The Flavor Is Too Big For The Plate!

Is there such a thing as too much flavor? In my opinion, no. Who wants to eat bland-tasting food? Cooking is about exploring flavors and although it does not always turn out well, when it does, everyone leaves happy. A clear example is below with my Shrimp and Andouille Étouffée with Crispy Chicken Thighs.

Étouffée is a common Cajun/creole dish made with some type of shellfish in a sauce served over rice, and utilizes a technique known as "smothering". As with all of my recipes, I recommend having the ingredients prepared and ready before beginning. Everything you see here was needed for the recipe so preparing in advance helped the dish come together faster. I needed one small diced red onion, two celery ribs, one yellow bell pepper, and one red bell pepper, two teaspoons of chopped fresh thyme, three cloves of minced garlic, and for garnish, two chopped scallions and a handful of chopped fresh parsley. The other ingredients included chicken stock, diced fire-roasted tomatoes with chiles, a handful of leftover cherry tomatoes, Worcestershire and hot sauces, paprika, and cayenne pepper.

I started by browning sliced andouille sausage in a drizzle of olive oil. The sausage was already cooked but the caramelization from searing added extra flavor. Once done, I removed the sausage to plate while I continued with the sauce.

I added just under one half cup of canola oil and one half cup of flour, whisking until smooth to make a roux which is the start of many Cajun dishes. I stirred with a roux spoon so that I could scrape the bottom of the pot to prevent burning. After ten minutes or so, it was the color of peanut butter which meant it was almost done.

I added the diced onion, peppers, celery, and thyme, seasoned with salt and black pepper, and cooked for several minutes until soft, and then I added the garlic.

I added three cups of chicken stock, one teaspoon of paprika, one half teaspoon of cayenne pepper, the tomatoes with chiles, cherry tomatoes, one teaspoon of hot sauce, and two teaspoons of Worcestershire. I brought it to a boil, lowered the heat, covered and allowed it to simmer away for thirty minutes, stirring every few minutes until properly thickened. I tasted for seasoning, added back the andouille, and finally added one and a half pounds of raw shrimp that I peeled while the sauce simmered. (You can freeze the shells to use for homemade shrimp stock later!) Adding the shrimp at the last minute will ensure that they do not overcook and become chewy.

I added one tablespoon of the chopped parsley to the rice which I cooked earlier and used a mold to perfectly shape it in the bowl.

To finish, I carefully ladled the sauce around the rice, placed a crispy chicken thigh (more on that below) on top of the rice, and garnished with the scallions and remaining parsley.

The night before I made this, I added boneless-skinless chicken thighs to a bowl and covered with buttermilk to brine overnight. The next day while the sauce was cooking, I heated canola oil to 360 degrees, dredged the thighs in heavily seasoned flour (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and a teaspoon of baking powder), then back into the buttermilk, and finally into the flour a second time before gently lowering into the canola pool. I fried them in batches for around eight minutes until they were golden, crispy, and had an internal temperature of 165 degrees. I removed to a rack so that the excess oil could drain, and seasoned them with Cajun seasoning such as Slap Ya Mama. FYI - you can use bone in, skin on thighs but if you do, they will need to be cooked for at least twenty-five minutes, and up to thirty minutes.

Flavor overload! And to help mop up the extra sauce, a hunk of crusty Italian Bread always comes in handy! For those of you who think it is too hard to bake your own, I am here to show you how wrong you are! Baking is not my strongest skill, so I followed a trusted recipe that only requires six ingredients and a touch of patience.

If you are looking for a flavorful cocktail, check out these Color-Changing Margaritas. This recipe may shock you, but trust me, it is worth it. The secret to the color changing?..........

.......cabbage water ice cubes!!! Don't worry, there is no flavor at all. Just color, I soaked one bag of shredded purple cabbage in two cups of boiling water for fifteen minutes, strained the water, allowed to cool, and froze in ice cube trays. The margarita itself can be any recipe you like. Mine was made my combining two cups of tequila with one cup of triple sec, one and a half cups of lime juice, and two cups of lemonade. I ran a lime wedge around the rim of the glasses, dipped into salt, added several ice cubes, and then poured over the margarita. A lime wedge to garnish and they were ready to serve!

Flavorful cocktails should be accompanied by flavorful hors d'oeuvres so I made a batch of Spinach and Artichoke Rugelach which is a nod to the sweet rugelach that I had so many times growing up as a child. Rugelach is typically a Jewish sweet treat and can look just like a crescent roll because a triangle-shaped piece of dough is covered in filling and then rolled up.

For my savory version, I sautéed one small yellow onion in two tablespoons of butter with salt and pepper, sweating until soft and translucent. Next, I added three minced garlic cloves and cooked for another minute.

Once the onions were soft, I added two tablespoons of flour and stirred to combine, cooking for several minutes. I then added one ten-ounce box of frozen chopped spinach which I had thawed earlier and set in a bowl so that the liquid would drip out, and one quarter cup of artichoke hearts which I chopped. I also removed the chewy thicker pieces.

Next up, I added a big handful of crumbled feta cheese, and around one quarter cup of heavy cream which I stirred until the mixture was thick and creamy. For a bit of brightness, I added the juice of half of a lemon and a few dashes of hot sauce.

Assembling these was quite simple. I bought a pack of two refrigerated pie crusts and rolled out each crust. I spread half of the spinach filling on each pie crust, creating a thin layer over the entire surface and used a pizza cutter to cut them into eight equal wedges. I rolled up each wedge starting from the wide side, just like a crescent roll. I placed them on a baking sheet lined with parchment, brushed with egg wash (one beaten egg with a splash of water), sprinkled on coarse salt, and baked at 425 degrees for around twenty minutes, or until golden brown. The house smelled amazing!

And that's not all! In my next post, the flavor gets kicked up even more! Hint - Oreos, cream cheese, and raspberries!