve with marinara sauce or tzatziki sauce. —kwc— Guess what else you can buy frozen? Crawfish tails.
Crawfish Etouffee
1/2 stick of butter 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 small onion, chopped 1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped 1/4 cup celery hearts, chopped 2 tsp minced garlic 2 cups chicken broth 1 tsp kosher salt Freshly-cracked black pepper, to taste 1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning 1 lb. frozen crawfish tails 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, plus extra for garnish 1/4 cup sliced green onion, plus extra for garnish White rice, for serving Chop the onion, green bell pepper, celery, parsley and green onions, then mince garlic. Set aside.
Make a roux by melting butter in a large skillet over medium heat and stirring in the flour; cook and stir constantly until caramel colored.
Add the onion, bell pepper and celery; cook until soft but not translucent (about 3-4 minutes). Then, add the garlic and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute).
Slowly stir in the stock or broth until fully incorporated. Add salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning.
Bring m ixture t o a b oil; reduce heat to a medium- low simmer, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the crawfish tails, cook and stir until crawfish is heated through; stir in parsley and green onion, reserving a bit for garnish. Serve immediately over freshly cooked rice.
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