Shrimp Etouffee with Steamed Rice

i was looking around this morning for something to cook, discarding recipes left and right because i didn't want to make another dessert and so many recipes required rolling out dough (including the maultaschen i want to make), and we don't have the counter space for that. :\

but i was browsing my main recipe source, the food network, and it dawned on me to make an etoufee! anyways, i did some searching and found a highly-rated recipe that didn't rely on crawfish (since, according to my brother, it's really only available if you get it shipped). i've only had etouffee a couple times (at most), with the most memorable being at a brunch i went to with a friend while i was still living in chicago (around 1999-2000ish). stuck with me that long, that was how good it was! i was worried it was going to come out too stew-like (i really don't enjoy stews), but it looked good enough to take a chance on.

and, even though i don't really like emeril (he kinda reminds me of an ape, the way he looks and hounds over the stove as he's cooking, tho i'm sure he's a nice guy), i couldn't resist.

the recipe

here are the changes i made to the recipe:

• i don't like celery, so i took that out and substituted more onion (which i love)
• i'm too cheap and lazy to make emeril's essence, and i couldn't find it at the store, so i just used cajun seasoning that came in a big shaker container thingy
• too lazy to peel/seed/chop tomatoes, so i got diced tomatoes in a can (organic [on sale], no salt added)
• i don't like long grain rice, so i used medium grain
• i didn't make the fried mirliton strips

here's how it went:

i was unsure how to cook the rice (i don't normally eat rice) so i followed the directions on the rice package. i used 2 cups rice and filled to the 3 cup line in the pot, as directed. wolfgang puck says "rice perfect" and i was going to doubt him, but it did come out just fine!


i used frozen shrimp (on sale, $12 for 2 lbs, still $$$, imho), so i had to defrost them.


one of the onions i bought looked like it was starting to sprout(?) so i tossed it. good thing i had extras!


chopped up onions and green and red bell peppers


look ma, i'm making a roux!



vegetables cooking in said roux








a hint for peeling mechanically deveined shirmp (well, maybe not a hint, but something i discovered which may be obvious to everyone else) -- pull the shell down from the sides towards the legs to pull them off. usually the shell will tear towards the tail, that's fine. hold on to the body of the shrimp and pull on the tail and it'll disconnect along with the shell, leaving just nommy shramp meat! (too bad i didn't discover this until halfway through.)

oh, before i forget, i don't drink wine either, so when it said to use a dry sherry or white wine, i didn't know what to get. i ended up with a clos du bois sauvignon blanc. it called for 2 tablespoons, although i think i may have ended up adding significantly more by accident (maybe nearing 1/4 cup? LOL). (and now i have a bottle of wine in the fridge that may never get used again.)





here it is, all coming together:




and on top of (invisible) rice:


the final verdict:

WHOA, nomma! so delicious! i'm definitely making this again, whether for myself or for a party. it was a teeny TINY bit too salty but i think that's because i added the salt as specified in the recipe but used salted butter?

Pumpkin Bread with Cream-Cheese Frosting

clara s. was talking about this recipe and it sounded so delicious i had to make it. i'm not a big fan of nuts in bread, so i left those out.

of course, i didn't have any bread pans so i ordered some disposable ones with my safeway.com delivery. umm, they were soooo the wrong size. i'm not baking a loaf of wonder bread, here. so, i had to go out and get some real pans. luckily only $3.40 each or so.



the recipe says to "process the cream cheese until smooth" in the food processor. well, my cuisinart only came with to applicable blades, and i wasn't sure which to try.



the bigger one says "metal blade" (orly, you don't say), and the smaller one says "dough blade". i didn't think i needed anything chopped so i chose the dough blade since well, i'm baking. umm, maybe i should have read the instructions.



this kept happening, so i had to keep stopping to scrape the sides:



eventually, i think it turned out ok, albeit a little runny?



anyways. the dry ingredients:



melting the butter. (this ramekin only barely held the melted contents!)



my parents always believed in adding an extra egg to batter, so i did. *shrug*



i forgot we had a costco-sized bag of sugar. eep!



i'm glad i checked the can again -- it was double-sized (the recipe only called for 15 oz). now i have half a can of pumpkin and i don't know what to do with it :\



dough is done!




the middle layer cream cheese filling. i swear it looks runny :\



and now, the FAIL. i clearly do not know how to estimate "1/2". (it was use half the batter for the bottom, then the cream cheese, then the final 1/2.). GAH. lol. well, um, yeah. this will be interesting.



the loaves are currently baking in the oven now. i'm afraid to check on them. :\

UPDATE/VERDICT:

well, they turned out quite nice, and it tastes great, too! if it still is this good, the recipe must be pretty fool-proof. the cream cheese filling tastes a bit hmm....custard-y, but it's not bad. nommmmm.





i'm going to give the bigger loaf to our neighbors -- they've had me and chaddy over for taco nights several times and i haven't ever reciprocated.

Chocolate-Haupia Pie

thanks to vy n. for the recipe! (see the bottom of the entry if you'd like to try this yourself.)

the can-opening looked to be going ok.



but umm, fail. the fancy-schmancy can opener didn't go all the way through the metal, so i had to pry up a section of the lid :\



the filling is done cooking!



and because i like to live dangerously, i added a dollop of nutella(!) to the chocolate half.



letting the coconut and the chocolate halves cool before combining. (and yes, i'm using a graham cracker crust even though the recipe called for a regular crust. clearly danger is my middle name.)



it is also clear that i do not understand the concept of "divide evenly".



whipping up some cream:





all done!



first slice



verdict: i've only ever had chocolate-haupia pie once, straight from Ted's Bakery on the north shore. this pie is great, although the filling is a bit too firm -- not silky enough(?) (maybe less cornstarch next time) and too chocolately (maybe 3/4 the amount of chocolate). in any case, i might just have to get a second slice to round off this breakfast of champions.

recipe: hmm now that i'm looking at it again, i think i may have accidentally used double the cornstarch, which would explain my consistency problem! also, i will say the coconut extract is not optional, since mine didn't come out coconutty enough for me.

Ingredients:

1 9-in. unbaked pie crust
1 cup milk
1 can coconut milk (14 oz.)
1 tsp. coconut extract (if you don't have it's ok)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Prick crust bottom all over with a fork, weight it if desired. Bake crust for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside to cool.

3. In a medium saucepan, whisk together milk, coconut milk, coconut extract and 1 cup sugar.

4. In a separate bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in water.

5. After bringing coconut milk mixture to a boil, reduce to simmer and slowly whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Continue stirring over low heat until thickened—about three minutes. Divide evenly into two bowls.

6. In another bowl, microwave chocolate until melted.

7. Mix chocolate into one of the bowls of coconut pudding, then pour mixture into the pie crust, spread and let sit for about 30 min to cool.

8. Pour the remaining bowl of coconut pudding on top of the chocolate-coconut pudding mixture and spread smooth. Try not to mix the flavors together! Refrigerate the pie for an hour or more.

9. Whip the heavy cream with 1/4 cup of sugar until stiff peaks form. Spread whipped cream on the pie surface. To make it pretty, you can use a star tip and pipe the cream in rosettes. Sprinkle chocolate shavings on top.