Last night me and my dad cooked a redfish courtbouillion. Dad helped type the recipe below. It was delicious. Louisiana seafood is still the best.

3 lbs red fish fillets cubed
1 lb shrimp peeled and deveined
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 qt fish stock
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 12 oz can tomato sauce
2 Tbs basil
2 Tbs thyme
2 Tbs oregano
2 cups diced onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 cup minced garlic
1 cup diced yellow bell pepper
3 bay leaves
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped green onion
salt, pepper, granulated garlic, Tony Chachere's to taste

Cook roux with oil and flour to dark (peanut butter color). Heat fish stock, lemon juice and bay leaves while cooking roux. When roux is dark,add onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic until vegetables wilt. Add crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Stir to blend. Add heated fish stock one ladle at a time to make stew consistency. Add basil, thyme, oregano. Season to taste and cook 1 hour. Additional fish stock may be needed as it thickens, but seafood will also add liquid. Add fish and shrimp then cook 10 minutes. Garnish with parsley and green onions and lemon slices. Enjoy!

Today I went to Mansur's on the Boulevard. My server's name was Erin. She was very nice.

For appetizers, I had a spinach dip with tortilla chips. It tasted really good. It had a cheesy flavor and with the chips even better. Second I had char-grilled oysters. It was buttery and moist. Then I had All That Jazz, which is three soups on one dish. It had crawfish and corn soup, duck and andouille gumbo, and crab and brie soup.They were all very tasty. For my entre I had grits and gillades. The grits were very creamy. It also had two pieces of veal that tasted really good! They were tender with a rich demi glace.

I would definitely go back. Thanks to Ms.Cathy for showing me the kitchen!

Hey everybody this past weekend I made my first seafood gumbo. It tasted great. I made my own roux to start the gumbo. My dad helped a bit by chopping. I also like listening to music while cooking. :) We passed it around to relatives. It got an A+! The recipe is below, try it one day.




Michael’s Kid-Friendly Gumbo (Mom & Dad can help prep)

½ cup flour
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup diced onions
¼ cup diced celery
2 Tbs minced garlic
¼ cup green onions
1 bay leaf
1qt seafood stock (box)
1 lb crab meat
1/2 lb shrimp (frozen)

Time – 1 hour
Serves - six

Mix flour and oil to make a “peanut butter” colored roux (remember to keep stirring so it doesn’t burn). In a separate pot, heat stock to a boil. Add onions, celery, and garlic cook for about 2 minutes to soften. Add stock one ladle at a time and continue stirring. After all of the stock is in, add bay leaf and seasoning to taste (I use salt, pepper and Tony Chachere’s). Let simmer for about 15 minutes. Add crab meat and shrimp then bring it to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. We usually get the frozen shrimp in a bag from Sam’s. Add green onion and serve with rice.

Today I went to Young Chefs Academy. It was called the "Best of the Best Camps". We made six recipes from Baton Rouge area restaurants. While I was there I made a Wendy's frosty,I made some Olive Garden breadsticks, and made some Great American Cookie Company snickerdoodles. It is a cookie. I had a great time. I also made a cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. I'm going tomorrow to taste it because it had to cool down.

Hey everybody I went to the Palace Cafe in New Orleans this weekend. It's owned by Mr.Dickie Brennan. He took us in his restaurant's kitchen. It was really cool!

I started out with marinated crab claws. It had a good spice & was a little tangy. Next they brought us a treat of crawfish bread. It had a creamy sauce and crawfish. For my entree, I had a New York strip & shrimp. It had a demi glace on it that took 2 days to cook :).It was seared to a perfect medium rare with tasty shrimp on the side.

I'd also like to thank my server's : Jamie Jo, Nancy, & Kathy. Special thanks to all the people who cooked the wonderful meal.


Your food critic,
jrfoodcritic

Hey everybody did ya'll see me cook on T.V.? I hoped you liked it! Here it is if you haven't seen it:



http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=12775312



I'd like to thank WAFB and Chef Folse for picking me to be on television. It was a lot fun hanging out with Chef John Folse and Mr. Paul Gates. I'd also like to thank Ms. Amanda for coordinating it all. It was a blast. :)



Your foodcritic,

jrfoodcritic

Hey! Sorry I haven't blogged in a while.

Camp was good, and the food was great. I had a lot of fun! After camp we went diamond hunting. We found some minerals but no diamonds. We went to a restaurant called Buddys. My server's name was Becca. She was great.

When I got back my Dad and I cooked a crawfish bisque for the 4th of July. We used John Folse's cookbook. I stuffed the heads!

Speaking about John Folse, I'm going to cook with him tomorrow (Thurs.) on T.V!!! It will be on channel 9 WAFB at 5 0'clock. I also got a black chef's coat that has "jrfoodcritic" written in white that I'm going to wear on T.V. Don't forget to watch!

One last thing, I found another place kids can eat free. It is on Monday's at Off the Hook seafoood on Airline Hwy. in Baton Rouge.

That's all for now blog later! Bye :)