The Queen of Crawfish Pies

Before my late husband and I were married we lived in sin (blissful, glorious sin) for several years. At some point during that time, his mother and grandmother deduced that I would be around for quite a while and became worried that a Texas girl might not be able to make all the Louisiana treats that their boy was used to eating. Concerned that their 6'4", 270 lb "baby" might miss home cooking and waste away to normal human size, they began giving me Louisiana cooking lessons every time we came to town. So while he got to run around the Quarter having fun with his friends, I spent time in the kitchen with Ms. Betty, Grandma Devillier, and occasionally Aunt Taups learning how to make several versions of gumbo, jambalaya, and his favorite of all foods, his Momma's crawfish pies. Now while Grandma Devillier is the acknowledged master of all things food related in the house, Ms. Betty is the Queen of Crawfish Pies. She makes little bite-sized pies in phyllo shells with the perfect ratio of filling to crust. And best of all, they are a snap to make. Having grown up in a household where casseroles reigned supreme (frequently featuring Velveeta, assorted canned goods, and covered in crushed Cheez-Its), it should be no surprise that I despise "cheater" recipes. I was shocked that these pies are indistinguishable from the ones I had tasted elsewhere made the more laborious way. Grandma may have nearly worn my shoulder out teaching me to make a chocolate-colored roux, but the lesson I have used the most since then was this very simple one from the best mother-in-law a Texas girl could have.


Ms. Betty's Crawfish Pie Recipe

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1 medium green Bell Pepper, finely minced
1 small red or yellow Onion, finely minced
Several stalks of Celery, finely minced (should be about equal to the amount of bell pepper)
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 can low-sodium Cream of Mushroom soup (such as Campbell's Healthy Request)
1 can low-sodium Cream of Celery soup
1 (12 oz.) pkg Crawfish tails, rinsed of fat and roughly chopped
1 tsp. Cayenne pepper
4 boxes Mini Phyllo Shells (such as Athens brand)

Preheat the oven to 350. In a wide bottom saute pan or skillet over medium heat, saute the bell pepper, onion, and celery until they are quite soft, adding the garlic in towards the end. If the pan gets too dry you can add a touch of olive oil or a small bit of butter, but I generally just add a sprinkle of water. Add the soups and the crawfish and cook just until heated through, stirring gently to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add the cayenne pepper, varying the amount according to taste. Fill the phyllo shells with the crawfish mixture and place them on a baking sheet. Place the sheet with the filled shells in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until everything is heated through. Serve immediately.

Notes:
Always use low sodium soup. The regular kind will make the filling too salty tasting. You can make the filling ahead of time and refrigerate or even freeze it, but to keep the shells from getting soggy I recommend heating the filling or at least letting it come to room temperature before filling the shells. You can, of course, use full-sized pie or tart shells, but the richness of regular pie crust combined with the filling can be a bit heavy. If you have any excess filling, try using it to stuff chicken breasts or just serve it over rice.






--QC

Dust Off Your Rolling Pin

When I was in college and working in a doctor's office a traveling book salesman came by peddling children's books and cookbooks. I bought a cookbook mainly to get rid of him (thinking I'd never use it), and in the 15 or so years since I've nearly worn the covers off of the silly thing. My favorite recipe by far is the following one for Crispy Cracker Bread. The only thing I've changed is to add some whole wheat flour. I like it best seasoned with garlic but tonight I went with herbs de Provence. Use whatever you like or whatever goes best with the dip you are serving.


Crispy Cracker Bread
adapted from Land o' Lakes Treasury of Country Recipes

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1 (1/4 oz.) pkg. active dry yeast
1 C. warm water (105-115 degrees)
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 C. unbleached whole wheat flour
1 1/2-2 C. unbleached all purpose flour
1 large egg, slightly beaten
Fresh cracked black pepper
Coarse salt
Herbs de Provence, garlic powder, sesame seeds, or seasoning of your choice
olive oil or cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl dissolve the yeast in warm water. Remember you want to give the yeast a nice warm bath to grow in, but not scalding as that will kill the yeast. Gently stir in the sugar and let it sit for a couple of minutes (2-5). You should see some small bubbles that will let you know the yeast is alive. Gently stir in the salt and butter, then gradually add the flours in a cup at a time, using enough flour to form a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and slightly elastic, working in more flour as necessary. Divide the dough into 4 portions with a sharp knife and pat each portion into a ball shape. Cover them lightly with a towel and let them rise for 10 minutes.

While the dough is rising, lightly oil or spray a couple of baking sheets. To form the bread, roll a ball of dough out as thin as you can, using a light sprinkle of flour to keep the dough from sticking. Place the dough on the oiled baking sheet. Brush lightly with beaten egg, then sprinkle with salt, pepper, and whatever seasoning you are using. Bake for 10-15 minutes, watching carefully. The edges may get quite a bit darker than the middle. When the edges are browned, remove from the oven and let cool completely. Repeat with the remaining balls of dough. When they are cooled, break or tear the bread into pieces to serve. The thinner parts will be cracker-like and the lighter parts of the bread will be more flexible.

Note: I don't recommend using fresh garlic in this recipe because it tends to get a scorched taste in the darker parts of the bread.

--QC

Getting Pickled

Over the weekend I had a minor cooking frenzy and in between making BBQ Chicken Pizza, Fresh Lemon Bars, and a lighter version of my grandmother's Chicken Spaghetti, I found myself craving my Nana's Pickled Beets. Tart, cold, sweet, and beautiful. And no pressure canner required. If you can find golden beets at your local farmer's market, try making a batch of golden and a batch of red. They look like jewels in a jar.


Nana's Pickled Beets

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1 gallon beets
6 cups vinegar
7 cups sugar
8 tsp pickling spice

Drain the beets and cut them into chunks (if baby beets, cutting may not be necessary). Pack the beets fairly tightly into clean, dry canning jars. Sprinkle the pickling spice on top of the beets, dividing it equally among the jars. Mix the vinegar and sugar in a large pot on the stove. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, remove it from the heat and immediately pour it into the jars with the beets and spice until it comes very close to the top of the jar. Put the seals on and let them sit until cooled a bit, then pop them in the refrigerator. Leave them alone for 7 days, though I like to give them an occasional shake (it probably serves no purpose, but makes me think I am getting the spices moved around). Since they haven't been processed in a hot water bath they must stay refrigerated, but they do stay good for a long time.

Notes: Use whatever size jars you like, I tend to use pint jars. You end up with about 1 tsp of pickling spice per pint jar or 2 tsp per quart jar. You don't have to be super precise on the spices. If it is hard to find gallon cans of beets, you can use an equivalent amount of small cans or of course you can use freshly boiled and cleaned ones from the garden or produce section. Feel free to add red onions if you like. You can also use sugar substitute or a mixture of sugar substitute and real sugar.

--QC

Dinner Divas

It all started with a girl's day out. My friend Michelle had won a makeover day for a group of 10. So she invited me and eight of our other friends from work and a fun day of makeup and high heels ensued. Over a very boozy lunch afterwards at Luke it was decided that we should form a supper club and Dinner Divas was born. The basic way that it works is we each pick a month (minus November and December due to holidays) and on the third Thursday of our particular month we host the group for dinner. We've been at it for just over a year now and it has been a great success. All of us love to cook and it has brought out a great deal of creativity and experimentation. Not to mention a few hangovers.

The basic purpose of this blog is to be able to share the wonderful food from Dinner Divas night with all of my friends and anyone else that loves to cook. I invited the other members of my group to be contributors, but most likely it will just be me. And since Dinner Divas is only ten times a year (though there is the occasional bonus field trip) I'll be filling most of the blog with the things I make at home or just things that I see online and am dying to try. Photos may be scanty at first, but hang in there. My camera is awful but hopefully my photographer friend Jason will be over often as a taste tester and will provide his camera skills on occasion.

And in case you are wondering why the name of the blog isn't Dinner Divas, it is because there is a business with that name somewhere else in the country so I renamed us for blog purposes only. Plus, Crescent City Supper Club is a bit more descriptive.

--QC