Cajun Inland Boil with Butter Sauce

Traditional cajun seafood boils always looked so fun and scrumptious, but as someone allergic to shellfish, I’ve never been able to enjoy one. I decided to go down a rabbit hole looking for a suitable, non-seafood recipe, and tried a few, but they weren’t quite satisfying. Then I tried Quin Liburd’s recipe (found here)—omitting the seafood, of course—and spent the next couple of hours licking garlicky butter sauce off my fingers. The recipe below is very inspired by Quin’s, with some personal modifications.

Cajun Inland Boil with Butter Sauce

Ingredients

THE BOIL:

• 3 qts water
• 1 (12 oz) can of beer (Guinness or similar stout recommended)
• 3 TBSP Creole/Cajun Seasoning-I recommend making your own from the linked recipe
• 1 TBSP Old Bay seasoning
• 1/4 tsp Maple Pepper
• 1/8-1/4 tsp Hot sauce (to taste)
• 1 med yellow onion, roughly slice into wedges
• 1 1/2 large lemon, cut into wedges (1 lemon for boil, 1/2 lemon for serving)
• 1 lb. andouille sausage, sliced/rounds
• 1 lb chicken sausage, sliced/rounds  or baked ham, 3/4” cubes
• 1 lb baby potatoes (any variety)
• 4-6 ears corn on the cob (cut in 1/2 or 1/3rds)

BUTTER SAUCE:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 8 cloves of garlic, finely minced (or 1.5 TBSP jarlic in a pinch)
• Juice of 1/2 large lemon, freshly squeezed
• 1 TBSP Old Bay seasoning
• 1/4 tsp Maple Pepper
• 1 tsp Creole Cajun Seasoning– homemade or store-bought
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 TBSP fresh parsley, chopped
• Hot sauce, couple of drops to taste

Directions

1. Using a large stockpot (8 quarts+), combine the water and beer and bring to a boil qver medium-high heat, 
2. Season the liquid with the Creole Cajun and Old Bay seasonings, plus hot sauce. 
3. Add the onion and lemon wedges into the pot, stir boil well to combine. and continue to boil for 15 minutes.
4. Add both varieties of sausage rounds and baby potatoes into the boil and stir well to fully combine. Cook for 20 minutes. Confirm potatoes are nearly fork-tender.
5. Gently add corn cobs to the pot and stir to combine. Boil another 5-7 minutes. 
6. Sauce: In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine all of the Garlicky Butter Sauce ingredients listed. As the butter melts, stir sauce until well combined, and often as the sauce simmers for 5-7 minutes.

Service

1. Line an extra-large baking sheet with foil, parchment, or newspaper 
2. Using a spider strainer, remove boil contents from pot and place onto the baking sheet, discarding the lemon wedges.
3. Pour the garlic butter sauce over the boil ingredients, and toss to coat well.
4. Serve hot directly from baking sheet, or as individual portions.

Air Fryer Cheesy Pesto Bread

 

In looking for easy and quick air fryer ideas and to use up some ingredients in the house, I made this quick cheese pesto bread, and it immediately became part of our usual rotation.  

The pesto and seasonings could easily be replaced with sauces, seasonings, and toppings of choice—however, do place any light seasoning or toppings (i.e. pepperoni) under the cheese to prevent being blown around or burned too quickly. 

Air Fryer Cheese Pesto Bread

Tools

• Air Fryer
• Knife or spoon

Ingredients

• One large slice Rustic, Farmer's, or Sourdough Bread
• Olive oil spray
• 1 to 2 TBSP Pesto 
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese
• Salt and papper

Directions

1. Spray both sides of slice of bread with oilve oil spray
2. Fry bread in Air Fryer at 400ºF for 3 minutes
3. Remove bread, turn over, and spread with 1 to 2 TBSP Pesto to preferred taste
4. Completely cover Pesto with Mozzarella Cheese, and add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Fry bread in Air Fryer at 400ºF for 2-3 minutes, until cheese is melted to desired appearance.

Enjoy!

Photo courtesy of Culinary Hill

Easy Air Fryer Chicken Tenders

 

As someone who doesn’t enjoy the extra dishes and mess of a pane station, I prefer a “simplified” method using mayo as a cheat to eliminate the flour and egg steps. It generally works well and helps lock in moisture. 

*Also, the flavor of this recipe is highly customizable:  substitute yogurt, raita, or a creamy salad dressing for the mustard. You could also swap out the herb mix and Lawry’s for your preferred flavors—say cardamom and curry powder; or cumin, chili powder, and cilantro, etc. 

Easy Air Fryer Chicken Tenders 

Tools

• Air fryer

• Shallow wide bowl

• Gallon baggie

• Cookie sheet or rack lined with parchment paper or foil

• Two small pairs of tongs (two forks or a pair of gloves would also work)

• Meat thermometer

Ingredients

• 3/4-1 lbs. Chicken tenders (about eight tenders)

• 1/2 cup Mayonnaise

• 1 TBSP Mustard, or preferred seasoning* (see note above)

• 1+1/2 cups Panko breadcrumbs

• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

• 1 tsp Herb mix* (optional, and see note above)

• Oil spray or choice (olive, coconut, avocado, etc.)

• Lawry’s seasoned salt (optional, and see note above)

• Salt

• Pepper

Directions

1. Rinse and pat dry chicken
2. In the bowl, combine the mayo, mustard, and desired amount of salt, pepper, and seasoned salt. Mix well to create your “wet” ingredients. 
3. In the baggie, combine the Panko breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and desired amount of herb mix season salt, salt and pepper. Mix well to create your “dry“ ingredients. 
4. Preheat air fryer to 385°F for four minutes or use air fryer's preheat function. 
5. Gently roll your chicken in the bowl of wet ingredients and coat thoroughly—ensuring an even but preferably thin coat—then drop in bag of dry ingredients.
6. Shake chicken thoroughly in the dry ingredients bag until evenly coated. With dry tongs/other hand, remove from bag gently shaking off loose, excess panko.  
7. Place coated chicken on parchment, and lightly spray with oil.  
8. Cook chicken in single layer in air fryer at 385°F for 12 minutes, flipping each piece halfway through. Ensure space between tenders for ample air flow—which may mean cooking in batches depending on fryer basket size. 
9. After 12 minutes, check the chicken is cooked to 165°F with meat thermometer. Cool 2 minutes before serving. 

Photo by AI Image Generator

Mimi's Cretons (Spiced Pork Spread)

 

Every Christmas, I could count on my maternal, Quebecois-raised, grandmother--who I called Mimi--making a handful of favorites:
Christmas Crack, Tourtière, Chocolate Oat Bars, and Cretons. And these were all just foods ready and waiting when we arrived Christmas Eve, so its a wonder we had any room for dinner--especially with the addictive quality of both the Cretons and Christmas Crack! Although, it may have helped that we wouldn't eat dinner until after midnight mass--when we would come home and celebrate my Mother's Christmas birthday with dinner, Bûche de Noël, and presents in the wee hours of the morning. This recipe is adapted from one in a Quebecois cookbook I had given my mother several years ago, and now sits lovingly on my bookshelf.  I highly recommend the cookbook--Made in Quebec: A Culinary Journey, by Julian Armstrong--if only I had the time to cook my way through it!

Mimi's Cretons

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs. medium-fat Ground Pork
• 1 c. Progresso Bread Crumbs or 2 slices dried bread crumbled
• 1 medium onion, grated
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1/2 tsp. Pepper, freshly ground
• 1 tsp. ground Cinnamon, or more to taste
• 1/2 tsp. ground Cloves, or more to taste
• 1/2 tsp. ground Sage, or more to taste
• 1/4 tsp. ground Ginger
• 1/25 cups Whole Milk
• Additional Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat for 1 hour, stirring often at first to break up meat.
2. Remove from heat and use masher to breakup meat even more. 
3. Let cool, and transfer to several airtight (freezer-safe) containers. 
4. Refrigerate containers up to 5 days, or freeze up to two months. 

Serve spread on toasted or grilled bread, strong crackers, or bagel or pita chips; or use as a sandwich filling.

Note: Don't use lean pork, to prevent graininess in the final spread.

Photo courtesy of CLC Canada.