Chargrilled Crawfish Stuffed Chicken Breast
Posted: May 14, 2013 Filed under: Chicken, Grilling, Recipe, Seafood, Uncategorized | Tags: chargrilled, crawfish, crawfish stuffed chicken breast, Stuffed Chcken Leave a commentHere’s another great recipe to grill up when you are entertaining guests. It’s fairly simple and can be prepared – up to the grilling part – ahead of time. It’s also a great use for leftovers from yesterday’s crawfish boil. The base of the stuffing is cream cheese, but anything can be substituted for or added with the crawfish, such as shrimp, crab, sausage, mushrooms, spinach or other vegetables. I rarely name brands, but the Saute Express is a real flavor adder and I believe worth trying. This recipe could also be cooked in your oven. I have not tried this so I can’t give specifics. I’d try 20 -30 minutes at 375 – 400 degrees and broil for the last five minutes.
Ingredients
8 Chicken Breast – Boneless Skinless
1 square Land O Lakes Garlic & Herb Sauté Express (or a couple tbsp butter)
1 pound Louisiana peeled crawfish tails (stay away from the cheaper Chinese stuff)
1 package of cream cheese
2 slices of bacon per breast
1 cup of chopped green onions
Creole seasoning
Method
Ahead of time set out the cream cheese to allow it to soften at room temp.
Partially cook the bacon until it’s limp and set aside. I cheated and did it in the microwave for two minutes.
Melt the Sauté Express in a skillet then add the crawfish tails. Stir for a couple of minutes then add the creamed cheese. Once the cream cheese has melted and combined with the crawfish, stir in the green onions and set aside. You want this to cool enough to jell so it’s easier to use as a stuffing.
Flatten out the chicken breast until they are about ¼” thick. (I cheated and bought thin sliced chicken breast.) Season the chicken breast with Creole Seasoning. Spoon the stuffing mixture into the center of the breast and roll it up. I used about two tablespoons on each. Use just enough so it’s not squirting out and making a mess. You’ll get the hang of this on about the 8th one. Next roll the bacon around the outside of the breast and secure with two toothpicks.
Cook on a hot charcoal or gas grill. I took mine off when they reached 165 degrees.
Crawfish Boil Seconds – Crawfish Omelet
Posted: June 19, 2012 Filed under: Cajun, Kitchen, Recipe | Tags: breakfast, crawfish, omelet, recipe 2 CommentsOne of my favorite parts of our crawfish boils is the anticipation of having leftover crawfish. If you are lucky, there will be enough leftovers for a second meal. They make a great morning after breakfast. A tradition at our house are crawfish omelets. If you have been to a crawfish boil, the ingredients, such as crawfish, potatoes, corn and sausage, soak up the wonderful Cajun spices. The leftovers give you a second taste of the feast.
This is a basic omelet, but the types of ingredients are limited only by your taste buds and imagination.
Crawfish Omelet
10 to 15 crawfish tails peeled and deveined
two eggs
spray canola oil
1 tbsp water
1 strip of bacon fried and chopped into small pieces
1/4 cup shredded cheese (your favorite) I like sharp cheddar
dash of creole seasoning
Put two eggs in a mixing cup, add a tablespoon of water and a dash of seasoning. Coat a 6 inch non-stick frying pan with the canola oil spray. Heat the pan to med-high. While the pan is heating stir the egg mixture well with a fork. You can use an electric mixture also, but I find that to be one extra thing to clean. Mixing well creates bubbles and water creates steam bubbles, both help fluff up the omelet during the cooking process. When the pan is hot, pour in the egg mixture. When the bottom half starts to firm up add the bacon and cut the heat back to medium-low. Add the crawfish and cheese to a half side of the omelet when the mixture begins firming up around the bacon.
With only a small amount of liquid remaining on top gently fold the side without the crawfish over the crawfish. It is important to have a small amount of liquid egg when you make the fold so the omelet will seal itself up – a trick I learned from a omelet chef at the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas. Once liquid egg is no longer seeping out (about a minute or two) gently remove a place on a plate. Let it rest 3 to 5 minutes then enjoy.
Note – Don’t pile on too many crawfish until you get the hang of making the fold. If the omelet tears b don’t panic, Plan B offers great crawfish, bacon, and cheese scrambled eggs.
What extra ingredients would you add to your omelet?
Crawfish Boil Leftovers
Posted: May 29, 2012 Filed under: Kitchen, Rambling | Tags: breakfast, crawfish, omelet, recipe 5 CommentsLast week we had our annual work crawfish boil. Don’t freakout! It was after work and no tax dollars were spent, as far as I know. At least I hope not, I shelled out $40 for two tickets. When it was over, there were plenty of leftover crawfish, corn and potatoes. Some of us began filling “doggy bags” and talking about what we were going to do with the leftovers. I thought it would be fun to share some ideas.
The simplest thing to do would be to eat the leftovers, as is, the next day for lunch, either cold or reheated. It would be good, but a boring repeat. The leftovers have soaked up some wonderful spices and can really make some more delicious meals.
Other Ideas
Peeled Tails – étouffée, omelet, crawfish (crab) cakes, over a green salad, spread (chicken) salad, dip
Potatoes – potato salad, hash browns or simply reheated
Corn on the Cob – simply reheated, maque choux (Google it), corn fritters
Here is what I made with the leftovers from our work crawfish boil. Étouffée and potato salad
Cooks add a lot of different food items into their crawfish boils in addition to crawfish, potatoes, and corn, such as mushrooms, garlic, sausage and hotdogs. What’s the most unique food item you have seen?
Mike's Kitchen and Garden 