Oyster Po Boy

I was introduced to Po Boys by my husband a long time ago back in NYC. He had spent some time in New Orleans and had a few of them at Acme Oyster House in the French Quarter. A simple sandwich filled with wonderful flavors.
You may use shrimp or clams, or really any seafood or fish that would be good fried in cornmeal.
I made a remoulade to go with it, but you can use just mayo on the bread if preferred.

Ingredients:
2 small baguettes
14-16 oysters ( i get already shucked oysters)
2 cups cornmeal
2 tablespoons old bay seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 lemon, cut into wedges
iceberg lettuce, shredded
1 tomato, sliced

Remoulade:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
5 slices pickles, chopped
3 slices pickled jalapēno, chopped (optional)
1 teaspoon tabasco, or hot sauce of choice
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped shallots

Mix all remoulade ingredients and refrigerate.
In a small bowl, mix together cornmeal, old bay, salt and pepper.
Dip oysters in cornmeal mix until covered and set aside.

Heat oil in a cast iron frying pan.  Fry oysters, a few at a time for about 2 minutes a side, until golden.

Cut baguette in half, spread remoulade all over the inside of bread on both sides. Place lettuce and tomato on top of bread and top it off with oysters. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over oysters and serve.

Beef Stew! My First Ever Crockpot Meal!

I'm such a nerd when it comes to cooking. Everything must be made from scratch, which most the time it means that it takes a lot of work and time to have a meal in our table.
I had been contemplating buying a crockpot for a long time, but just wasn't comfortable with the way it cooks. So a few months ago, i needed to keep a stew warm during a catering event and ended up borrowing one from a friend and kind of liked it... a week later on my monthly trip to costco, i picked one up. Somehow i got home and never got around to opening it, and my husband moved the box up to the attic. This morning i had decided on making some beef stew like i usually do, slow braised in my Le Creuset, but being a week before Christmas and with a huge to do list, i couldn't think of a way of doing it. So I brought the crockpot down and had a nice warm meal on a chilly busy day, and now i get it... the whole crockpot world!

Ingredients:
3 lbs chuck, cut into cubes or already cut stew meat
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup pancetta, chopped
4-6 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large carrots, cubed
3 ribs celery, cubed
1 cup red wine
2-3 cups beef stock
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1 can of corn
A CROCKPOT!!!!!!!

Sprinkle salt and pepper all over cubed beef. Next sprinkle the flour all over the beef.
Heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add pancetta and cook until crispy. Add floured beef, a few pieces at a time without crowding the pan, add more oil if needed. Remove the browned pieces and set aside on a platter.

When done with all the beef, add onions to the pan. Fry for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic, celery and carrots and more oil if needed. Cook for 5 minutes. Return beef to pan and add wine, stir it well getting all the brown bits on bottom of pan dissolved. Add stock, tomato paste, corn, bay leaves and thyme. Transfer to crockpot and cook on high for 5-6 hours, depending on how much liquid you like; more liquid, less time. Add fresh parsley and serve over egg noodles.

Christmas Sugar Cookies

Well, it's just not Christmas until we bake sugar cookies and deliver to the family! This year my 4 y.o. really got into it and helped me cut and decorate over 100 cookies, and that was so much fun!
We use Martha Stewart's sugar cookie recipe , and have always had luck with it!
Some of Martha's tips for baking and decorating cookies:

"Tips for Baking Cookies Chilled dough will help retain the shape of the cookies; soft, warm dough tends to lose its shape when cut and moved. Rolling out the dough is sometimes difficult. Roll out the dough in small batches, make sure it's cold, and use a light dusting of flour or sugar to keep it from sticking to the work surface. Don't overmix the dough once you have added the dry ingredients. Overmixing will make the cookies tough. Dip cookie cutters in flour to prevent sticking. Rotate baking sheets halfway through baking to ensure that the cookies bake evenly.

Tips for Decorating Cookies Keep sanding sugar (a large-grain decorating sugar) in a variety of colors on hand. Place the unbaked cookie on a sheet of parchment paper, and sprinkle the sugar on top. Tip the cookie upside down to remove excess sugar.Try coating your cookies with royal icing in a variety of colors. Use a #1 or #2 Ateco pastry tip fitted in a pastry bag. Once the cookies are baked and cooled, carefully pipe a border of royal icing. Then "flood" the outline using a thinner blend of royal icing to coat the cookies. Use a toothpick or skewer to help push icing into place. Allow the icing to dry completely, up to one day. Dragging is the process of adding a second color through flooded icing. Use a toothpick to pull the icing; pull in alternate directions for a marbleized look. Keep filled pastry bags upright in a glass lined with a damp paper towel or use squeeze bottles. To create raised designs, pipe icing on top of dried flooded areas.Pipe icing onto the cookies, and sprinkle with sanding sugar for a sparkling effect called sugaring. Tip the cookie to remove excess sugar."

Ingredients for 4 dozen small or 2 dozen large:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, beaten
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Icing:
2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
food coloring

Whisk together flour, salt and baking powder and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until lightly and fluffy. With the mixer running, add egg, milk and vanilla, mixing well until combined.
Transfer dough to a work surface. SHape into 2 disks, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes and transfer to baking sheets, leaving an inch in between. Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

Whisk icing ingredients together and pour into 3 separate shallow bowls, add different colors to different bowls a drop at a time until you reach desired color.
Dip the topside of each cookie into the icing. Remove quickly and let icing drip excess in icing bowl. If necessary, rum a knife lightly thru cookie to remove excess. Pour crystal colored sugar or sprinkles on top.
You can also pour icing into a pastry bag and decorate with different patterns. Let it dry on cooling rack until frosting has hardened.