Chef Jason's Crawfish Etoouffee' my way damnit!

How about a super creamy Crayfish Etouffee' my style!  Well this is great, perfect buttery sauce with fresh crab sauce fresh veggies and some wonderful crayfish meat.  This has a little Italian as well some acini di pepe'.  This is a filling wonderful dish but once again not for the ones afraid of the kitchen, I put my heart and soul with about forty ingredients into this delicious mix. 

Till Next Time,
ENJOY

Chef Jason's Basil Mint Spaghetti Squash

For anyone preparing a dish like this please be aware that the Asian pear and the spaghetti squash are hot coming out of the oven, lol.  This is A dish I cam up with because my wife is vegetarian, which sucks!  So she got oven roasted spaghetti squash, pan toasted pine nuts, with a creamy mint, basil and goat cheese Alfredo along with a little kick from red peppers, red onions, green onions, garlic and a tad of cinnamon for the oven roasted Asian pear.  Don't try this one unless you're a serious chef, but it's my recipe and we love it, the kids helped and I love them and their help in Jaon's Kitchen :)

Till Next Time,
ENJOY!

Chef Jason's Celebration of Freshness and more (Long John Silvers can do Fish and MORE I can do this!

Chef Jason's Celebration of Freshness

Fresh herbs, fresh fruit, fresh veggies????  What?  You can get a can or a frozen bag (Ok I cheated those are frozen Brussels sprouts) but the point is that all of the fresh herbs you see, plus the butternut squash was all fresh, hand chopped by me.  I put my heart and soul into every dish I make and even though my presentation here is way too busy, I'm proud of it!  The flavors were amazing.

On another note I went out to eat at a very upscale restaurant.  I ordered appetizers to the tune of a crab dip with chips, way too much dill in it, no tangy element, really wasn't that good so I tried the second one I'd ordered..... Oh my god, heaven help me in the top five best things I've ever eaten, the Ahi tuna was perfectly rare served with red and green bell peppers, red onions and a ranch dressing drizzle.... Immaculate, the perfect dish!  I was really pushing the boundaries so I tried the pan seared sea scallops over an American style Kim chi.  Chef Jason (not me that's who cooked this dish) nailed it once again, the scallops were perfectly seared and amazing!  The American Kim Chi left a little to be desired in my opinion, but once again I'm testing my pallet every day, are you?  If not drop me a line and I'll tell you how to get the most out of the least, cooking is all about you, what do "you" like and how would you like to push that envelop completely over the edge? 

Chef Jason's Deli Style Crab Salad

Chef Jason's Deli Style Crab Salad

I love good deli style crab salad which is really hard to find.  It seems like every time I try it, it tastes like nothing but onions.  With any salad like this be it chicken, tuna, salmon or anything else you have to take great care with the amount of onion you use as it can overbear the star of the show.  This one is delicious and it's easy and fairly cheap to make.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 lb. flake style imitation crab meat

1/4 cup diced red onion

1/4 cup diced green bell pepper

1/2 cup diced celery

3/4 cup mayonaise

1/4 cup sour cream

1 T. fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1/8 tsp. Old Bay seasoning

1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley 

1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh oregano 

1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh dill

With your hands coarsely shred the crab (basically just break it down so it's not huge chunks).

Put the crab in a mixing bowl and add the salt, pepper, old bay, mayo, sour cream and lemon juice and fold it in till well coated.  Add all the rest and fold till well mixed and coated.  Let refrigerate for 2-4 hours before eating.  If you let it sit over night the flavors will really meld from the fresh herbs.  It's one of those things that gets better the longer it sits in the fridge.

Till Next Time,

ENJOY!

Chef Jason's Cheesy/Thyme Salmon

Chef Jason's Cheesy/thyme salmon (Oven fried)

Roasted Butternut Squash/walnut bow tie pasta

Chard/Cherry wilted salad

 

This made for a great night in the kitchen for me and my wife Adelin Blevins​.  I made the salmon and pasta, she made the salad and the brownies (not shown).

The pasta was so good that I literally dreamed about it last night, thank goodness there are leftovers :)  The pasta has a very nice vegetable stock based vinaigrette and the fresh parley and fresh sage just make the flavor of the butternut squash and walnuts burst with flavor.  One of the best dishes I've made to date.

The Chard and Dried Cherry Salad was also extremely good, a nice combination of sweet, tangy and bitter made it very well balanced and a great fit with this meal.  Thanks again Addie for helping me and making the salad :)

I'm going to give you the salmon recipe' which was inspired by an idea from my niece Misty Frank​ .

Cheesy/thyme salmon

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Spray a cookie sheet lightly with olive oil spray or lightly oil with olive oil.

Get two mixing bowls ready, one for the crumb mixture and one for the egg mixture.

Ingredients:

1-3 lbs. Salmon Filets

Egg Mixture:

2 Eggs
1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
1 tsp. (1 clove) Minced Garlic
1 Tbsp. Fresh Thyme Finely Chopped
Juice of 1/4 Fresh Lemon

Coating:

1 Can of French's Cheddar Onions Crushed up Into Crumbs

Mix all ingredients for egg mixture together in mixing bowl and whisk vigorously or until frothy.

In the other mixing bowl place the crushed up French's Onions.  I put the Cheddar onions in a 1 gallon Zip Lock bag and removed all the air.  I then took "the flat side" of my meat mallet and smashed them up.

Slice the salmon into 2" to 3" strips.

Coat each piece well with the egg mixture and then toss in the crumbs, be sure to press each piece in the mixture to make it stick well and shake off excess coating.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Serve and
ENJOY!

Crock Pot Swiss Steak Dinner

Crock Pot Swiss Steak Dinner

Decided to try a couple of other peoples recipe's today instead of making up my own.

Made Crock Pot Swiss Steak, can't remember the exact recipe on that one.

Made Oven Roasted Rosemary and Garlic Potatoes found this one on Youtube and it's incredible! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM2qDPUE9wI

Also made some nice steamed veggies to go with it.

Till Next Time,
ENJOY!

Guacamole Night

Guacamole Night

First Time Making Guacamole from scratch and it turned out wonderfully!

Till Next,

ENJOY!

Chef Jason's Triple C Frog Legs

Chef Jason's Triple C Frog Legs

Triple C Frog Legs mean Cajun/Cranberry/Candied Frog Legs.  It's a super twist on a hot wing with a super savory, sweet and spicy sauce!

You obviously have to have some nice frog legs (hippity, hoppity into my belly)!

 The sauce was just a crazy idea I came up with.  I first made a reduction using 8 ounces of fresh cranberries with sugar, white cooking wine, water, Cajun seasoning and crushed red chillies. 

The next step was to put it in the Ninja till it was a puree.  Then I added butter and Louisiana hot sauce and reduce it a second time.  Sweet and hot and savory all at the same time, great home made wing sauce... Or in this case frog sauce ;)

I also made a cheesy orecchiette pasta with sauteed mushrooms, garlic, chives and asparagus to go with it.

Till Next Time,
ENJOY!

Chef Jason's Asian Albacore Salad

Chef Jason's Asian Albacore Salad

This one was tricky for me, had to use some nice Albacore tuna steaks I got in a budget box and had never worked with it before.  I marinated it in soy, Worcestershire and agave nectar,  I then basted it with Dijon mustard and rubbed it with a Mediterranean blend of seasonings.  I pan seared it for 3 minutes per side to get the perfect medium rare state using olive, peanut, sesame and vegetable oil.  The salad itself is an Asian perfection with sesame ginger vinaigrette.  I added some fresh yellow bell pepper and fresh cilantro to finish.  I am back from my break so stay tuned.  

 If you need any tips, tricks or anything else please contact me.

 Till Next time,

ENJOY!

Chef Jason's "Big Kahuna Burger"

Happy Game DAY!

Chef Jason's Big Kahuna Burger click here for the down low on this game day killer burger