Grilled Oysters with Spicy Garlic Butter
This butter works the best when it’s prepared ahead. Let it soften at room temperature, then season it, place it in plastic wrap, and roll it into a tight cylinder. Then chill it until it’s hard. When it’s chilled, it’s easy to cut the spicy butter into disks to top each oyster just before grilling.
I like to use this seasoned butter on just about everything, from pasta to sautéed shrimp.
1 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon fresh chives, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 dozen oysters, shucked and left on the half shell
1. Beat the butter with the garlic, pepper flakes, chives, thyme, and lemon juice in a mixing
bowl with a wooden spoon or in the bowl of a food processor until well combined.
2. Using a rubber spatula, mound butter onto a wide sheet of plastic wrap. Drape one of the
wide ends of the plastic wrap over the butter, then roll the butter into a cylinder about 1
inch in diameter and twist ends tightly. Refrigerate butter until hard.
3. Prepare a charcoal or gas grill. Unwrap the spicy butter and slice it into disks about
½ inch thick. Put a disk of butter on each oyster, then put the oysters , butter side up,
directly over the hot coals on the grill. Grill the oysters only until they start to curl and
bubble around the edges and the butter melts.
Crabmeat Ravigote Ingredients
1 lb jumbo lump crabmeat
2 tbsp cup sherry vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp horseradish
1 minced shallot
2 tbsp chopped chives
1 tsp sugar
juice of 1 lemon
⅔ cup of Blue Plate mayo
1 tsp Zatarains liquid crab boil
dash of Tabasco
salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
Procedure
1. In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients together except the crabmeat.
2. Gently fold in crabmeat.
Shrimp, Chicken and Andouille Jambalaya
Both the French and the Spanish have had their influence on our famous rice-based, paella-like jambalaya. As we do with a crawfish boil or a cochon de lait (suckling pig), we make jambalaya for a great gathering of folks, often cooking it outdoors over a gas or log fire. Try to find a (three to five-gallon) seasoned, cast iron pot, or use the heaviest pot you can get your hands on. A good-sized pot is well worth the investment for making so many of these one-pot specialities we love to cook down here. We even have a long-handled, cast-iron spade for stirring the jambalaya pot.
Ingredients
3 pounds andouille sausage, diced
2 pounds fresh pork sausage, removed from casings
½ cup lard
2 pounds bacon, diced
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut roughly into 1 inch cubes
6 large onions, diced
4 bell peppers, diced
10 stalks celery, diced
12 clove garlic, minced
9 cups converted Louisiana white rice
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 dried bay leaves
3 tablespoons pimentón de la Vera
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon celery salt
6 cups canned crushed tomatoes
6 cups Basic Chicken Stock (recipe, page 13 in My New Orleans)
5 pounds Louisiana white shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 bunches green onions, chopped
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Procedure
1. First, you’ll need to heat a very large pot (3-5 gallons) over high heat until it is hot, then reduce the heat to moderate. This will allow the heat to be uniform all over, preventing those little hot spots that are likely to burn.
2. Render the bacon with the sausages and the lard in the hot pot, stirring slowly with a long wooden spoon or a spade. While the pork is rendering, go ahead and season the chicken thighs with salt and black pepper. Add the chicken to the pot, stirring, and cook until the chicken becomes golden brown, about 5 minutes.
3. After the chicken has browned, add the onions to the pot and allow them to caramelize, about 15 minutes. Add the bell peppers, celery and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. Continue stirring from time to time in an effort that will ensure everything in the pot cooks evenly.
4. Next add the rice, thyme, bay leaves, pimentón, cayenne, 2 tablespoons of salt, 1 tablespoon black pepper, and the celery salt to the pot and cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes.
Shrimp, Chicken and Andouille Jambalaya Both the French and the Spanish have had their influence on our famous rice-based, paella-like jambalaya. As we do with a crawfish boil or a cochon de lait (suckling pig), we make jambalaya for a great gathering of folks, often cooking it outdoors over a gas or log fire. Try to find a (three to five-gallon) seasoned, cast iron pot, or use the heaviest pot you can get your hands on. A good-sized pot is well worth the investment for making so many of these one-pot specialities we love to cook down here. We even have a long-handled, cast-iron spade for stirring the jambalaya pot.
Ingredients
3 pounds andouille sausage, diced
2 pounds fresh pork sausage, removed from casings
½ cup lard
2 pounds bacon, diced
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut roughly into 1 inch cubes
6 large onions, diced
4 bell peppers, diced
10 stalks celery, diced
12 clove garlic, minced
9 cups converted Louisiana white rice
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 dried bay leaves
3 tablespoons pimentón de la Vera
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon celery salt
6 cups canned crushed tomatoes
6 cups Basic Chicken Stock (recipe, page 13 in My New Orleans)
5 pounds Louisiana white shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 bunches green onions, chopped
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Procedure
1. First, you’ll need to heat a very large pot (3-5 gallons) over high heat until it is hot, then reduce the heat to moderate. This will allow the heat to be uniform all over, preventing those little hot spots that are likely to burn.
2. Render the bacon with the sausages and the lard in the hot pot, stirring slowly with a long wooden spoon or a spade. While the pork is rendering, go ahead and season the chicken thighs with salt and black pepper. Add the chicken to the pot, stirring, and cook until the chicken becomes golden brown, about 5 minutes.
3. After the chicken has browned, add the onions to the pot and allow them to caramelize, about 15 minutes. Add the bell peppers, celery and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. Continue stirring from time to time in an effort that will ensure everything in the pot cooks evenly.
4. Next add the rice, thyme, bay leaves, pimentón, cayenne, 2 tablespoons of salt, 1 tablespoon black pepper, and the celery salt to the pot and cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes.
Shrimp, Chicken and Andouille Jambalaya Both the French and the Spanish have had their influence on our famous rice-based, paella-like jambalaya. As we do with a crawfish boil or a cochon de lait (suckling pig), we make jambalaya for a great gathering of folks, often cooking it outdoors over a gas or log fire. Try to find a (three to five-gallon) seasoned, cast iron pot, or use the heaviest pot you can get your hands on. A good-sized pot is well worth the investment for making so many of these one-pot specialities we love to cook down here. We even have a long-handled, cast-iron spade for stirring the jambalaya pot.
Ingredients
3 pounds andouille sausage, diced
2 pounds fresh pork sausage, removed from casings
½ cup lard
2 pounds bacon, diced
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut roughly into 1 inch cubes
6 large onions, diced
4 bell peppers, diced
10 stalks celery, diced
12 clove garlic, minced
9 cups converted Louisiana white rice
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 dried bay leaves
3 tablespoons pimentón de la Vera
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon celery salt
6 cups canned crushed tomatoes
6 cups Basic Chicken Stock (recipe, page 13 in My New Orleans)
5 pounds Louisiana white shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 bunches green onions, chopped
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Procedure
1. First, you’ll need to heat a very large pot (3-5 gallons) over high heat until it is hot, then reduce the heat to moderate. This will allow the heat to be uniform all over, preventing those little hot spots that are likely to burn.
2. Render the bacon with the sausages and the lard in the hot pot, stirring slowly with a long wooden spoon or a spade. While the pork is rendering, go ahead and season the chicken thighs with salt and black pepper. Add the chicken to the pot, stirring, and cook until the chicken becomes golden brown, about 5 minutes.
3. After the chicken has browned, add the onions to the pot and allow them to caramelize, about 15 minutes. Add the bell peppers, celery and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. Continue stirring from time to time in an effort that will ensure everything in the pot cooks evenly.
4. Next add the rice, thyme, bay leaves, pimentón, cayenne, 2 tablespoons of salt, 1 tablespoon black pepper, and the celery salt to the pot and cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes.