Homage to the New Orleans Hornets

The "Star"

Crab mixture for the Crab Stuffed Shrimp

Crab Stuffed Colossal Shrimp, ready to be placed under the broiler

Finished appetizer, ready to be devoured

Shrimp and Grits cooking

Main entree--Unreal!

Tablescape--notice the beads!!

So, some of you may not realize but the first NBA team to ever grace the Oklahoma City court was the New Orleans Hornets.  We hosted the team after Hurricane Katrina a there was a time that Oklahoma City thought the Hornets would make OKC their home, but they didn't.  They went back where they belonged, New Orleans; however, it wasn't long until OKC got their own NBA team.  The Oklahoma City Thunder! Tonight the Thunder played the Hornets on their home-court in the Big Easy.  We decided we would make the trip with them, in spirit.  What better way to honor the team that started our journey, as a city, to gain our very own NBA team (which we adore and love!).

 

On the menu tonight: For our appetizer, Crab Stuffed Colossal Shrimp.  Main entree, Shrimp and Grits.  You get the idea: Shrimp was the secret ingredient and New Orleans was our theme!  The crab stuffed shrimp contained a stuffing made of crabmeat, breadcrumbs, heavy cream, onions and cayenne among other items.  The shrimp were butterflied and the stuffing placed atop.  It was broiled for 15 minutes.  They were delicious.  The crab brought a sweet flavor, and the shrimp were cooked to perfection.  The shrimp and grits were next.  The grits were started over the stove.  While they were cooking, onions and bacon were sauteed.  The shrimp was added to the onion mixture, while a 2-year aged sharp white cheddar was added to the grits.  Once the shrimp and onion mixture were complete, it was added to the grits.  The final product rested for 10 minutes.  It was so creamy, definitely at the help of the cheese.  The shrimp added the perfect texture.  Maybe the best part was when you would grab a piece of shrimp along with an onion and piece of bacon with the creamy cheesy grit.

 

For dessert?  A chinese massage.  Okay, not with the theme of New Orleans.  But, if you had the privilege of receiving one of these "oh my gosh" massages.......you would soon realize, as we have, that it fits ANY "theme" of the evening.

 

The Thunder didn't pull out a win, but the dinner and evening was a definite winner!

Until next time.....A la cuisine!

 

PS-For your enjoyment, we have listed the recipe for the Shrimp and Grits (below).  JAK decided to choose to post some of the recipes, for your enjoyment.  As always, if we don't have one listed you can always request it.

• 3 cups skim milk
• 3 cups Heavy Cream
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup stone-ground grits
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 pound small shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 6 slices bacon, chopped
• Juice of 1 large lemon
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1 cup thinly sliced scallions
• 1 large clove garlic, minced

Directions

Bring milk and cream to a boil and add your salt and pepper. Slowly stir in the grits and cook until the milk is absorbed. (about 20 to 25 minutes). Remove the grits from the heat and stir in butter and cheese.

Rinse shrimp and pat dry. Fry the bacon in a large skillet until browned. Drain the bacon well and leave the grease in your pan. In grease, add shrimp. Cook until shrimp turn pink. Add lemon juice, chopped bacon, parsley, scallions and garlic. Saute for 3 minutes.

Spoon grits into a serving dish and slowly stir in the grilled shrimp and bacon that have been sauteing. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

  

 

One "mundane" meal, made fabulous......

Beans in their "bath" (soaked for 8 hours)

Beans simmering down

Onions and garlic

Beans cooking their last 30-minutes with the onions, garlic, italian sausage, lemon, tomatoes and cajun seasonings (stick of butter of course as well)

This week's tablescape

Another angle

J and A even dressed for the theme!

Final presentation

Mini-cheescake bites being prepared

Fry-daddy!

Cooked to perfection!

Well, this MLK we switched it up.  The "J" and "A" in JAK had an overnight trip out of town on Sunday, so "K" decided she would host, and cook.  She had been wanting to make a Cajun Bean soup for a while, and thought "what better way to spend MLK than getting back to the root of the simplistic life?".

The beans were soaked for 8 hours in 2 quarts of water (room temperature).  They were then drained and put in another 2 quarts of fresh water, brought to a boil and then simmered for 2 hours.  Fresh garlic and one onion (diced) was cooked down, and then Italian (spicy) ground sausage was added.  Once browned, that was added to the simmering pot of beans as well as the juice of one lemon, a can of diced tomatoes and a packet of Cajun seasonings.  This was cooked for another 30 minutes.  A loaf of french bread, buttered, was put under the broiler.  When all was done we were left with a great 15 bean soup (very rich in flavor) and crunchy bread for dipping.  It was a very simple yet satisfying meal.  Again, we were reminded that even the simplest of meals could be comforting. 

Of course beer was our drink of choice tonight.  Just went with the whole "grassroots" meal plan for the evening.  :) 

Dessert was mini-cheescake bites.  Wonton wrappers were stuffed with a cream cheese and powered sugar mixture, which also had caramel bites.  Then deep fried.  Yummy. 

Another great "Not So Mundane Monday", even though the 15 bean soup is traditionally considered pretty "mundane".  Goes to show, good company can make any meal fabulous!

Until next time.....A la cuisine!

Molto Bene!



This weeks tablescape.  (sorry it's rotated funny).  We went with a "thick" Italian theme.



The Bolognese sauce in it's inception.

The sauce simmering.

The sauce done!

The homemade pasta.

Slicing the homemade pasta (into pappardelle noodles).

Pasta cooking!

Homemade Italian bread, w/ kosher salt topping.

Garlic infused oil for dipping (the bread).

Meal plated and ready to be devoured!

Cooked crescent roll for dessert.

Fluffy homemade whipped cream.

Stawberry topping getting heated.

Strawberry Newport.  Great way to end an already fabulous meal!

Molto Bene! means Very Good!  And that it was.  Tonight's "theme" was home-style Italian.  J had always dreamed of making a homemade bolognese sauce.  He not only tackled that, but for giggles also made a homemade pasta (pappardelle noodle) as well as a homemade Italian bread.  So, to say his dreams came true tonight, is an understatement.  The best way to describe this meal, was that the Sopranos would have "killed" to have joined us at the table.

The sauce starts with celery, carrots, onions and garlic.  You saute those and reduce them until they are over-cooked.  You then add pancetta and continue cooking.  Ground beef, ground pork, diced tomatoes and milk get added last.  That all simmers for 4 hours.  What's amazing about this sauce is that there are zero seasonings.  It's all flavored by the vegetables and meat ONLY.  I cannot stress how flavorful this sauce is.  Our jaws hit the floor when we discovered there are NO herbs, NO seasonings, nothing.  Unreal.

The bread was a classic recipe.  It took over two hours to rise.  In between those 2 hours, J had to beat the dough and separate into two loaves.  He sprinkled kosher salt on the top, and it then cooked for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.  The bread had a crunchy exterior and a soft sweet inside.  We boiled fresh garlic cloves in oil, and dipped the bread in the oil (along with dipping it in the bolognese sauce of course).

The homemade pasta was a traditional pappardelle noodle, which is made with egg and "00" flour (a traditional flour, used by only the best Italians).  J rolled it out thin, and cut it 2 cm wide at varying lengths.

Truly, words cannot describe how unbelievable this classic Italian meal was.  It was perfect.  K attempted to make a salad, but it wasn't needed!  Although, the ranch dressing was the best any of us had ever tasted!

For dessert we had strawberry newport.  We baked a crescent roll, heated up some strawberry sauce and made homemade whipped cream.  After building individual sandwiches (layering the crescent roll with strawberry sauce and whipped cream) we topped it with melted Hershey Kiss chocolates. 

It was so special to be able to make our dreams, okay J's dreams, come true tonight.  How impressive it is to have not only made a homemade sauce, to die for, but a homemade pasta and bread to boot.  These Mundane Monday's keep getting better and better.  Who knows what next week brings, but we aren't sure how we can top this one.  All the fun is in trying though!

Until next time.....A la cuisine!

Not so crabby (crabby) Monday

The awesome pot J purchased.  It is amazing!

This week's tablescape (it's Christmas wrapping paper, taped down!)

The star of the evening, 5 pounds of crablegs!

Going in the boiling pot, which already includes potatoes, onions, corn on the cob and sausage

The pot cooking.  Shrimp included at this point.

All of it dumped out on the table, beach style!

The aftermath of our destruction.  Yummo!

My mom's birthday cake.  The 6 was donated to a homeless shelter.  We used most of the 0 for the cake balls, a very creative way to salvage uneaten cake!

Dessert: Cake Balls with champagne. 

Yet again, we faced another Monday.  However, this Monday was harder than most because it was a Monday after the holidays (a few days off, giving us two long weekends in a row).  It's never easy to get back in the swing of "life".

We decided to do a good 'ole crab and shrimp boil.  We purchased jumbo shrimp and 5 pounds of crablegs.  To go along with, we also purchased (well actually, we didn't need to purchase.  these were items we already had laying around) new potatoes, corn on the cob, onions and polish sausage.  J was nice enough purchase the BIGGEST pot EVER!  It was amazing how perfectly the ingredients fit!  We cant wait to utilize it on future Monday's.

So, we got the water boiling and added in the Old Bay seasoning.  Cut the potatoes in half, as well as the onions.  The potatoes and onions go in first.  Potatoes take the longest, this is why they go in first.  The onions are strictly added for flavor.  After the potatoes get 60% done, you add the corn on the cob.  About 3 minutes after that the polish sausage gets thrown in.  Another 3 minutes, the crab legs go in.  And, about a minute after that, the shrimp.  The shrimp seriously take around 1 minute to cook (when they are pink, they are done).  So, make sure you have everything ready to go once the shrimp go in (butter melted for dipping, cocktail sauce, lemons cut, etc.).

We dumped it all out on the table, and ate "beach" style (barehanded!).  So fun.  We couldn't get over how good it was.  It was all cooked to perfection, and perfectly seasoned.  It was a little like "Something about Bob".  Remember that movie?  The nutcase patient finds the psychiatrist on vacation.  Eating dinner with them you hear a lot of "Oh's" and "Aw's" and "Mmm's".  Hilarious scene.  Okay, back to our "Oh's and Mmm's".  Nothing is more enjoyable than cracking the crab leg, pulling the meat out and marveling at your work.  Then dipping it in the melted butter and savoring it's meaty buttery sweet taste.  Fingers dripping with the butter, life doesn't get much better than that.  It was a definite Monday night treat.  The best part?  The clean-up.  All you do is pull up the disposable table-cloth (or in our case, unused Christmas wrapping paper) and take it out to the trash!

Dessert was interesting, and fun, tonight as well.  I donated my mother's birthday cake to the homeless, per her request; but, before I did that I cut a section for our dessert.  "A" did the most amazing thing with it......she made cake balls!  So, dessert was champagne and cake balls (the cake and icing formed into balls and dipped in melted milk chocolate).  Such a unique way to salvage uneaten cake!

This "thing" we call JAK is great, and even more great on our "Not So Mundane Monday's".  We give each other a break, and accept one another.  And we get to do it while cooking, eating, drinking and most importantly.......laughing.

Until next time.....A la cuisine!