I've Moved!

I've Moved! Please check out my new site at http://www.jrfoodcritic.com/.

Hey Everybody!  Today we are are celebrating over 10,000 hits on my new website. We are cooking a shrimp stew for dinner. We haven't eaten it yet, but it looks delicious. We got our shrimp from Tommy's Fish House in Prairieville and the herbs from our garden. Here are some pictures and the recipe. Enjoy!!!

          Till next time,
             jrfoodcritic

1 cup oil
1cup flour
1 box seafood stock (32 oz.)
2 lbs. shrimp
1 large onion
1 large bell pepper
2 stalks of celery
3 cloves of garlic
6 eggs
salt & pepper to taste

In large pot, mix oil and flour. Cook roux to a little darker brown that a paper bag. Stir constantly. In a food processor, chop onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. When roux is ready, add vegetables and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add stock a little at a time and stir constantly. Let roux and stock simmer for 1 hour. Add Shrimp and let them cook for about 10 minutes. While simmering, crack 6 eggs into stew and don't stir as to not break the yolk.  Let cook for 30 minutes and serve over rice.  Enjoy!

Heritage Festival & Possum Stew

Hey everybody. Yesterday we went to the Heritage Festival at the Rural Life Museum in Baton Rouge. It was awesome. I got to taste possum over there. It was great!!! We went go see what Louisiana was like in the past! We saw the house's that they lived in and how they cooked food! It all was fantastic!  We also went through a corn maze and threw balloons at scarecrows!

Check out the pictures below. That's me eating possum!!!

Till next time,
   jrfoodcritic!

Beignet Done That!

Hey everybody, today we made some Beignet's!!! They were delicious! We used some Cafe Du Monde Beignet mix! Which was great. We rolled out some dough and cut out some squares, then put them in the fryer. They were awesome. My sister made a beignet heart that came out perfectly and I made a triangle that was perfectly made exept for the big beignet pimple it had :).

The second thing we made today was some crab cakes topped with poached eggs!!! I really didn't make them so here is a special guest my sous chef and Dad SEAN PRADOS...Hello food world. I love being Michael's help in the kitchen. We have lots of fun cooking and trying new foods. Mom and Ellie are also great cooks and food adventurers.  Thanks for reading!...Sean

              Till next time,
                 jrfoodcritic

Back to New Orleans

Hey everybody, we just came back from New Orleans. It was great!!! When we got there it was already dinner time so we went to Couchon, which means pig in French. The first thing I noticed was the smell of the food and it was amazing. For appetizers we had rabbit liver and fried alligator!! It was actually good!! For my main course I had rabbit and dumplings, and my side was macaroni and cheese. It all was fantastic!!! Everyone else had different types of pig. I tried them all, and they were awesome!!! Our server was Ms. Angelina and she was very nice.

For lunch the next day, we went to Luke's - a Chef John Besh restaurant. We didn't have any appetisers so for my main dish I had 6 big fried shrimp served on a wooden cutting board with ranch dressing. It tasted really good!!! For my side I had some great french fries wrapped in a menu and placed in a bucket. My sister had 3 mini burgers which I tasted, and were delicious. We also had some grillades (pieces of veal and gravy) and grits they were very tasty. Our server was Mr. Chris he was awesome!



               Till next time,
                  jrfoodcritic

Frog Legs Provencale & Ellie's Grilled Summer Salad

Hey everybody. Last night we cooked Frog Provencale... and Ellie's Grilled Summer Salad (which was great)!!! It was a very easy dish! The reason I love being Cajun is the FOOD!!! Me and my dad cooked it, except for Ellie's Grilled Summer Salad (she did that) as shown below in the pictures!!! The recipe is also below!!! ENJOY!

Recipe from Chef John Folse's cookbook -  Hooks, Lies & Alibis. Provencale is a style of cooking in Southern France.

        Till Next Time,

            jrfoodcritic

6-8 servings

20-24 frog legs
1/4 pound butter
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
granulated garlic to taste
1/2 cup sliced or minced garlic
1/2 cup minced or diced onion
1/4 cup of red bell pepper
1/4 cup yellow bell pepper
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup chardonnay
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
3 cups of shellfish or seafood stock
5 sprigs of fresh thyme

In a 12 inch saute pan, heat olive oil and butter. Season frog legs with salt, pepper and granulated garlic.Saute frog legs 4-5 minutes turning often. Set frog legs aside and keep warm. Add garlic, bell pepper and onion. Saute 2-3 minutes until soft. Sprinkle flour and mix well. Deglaze with chardonnay and add tomatoes. Add stock and bring to rolling boil. Reduce to simmer and let it reduce to preferred consistency. Add fresh thyme sprigs.Return frog legs to skillet, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes. Serve over rice or pasta.

Ellie's Grilled Summer Salad

Romaine lettuce sliced in half
olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
diced red and yellow bell pepper and tomatoes
lite champagne dressing
shredded Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Brush olive oil on lettuce halves. Add salt and pepper to taste. Heat grill to medium high. Place lettuce on grill sliced halves down. Grill just enough to get markings on lettuce. Place on plate and sprinkle cheese. Garnish with bell pepper and tomatoes.

Italian Veal Skewers

Serves 4-6

4 veal cutlets (scallopini)
8 thin slices of prosciutto
Sage leaves
Italian Parsley
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
Olive oil
4 skewers (soaked for at least 30 minutes)
 
Lightly salt and pepper. Place sage, chopped parsley and prosciutto on each piece and roll jelly roll style. Skewer each piece and cut 4 to skewer. Heat oil and butter in sauté pan. Saute skewers for 10 minutes turning frequently. Garnish with chopped parsley.

We served this with pasta and a simple tomato sauce. Enjoy!