Bayou Crawdad Pasta

 Good thing we don't have to live on a bayou - or  a 'crik' .  Or a river.  Or even in the south - to enjoy crawdads.

 Whether you call  them  crawfish, crayfish, or crawdads, the succulent little devils are tasty - and better yet, someone else cleaned and cooked  them!  You may  already have your own  crawdad source, but if not  its a sure  thing that you do have a Wal-Mart nearby where you'll  find wonderful small plastic packages of  frozen, cooked, ready -to -use crawdad meat in the seafood freezer

This recipe is meant for feeding a mob.  Luckily it's simple to make only half, which might feed 8 people, or as I do, quarter it to feed 2  very hungry people with a bit of leftovers.  For quite  some time I have  thought about  making  leftovers into a yummy soup, which I think would be quite do-able just by adding broth or milk or both  to thin it a bit.   Its already a thin sauce.  Broth made from  shrimp ( or crawdad) shells would be awesome, I think.    One of these days I'll deliberately make too much  so I can test out that theory. 

Directions: First, cook about  24 oz of multi-colored rotini pasta - you know, short corkscrews.  They have so many   great  places to collect the sauce, they're  perfect, although I suppose  another  very textured pasta, like   broken up curly fusilli or cavatappi would work.  I know you will remember to use as much salt as your veins will allow in the pasta water.  Cook only to al dente, and don't overboil.    Drain  and set aside- -- what comes next only takes a few minutes, so have   the  table set and sides ready.

While the pasta's  cooking,  open the  thawed   crawdad meat, about  24 ounces total, more or less.  Drain it in a colander. 

In a  large deep  skillet, drop 2 sticks of unsalted butter til its  melted &  bubbly-hot.  Stir in   3 TB Cajun seasoning.*    Stir like crazy  for a few seconds and then pour in 6 cups of heavy cream.  Stir again and  take note of how full your pan is, then let it simmer til its reduced to about half.      Throw in a cup of  chopped green onions, both  the white and much of the green parts.  Add the pasta &  the crawdads, stir,  and let everything  heat through to serve.    It's more liquid-y than a  baked  pasta casserole would be.

Now put on some  jazz or  zydeco  and serve!

* adapt to your own level of heat and/or brand of  seasoning.   My tolerance   is pretty low- I just like the barest hint of heat  so I  use  1 scant  Tablespoon.     I know, I know, I'm a wuss.   That's what hot sauce on the table is for!   If you're  being cautious, start off with  1 TB  and add more  as you go.  Remember that as it  reduces, the heat will intensify  some more . Don't plan to freeze leftovers, the sauce seems to be quickly absorbed and vanishes into thin air.   

Dill Pickle Dip

A simple dip has been making the rounds the last couple years- salty, sour dill pickles in a creamy dip.  Some variations add some dried beef, or minced ham,  and I will scarf it down  for sure, but I  think I  prefer  the simple, meatless basic version from David Venable.

It does need to languish in the fridge for some time to let the flavors meld, but don't get too far ahead of yourself...  it begins to break down a bit ( the pickles begin to mush) about 24 hours after creation.

Use a mixer... in a mixer bowl beat  an 8 oz tub of softened cream cheese with1/4 c. sour cream until smooth. 

Next, chop up 2  cups of whole dill pickles... not  slices or  spears...the centers are flimsy. I like the smaller ones.   Use  a rubber spatula to fold it together.   Stick to whole pickles with lots of outside skin on them.  Fold in  1/4 c.  finely diced red onion, 1 clove shredded garlic, 2 TB minced fresh dill leaves, and then 1/4 cup pickle juice, or more to get the consistency you like.  Add some black pepper and  a couple small splashes of Sriracha.  Not really adding 'hot', just flavor.    Chill in its serving dish, at least 6 hours,  but see my  earlier warning about using it up!   Top with   fresh dill and a  bit of  chopped pickles  to  clue in your friends about the ingredients.

Best served with crisp salty bases, like  sturdy ridged potato chips, crackers, or pretzel  thins.  

Black and White Cookies- updated!

A280422

Black  and Whites are a New York City tradition,   well  known and loved  on the east coast but  they never  really migrated  fully coast to coast.  Full disclosure  --  I never saw the magic of the popularity.  I have tried  several  over many  years, from bakeries and homemade,   and  always thought the chocolate and vanilla icing  made  them  visually interesting but generic tasting.   That's history now! 

 Two new variations on the recipe : adding  trendy-again  browned butter, and  fresh orange zest and flavoring -  make a world of flavor difference.  They're fast  and simple, and  the missing flavor emerged.  

Preheat oven to 350 and line flat cookie pans with parchment.

Brown  the butter: melt 5 TB salted butter on med-high heat, then simmer 3-4 minutes, not stirring, just wait til  the bottom looks golden brown.  Don't overcook!  If you do, start over.    Pour it into a small bowl to cool.      In another   smallish bowl, whisk 1/4c heavy cream, 1 egg and 1   egg white, the grated zest of 1 orange,and  tsp vanilla.  In the bowl of a standing mixer with a paddle, combine 1 3/4 c cake flour* with 1 c sugar, 1 tsp baking powder,1/2 tsp kosher salt..  With the mixer on low, pour in the cooled butter  and mix 10 seconds.    Still on low, pour in the cream mixture.  

 Drop mounds of dough onto parchment paper on a baking sheet. For about 36   2"  mini cookies, use 1 TB.     Double that for about 18  bigger cookies. Leave  3" between cookies.  Mini  cookies will bake in 8-10 minutes, bigger ones in 10-13 minutes. Don't let them brown at all,   bake only til the very edges  just begin  to look a bit brown.   Leave them on the pan for one minute to let them set up just a tad, then  remove to cool.   They'll stick to the pan if left on too long.   Cool on a wire rack.

When its time to do the easy icing, whisk  3 TB heavy cream with 2 TB white corn syrup, 1/2 tsp orange extract, and  2 to 2- 1/2 c powdered sugar. When smooth,  put half in another bowl and add  2 TB cocoa powder and 1 TB white corn syrup to that bowl.    Whisk til smooth.

IMPORTANT:  flip the cookies over before icing.  Then spread half of  each  cookie's  flat side   with  the two colors of icing.   The icing will harden after 20-30 minutes.

* to make cake flour, just mix 1/4c cornstarch well with 1 3/4 c  flour.

White Clam Linguini

 

   Vongole  are clams and clams are  delicious.   Right?  I know you agree or you'd have already  scrolled on past. I'm sharing the same recipe I've used for thirty-or-so years.   

   It's  one of the   simplest ways to lose  yourself  in the  delicious  salty taste of the sea.     If you are  so fortunate as to have fresh clams available, of course use them.    Kids aren't the only  people who love popping open fresh clams from  their shells.  But I suspect that like  me and other landlocked folks, your stash of clams are conveniently stored in your kitchen cabinet, perfectly poised for a 20-minute dinner. Just as well.

 
For four big servings, using  16 oz linguini:

Saute' together in a skillet in  3 TB olive oil:  1 onion finely chopped, and  6 cloves  of well-shredded or minced garlic.

Drain 4 cans ( 12-14 oz. total)  baby clams - or minced clams-   and  SAVE HALF  the juice.  

When  the onion & garlic are   translucent,  add 1/2 c butter, 2 TB dry white wine, the  drained clams, S&P, and the reserved juice to the pan.   Simmer 20 minutes, until reduced  down to about 2/3 of what you started with. It  will  taste buttery, garlicky, wine-y and smell  wonderful

Mix with hot cooked  linguini,  garnish with a little fresh chopped parsley  and a  sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Crunchy Apple Walnut Slaw

We  enjoy the  unexpected crunch  that   walnuts, crisp bites of apple, and a sweet raisin now and then add to a basic creamy slaw.. The slaw repertoire in this house is pretty  vast. It seems I tend to pair this with barbecues and grilled foods, for no particular reason.  

Mix   in a large bowl:

4 cups  finely sliced  cabbage and 1 cup shredded carrot
   OR    5  cups  of bagged slaw mix (one bag, usually)
3/4 c  toasted walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped
1/4 c finely minced red onion  (or use green onion, but red is prettier)
1/2 c dark raisins

In a measuring cup place  1/2 c buttermilk*, 1/2 c mayonnaise, 2 TB sugar, 1TB lemon juice, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper.  Whisk.

Add to the slaw mixture,  toss well, and then fold  in   1  red apple thinly sliced  in crescents and  one Granny Smith ( green) apple.   Save a few slices, nuts, and raisins  for garnish.    When serving to guests, I make  the pretty crescents;  other times I shortcut and just chop the apples   and add them  along with all the other ingredients.  

* Instead of buttermilk, I usually use sour milk, which is always a good substitute.  To 8 oz any kind of milk  or thin cream ( even  no-sodium liquid coffee creamer) pour in 1  generous TB of vinegar.   Let sit for 5 or more minutes before stirring or using.

It can be made  ahead or  enjoyed for 2-3 days.

As written, this  slaw has 148 mg sodium, 12 gr carbs, 6 g fat and 103calories per serving.  It makes 8 cups of delicious crunchiness.  .