Another Road Side Feast

Yep - crawdaddies, mud bugs, good eatin's. Saturday, the Phenom and I feasted on a mess o'crawdaddies, new potatoes, cantalopes, cukes, french bread, and beer. The bread and beer were the only items not purchased on the side of the road.

Being a good planner, I bought plenty of the bugs so that tonight we could have etouffee. I found some shrimps in the freezer and tossed those in too. Etouffee sounds all fancy-smancy, but realy it's little more than a gravy served over rice. I made a medium roux, added in chopped onion, peppers, and garlic. Salt, pepper, and some thyme from the garden. Then, nearly a can of chix broth -- and then tossed in the peeled crawfish and shrimps and let it simmer for 30-45 minutes. Nothing could have been easier - and tastier. Viva La Leftovers!!

Tomorrow night - I'm warming up a jerk pork tenderloin from the freezer - and making hash browns. Again, nothing could be easier than hashbrowns.

I prefer to use new or waxy potatoes. Half or quarter them and boil them in well salted water. Drain and pop in the frig. I sometimes boil them while doing the evening email check - or make sure I have plenty leftover from the evening meal. On the day you want hashbrowns, peel the skins off the boiled potatoes -- cut up into the size you want them -- I tend to do about a 3/4 to inch cube. No need to be precise.

Heat oil/butter (you have to use a bit of oil with butter to keep the butter from burning) in a large frying pan over med/high heat. Add your potatoes -- making sure you just have enough to create one layer on the bottom of the pan. Leave it alone for several minutes -- you'll see that the bottoms are browned from the edges -- then you want to turn them. I like to add chopped up onion after I've turned them and I sprinkle on what ever seasoned salt I have --- usually Market Spice Seasoned Salt from the Seattle Market Spice shop or a friend's special cajun seasoning blend -- but really, plain salt and pepper is good too. I generally turn down the heat to medium while they are cooking to prevent burning.

The real trick to hashbrowns is having the potatoes pre cooked and chilled.