Crazy Cajun

Our favorite Cajun place moved. We aren't even sure when and if they'll reopen, and there's been a VOID in our food life ever since. It was the first place we took each of the older boys out to eat as infants.

When I was listening to the radio a month or so ago, I heard a man speaking in a horrible Louisiana accent about The Cajun Shack. I couldn't remember where it was after just one listen, so we didn't go.

Then, after Twitter/Facebook peeps posted about eating Crawfish I got crazy jealous. Crawfish, y'all, are so delicious.

So the next time I heard the add on the radio I took note. Literally. I wrote myself a memo on my phone with the address and location.

We went last week for dinner and Holy Gator Tails, Batman, it was fantastic. The boys got cheeseburgers bigger than their heads on the kids' menu, Husband got gigantic fried shrimp and dirty rice, Minnow got popcorn shrimp and I. got. my. Crawfish.

They were spicy in that way that makes your lips burn so you have to lick them over and over to sooth them. They had a citrusy flavor to them that had me peeling them way before they were cool enough and biting my fingers to stop the intense heat form sinking into my skin.

The music they played was exactly the right volume, and included Nirvana, The Violent Femmes, and that 'Dare You To Move" song that came out when I was pregnant with Winston.

Perfect.

There were boudin balls on the appetizer menu. I've been thinking about them ever since; planning my next meal there.

So andouille and boudin both made it into the grocery cart this week. The plan that formed in my head was crazy but I went ahead and grabbed sweet potatoes, yellow cherry tomatoes, spinach, and that white summer squash that looks like a sunshine flower.

The sausages, potatoes, and tomatoes were broiled on kebabs in the oven with Tony's and garlic powder to season them. The squash were sauteed in butter, salt, and pepper, along with a heaping pile of scallions, that wilted down and then got a little crunchy around the edges.

I put a big pile of baby spinach down on our plates (the grown-ups, anyway) and squeezed lemon juice all over it. The squash came next, in softened moons, and then two kebabs were unloaded on top of that. The scallions became the garnish, and with a little more lemon juice it was mighty scrumptious.


It filled the void, temporarily, but we're planning to take my MIL to eat at the Cajun place soon. The crawfish are calling me...

Breakfast Cupcakes

This recipe was thought up on Facebook a few weeks ago, and after my lovely heckler (Hi, Mz. Sandy!) reminded me of my goal for this blog, I made today the official trial date.

Here are the ingredients:

1 Package Martha White Sweet Cornbread Mix (and the eggs and milk to mix it)

6 large eggs, scrambled and seasoned to your liking (mine had a good dash of both sea salt and black pepper, and a splash of half n half)

Salsa, either red or green.

Shredded cheese; a Mexican blend or sharp cheddar both worked well this morning.


Cupcake directions:

Fill each opening in a 12 muffin pan 1/4 to 1/3 full with cornbread batter. Fill 1/2-2/3 with the scrambled eggs, and then plop in about a tablespoon of your preferred salsa. Top with a heavy sprinkled layer of shredded cheese and bake until super fluffy and golden brown.


Frosting Ingredients (because all cupcakes require frosting!):

1 8oz. container whipped cream cheese

2 big, ripe, avacados

3 limes, halfed and squeezed for juice

A handful of cilantro, finely chopped or snipped

Heavy shake of garlic powder

Slightly less heavy shake of Tony's


Directions:

Stick it all in a big bowl and whip with the hand mixer until fluffy. Taste, and then make inappropriate noises in your kitchen.


When the cupcakes cool, frost generously and devour.

If I make these again I'll put them in actual cupcake wrappers to help seal the bottoms. Nothing fell out, but the salsa weighs the batter down quite a bit.