spicy creole shrimp baked potatoes

It’s starting to feel like Fall a little out there! And no one is happier about that than I am! I’m the girl who is unintentionally obnoxious about Fall weather, Fall cooking, and football. But when you try these spicy creole shrimp baked potatoes, you may join in my zeal.

We love to fix these and dig into them for our crisp Saturdays at home watching football. You know those days where there’s a good game on about 137 channels, and you just flip around and flip around watching them all at the same time?! Gosh, I love those days.

Well, I love to make these spicy creole shrimp baked potatoes on those days.

They’re easy and loaded with gobs of flavor! You must try them. I bet they may even make your team win. And if they don’t, then you won’t care one bit because you’ll be fat and happy! HA! Happy eating, gang!

Watch the step-by-step episode HERE! 

SPICY CREOLE SHRIMP BAKED POTATOES
{makes 4 large baked potatoes}

4 large baked potatoes washed, poked with holes, skins rubbed in oil and salt, wrapped in foil, and baked at 425 for an hour or until they’re fork-tender

8 pieces of applewood smoked bacon, cut into pieces
1lb. bag of frozen 16/20 shrimp, thawed
medium cheddar cheese, shredded
2-3 green onions, chopped
1 cup sour cream
Amy’s blackening seasoning, recipe below
butter or margarine

-for the blackening seasoning-
2 Tablespoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Bake potatoes as instructed until you can put on an oven mitt and gently squeeze the potatoes in the oven to see if they're tender. If they give with a little squeeze, then they're ready! While potatoes are baking, cook bacon pieces in a heavy skillet until almost crispy. Using a slotted spoon, remove to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside. Keep the bacon drippings in the skillet on low heat while you prepare the shrimp. Pat dry the thawed shrimp between two paper towels. Season with several teaspoons of blackening seasoning. Turn the heat back up to medium under the skillet, and saute the seasoned shrimp in the bacon drippings. Saute, stirring often, only a few minutes until the shrimp turn light pink and lose the grayish transparency. Using a slotted spoon, remove the shrimp to a plate and cover to keep warm. Remove the potatoes from the oven, carefully take off the foil, and line up the potatoes on a baking sheet. Cut one long, deep slit lengthwise without cutting the potato completely in half; then take each end of the potato in your fingers and press the potato inward to pop open the center to make something that resembles a little potato bowl. Starting deep inside the potato...salt and pepper the potato, drop in a few pads of butter, then cheddar cheese. Then pack on the shrimp til it's nearly overflowing the potato. Finally, top with another little sprinkle of cheese. Repeat on each potato. Put the potatoes back in the oven to let the cheese melt, about 5-7 minutes. In the meantime, in a small bowl whisk together 1 cup of sour cream and 2 teaspoons of blackening seasoning. Remove the melty, cheesey, shrimpy potatoes from the oven. Top with crumbled bacon, a dollop of creole sour cream, a sprinkle of creole seasoning, and finish with green onions.

Easy Shrimp and Grits

Click here to watch this Cooking Today episode online!

DIVINELY DELICIOUS SHRIMP AND GRITS

 {feeds about 7-10 people, depending on your people}

-for the shrimp and sauce-
 

6 slices of thick-cut hickory bacon, cut into pieces
1/2 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2  tablespoons of Creole seasoning, like Tony Chachere's
1 cup of dry white wine {or chicken stock, but it's a richer flavor with wine}
1 pound large fresh or frozen shrimp (thawed) peeled, deveined, tail-on
the juice of one lemon
2-3 tablespoons chopped scallions, green parts only
 crumbled goat cheese, optional
 
Before we start, there's a method to cooking this dish so it's all ready at the right time to serve hot and at its best. Be sure to have all of your peppers, onions, garlic chopped and ready to go; and also have the shrimp thawed and patted dry. You may wish to remove the tails, but I think it's pretty to leave them on. Ready?! Go!
 
In a large skillet/braiser/saucepan {choose one that has a lid because you'll need it later} over medium-high heat, cook bacon pieces, stirring until crisp and nicely browned. Using a slotted spoon or spatula, spoon out the bacon pieces and drain/cool on a paper towel-lined plate, reserving the bacon grease in the skillet. Turn off the burner, and sit tight.
Next, prepare the grits recipe below. Stirring and adding milk as you need to make sure they're creamy and delicious. Cover and let sit over low heat, stirring occasionally, as you prepare the shrimp sauce.
 

-for the grits-

10-12 oz. Mild Mexican Velveeta, cubed

1 tsp. salt

1 cup uncooked instant grits

2 cups of chicken stock

2 cups of milk

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp garlic powder (not salt!)

2-3 rings of jarred jalapeno slices and juice, optional

In a medium-large pot, bring water, milk, butter and salt to a slow boil and whisk in grits, whisking constantly so they do not clump.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook-n-stir grits until they've expanded and gotten creamy about 7-8 minutes or so. Over low heat, stir in cheese and garlic powder. Stir until cheese is melted and grits are smooth. Stir in 1-2 tablespoons of jarred jalapeno juice if you'd like (we do!). Taste as you go! Add more milk a little at a time, stirring over low heat til the grits are creamy, creamy, creamy. 
 
Now that the grits are made, it's time to tend to the shrimp sauce. And when I say tend, I mean you're about to stand over your skillet/saucepan working quickly and stirring quite a bit for the next 10-12 minutes. But then you're ready to plate and serve!   

Heat the bacon grease over medium heat, and add the peppers and onions,  sautéing for 5-6 minutes until they are soft. Add the chopped garlic and stir constantly for one minute to be sure it doesn't burn...and it will burn on you fast. Add the white wine and creole seasoning and stir well. Reduce heat to medium-low, stir in the shrimp, adding more wine or chicken stock for more sauce if needed, and bring to a little simmer. Cover with a tight fitting lid for 2-3 minutes to cook the shrimp. This is a good time to stir your grits and see how they're looking. Remove the lid from the shrimp sauce, and stir in lemon juice. Taste the sauce, adding more creole seasoning, more lemon, or more wine/stock if you prefer.   

Spoon a shallow bowl with your creamy jalapeno cheese grits, and ladle the shrimp and sauce on top. Then garnish with crumbled bacon, chopped green scallions, and a crumble of goat cheese if you'd like. I like to lay a rustic hunk of buttered crusty bread on the side of the bowl which is just right for moppin' the last little bit of grits and sauce from the bowl.

fried buttermilk hoe cakes (also known as johnny cakes)

This is part two of the New Year's soul food menu! I felt like these fried buttermilk hoe cakes deserved a post all their own! If you missed it, click HERE for the black-eyed pea soup and collards recipes! 

I have to confess that I made this menu last night a few days before New Year's Day because I wanted to get the recipes just right so I could share them with y'all! And I also confess that I just ate two reheated hoe cakes while I typed this post. Good gracious. They are good.

Hoe cakes were aptly named by folks who used to fry these buttery, mealy pancakes on the flat part of a hoe over a fire. These days we make them in cast iron skillets! But what hasn't changed is the level of comfort and satisfaction that these little fried dudes provide. The perfect way to round out a soul food meal!

FRIED BUTTERMILK HOE CAKES

makes about 10 cakes

1 cup self-rising flour

1 cup all-purpose white cornmeal

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

3/4 cup plus 3 Tbl. buttermilk, room temperature

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

additional oil and several pats of butter for frying

jalapenos optional

In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine eggs and wet ingredients. Stir wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix well. 

Preheat a cast iron skillet or heavy non-stick skillet over medium heat. Pour in enough oil to cover the bottom in a thin layer; drop in a pat of butter and allow to melt.

Using an ice-cream scoop with a release lever, drop 3-4 globs (yes, I said globs) of batter into the skillet. Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt on top of each cake as it fries. Allow to fry for a minute or two until they are golden brown. They will puff up some while they cook. Carefully flip over and press down a little while they cook on the other side. When they're golden brown and crisp on both sides, remove and let drain on paper towels. Repeat til the batter is gone, adding more oil and butter as needed.

If you'd like to add a jalapeno to your hoe cakes, just quickly place one in the batter on top of the hoe cake while the first side is frying. Then when you flip the cake over, the jalapeno will cook into the cake. 

Serve with black-eyed pea soup or red beans and rice! 

Also scrumptious with honey butter! Like, super duper scrumptious.  

New Year's Menu: black-eyed pea soup + sweet & smokey collard greens with bacon

My husband's all-time favorite food profile is soul food. I'm not quite sure where this deep love for soul food comes from; but he certainly has an on-going hankering for it! So lucky for him, New Year's Day is around the corner, and soul food is considered good luck and new beginnings! It's been said that slaves ate black-eyed peas on January 1 in 1863 to celebrate the Emancipation going into effect! "Good luck" and "new beginnings", see?! Don't you love that?!

Rather than just heating up a can or boiling beans in salted water, I wanted to soup it up a little bit. We love a roux-based, thick, soup-y dish. And this one did the trick! So good, y'all. And we slap slow-cooked, sauteed collard greens and hoe cakes on the side! Mmm. Mmm. Mmmm. 

Important interjection: Hoe cakes are yummy, little buttermilk cornbread pancakes that you fry in a buttered skillet! Several folks asked me on instagram if I meant to say "hot cakes." And the answer is nope! Back in the day, they were cooked on the flat part of a hoe over the fire. Thus the name! Look at all of this fun food history today! PS Hoe cakes recipe will post tomorrow.

You can certainly boil dried peas if you want to. But because this meal is a lot of elbow-grease with three pans going at the same time, I used canned black-eyed peas. They were perfect and so much faster! 

Also, let me get this in real quick. I made this meal all at the same time! But you can absolutely make this soup the day before or even a week before and freeze it! Then just reheat it on the stove while you're makin greens and hoe cakes. 

Here's to a big, full, blessed New Year, y'all! Thanks for letting me be a part of your kitchens. It means the world to me!

EUNA MAE'S BLACK-EYED PEA SOUP

serves 6-10 people depending on your people

4 slices of uncooked bacon, cut into pieces

a little olive oil and a pad of butter

small yellow onion, chopped

2 carrots, small cubed

2 celery stalks, sliced thinly

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups beef stock

3 cans black-eyed peas, drained but not rinsed

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1-2 tsp creole seasoning like Tony Chachere's

salt and pepper to taste

In a big, heavy-bottomed soup pot, saute bacon pieces until crisp; remove with a slotted utensil and allow to drain on paper towel. Add oil and butter to bacon fat, and saute chopped onion, cubed carrots, and celery over medium-low heat until tender. Salt and pepper right here. Next, shake flour over sauteed veggies and stir for about 2 minutes until the flour cooks a little. Pour beef stock over veggies and stir well. The stir in drained canned peas. Stir in garlic powder and creole seasoning, plus a little more salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer; cover and simmer on low for at least 30 minutes or longer til the liquid thickens a little. You can add a little more beef stock if you'd like it soupier. Taste as you go, adding more s/p or creole seasoning if you'd like! You can eat this ladled into bowls topped with the crumbled bacon and chopped chives. And you can also spoon it over white rice! Either way, yum.

EUNA MAE'S SWEET & SMOKEY COLLARDS

makes about 6 side-servings

6 slices of bacon, cut into pieces

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

3-4 bunches of fresh collard greens

2-3 cups chicken stock 

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

salt and pepper

Trim greens from their stems and tear into pieces. Set aside. You're going to think that you'll never ever eat that many greens, but they'll wilt down down down. Don't panic!

In a large pot with a lid like a 5.5qt dutch oven, saute bacon pieces until crispy; remove with a slotted utensil and drain on a paper towel, reserving the fat in the pot. In the bacon grease, saute chopped onion until tender.  Add greens to the pot, and stir. Listen for them to sound like they're frying a little bit. Cover for about 2-3 minutes allowing them to wilt. Remove lid and stir greens. Then add 2 cups of chicken stock, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, and several pinches of s/p. Add crispy bacon pieces. Stir well, and cover. Allow to simmer over low heat for 45 minutes or so until tender. Occasionally lift lid, stir, and taste for seasoning. Add seasoning as needed.

Greens can be frozen in freezer bags then reheated in a pot whenever you need them!