Crawfish Cornbread

It has been a month and a half since I've posted.  Sorry.  Believe me I'm not happy about it.  My crazy husband has decided that we need to renovate our home yet again.  Didn't we just finish a reno?  Why yes, we did.  But my hubby needs a project at all times.  We're adding a new living room on to the house and opening up our kitchen for a more open floor plan.  So, I was unable to use my kitchen for over a month.  Now, you might think that eating out at restaurants and getting take-out every night is a dream come true.  Not me.  I love cooking.  It relaxes me.  It's my therapy.  With all the craziness of the renovation (and believe you me, it has been insane), I need some therapy!  So, when I was finally able to cook, I wanted something awesome.  My brother boiled some crawfish on Saturday for my goddaughter's birthday.  I took home some leftovers, peeled them and made this delicious crawfish cornbread:

CRAWFISH CORNBREAD

 1/2 lb crawfish tail meat
Cajun seasoning
1/2 an onion, diced
1/2 a bell pepper, diced
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can creamed corn
1 (8.5 oz) box corn muffin mix (like Jiffy)
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sour cream
1/2 stick butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Season the crawfish tails with Cajun seasoning.

Grease a 9x13 baking dish.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients well.

Pour into the greased 9x13 baking dish.

Bake in a preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until set and lightly browned.

Let it sit for a few minutes before cutting.

(Sorry for the disposable pan and paper plate in the pics.  All of my kitchenware is still in storage).

This crawfish cornbread is awesome!  It's slightly sweet, slightly spicy and a little creamy with a great crust.  

This recipe is super easy to make and turns out great!  You've got to give this one a try.

Crawfish Spaghetti

We had a crawfish boil for my daughter's 21st birthday this past weekend.  Her boyfriend came down from New York so we had to school him on Cajun food and traditions.  He loved the boiled crawfish!  Of course, we bought too much (we always over do) so I peeled the leftover crawfish and made a delicious pasta dish today for lunch.  He loved this dish, too.  I like this kid, he knows good food.

I have been making this simple recipe since I was a teenager.  I would use the left overs every time we had a crawfish boil, which was often.  We lived on the river so all of my Aunts and Uncles and Cousins would come over to our house and we'd hang out and boil crawfish.  Some of my best memories are of those boils.  Many members of my family have passed on, but I will always have those memories to remind me of my childhood.  Isn't it wonderful how food can create such lasting memories.

CRAWFISH SPAGHETTI

1/2 lb crawfish tails
1/2 an onion, diced
1/2 a bell pepper, diced
2 green onions, sliced (plus more for garnish)
1 TBS oil
2 TBS butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
Cajun Seasoning (or salt and pepper)
1/2 lb. spaghetti
2 TBS reserved pasta water

Boil a big pot of water to cook the spaghetti.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add oil and butter.

Add the onion, bell pepper and green onions.  Season with Cajun Seasoning.

Cook until limp, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add crawfish and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add broth and simmer about 10 minutes.

When your spaghetti is cooked, reserve some of the water you boiled it in.  Add 2 TBS of this reserved pasta water to the crawfish mixture and stir (this helps the sauce cling to the pasta).

Stir the drained spaghetti into the crawfish mixture.  You can do this in the skillet or, if it's easier, dump the pasta and the sauce mixture into a large bowl and toss well.  Garnish with extra sliced green onions.

This pasta dish is simple, but delicious.  You could easily swap out the crawfish for shrimp if you'd rather.  This would be a great weeknight dinner because it's so quick to make.  It has a great buttery, spicy flavor.  Ca cest bon!