The St. Mary Parish Knights of Columbus will hold its 6th annual Crawfish & Bluegrass Extravaganza on Saturday April 19th, 2008 at St. Mary Catholic School (corner of Old Shell Road and North Lafayette Street) from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. With all the crawfish and bluegrass you can handle.

Five area bluegrass bands will perform and the Knights and sponsor Azalea Seafood & Gumbo will cook and serve thousands of pounds of crawfish. Gumbo, hot dogs, and chips will also be available for the non-crawfish eaters.

Check our Music Briefs for a list of the performers.

Advance tickets are $20, and at-the-gate admissions will be $25. Children 12 and under are admitted free. Proceeds benefit the students and teachers of St. Mary Catholic School. For advance tickets or additional information, contact the St. Mary Parish Development Office at 432-8678, ext. 2. or for more details, bands, and sponsors lists, visit: http://www.stmarymobile.org/koc/Crawfish.asp

Shrimp feast

As of April 3, over 29 teams have signed up to compete in the Fifth Annual Volunteer Mobile Shrimp Cook-Off. Held in Bienville Square from 11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. there will be all kinds of shrimp dishes to taste, music and entertainment for children. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at any Compass Bank or you can pay $15 at the gate.

Almost a picnic

I recently wrote about the opening of the Palette Café located in WeMo at the Mobile Museum of Art. They already have a new menu that features such items as a lump crabmeat cheesecake with pecan crust, Latin-spiced flank steak over cumin mashed sweet potatoes or fresh roasted beets with naval oranges and goat cheese.

They are open for lunch only Tuesday – Thursday but are staying open from 2 – 4 p.m. for coffee and desserts. You can try the homemade multi-layered Lemon Curd Cake or Chocolate Chip Cake with German Chocolate Sauce and a cappucino while watching the ducks and geese on the lake at Langan Park. They will also do private luncheons on the patio.

I have yet to make it out there, as I fear it will be full of either ladies in Nike running shorts with white trim (did Nike pay the Kappa alumni group?) or ladies in suits.

Coming to roost

Auburn graduates swear by Guthrie’s chicken fingers, and they’ll soon get their chance to relive the experience. The first one to open is located at the bottom of Springhill Avenue just West of I-65 and will be opening in the next week.

Mudbugs

I have never actually boiled crawfish, have always just watched, but I thought there might be someone out there who did not know what to do and needed some guidance. If so, this came from a friend who knows how to do it, but has been adapted so you can do it in your kitchen for a small group should you not have the required large pot with gas burner used outside.

Boiled Crawfish

1 gallon water

2 3-ounce packages crab boil

1/4 cup salt

1/4 cup hot sauce

2 tablespoons cayenne pepper

1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes

6 small onions, peeled

4 – 6 ears corn, halved

1 bell pepper, coarsely chopped

2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped

1 head garlic, halved

3 large lemons, halved

5 pounds live crawfish, rinsed and purged in salt water

In very large pot over high heat bring water, crab boil, salt, hot sauce, and cayenne pepper to a boil. Add potatoes, onions, corn, bell pepper, celery, and garlic. Reduce heat to simmer; cover and cook until vegetables are barely tender, about 10 minutes. Squeeze lemons over pot, add lemons and crawfish, and stir to combine. Cover and return mixture to the boil. Cook until shells turn bright red, about 8 minutes.

More shelled aquatic critters

It seems that everyone now has shrimp and grits on the menu. It would appear this dish first became quite popular in the Charleston area so rather than favor one local recipe, this one comes from a restaurant in Charleston called The Boathouse.

Spicy Shrimp with Andouille Sausage on Grits

Serves Six

1/3 cup green hot pepper sauce

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 shallot, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 cup whipping cream

5 cups water

3 cups whole milk

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

2 cups corn grits*

1/4 cup olive oil

8 ounces smoked andouille sausage sliced

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup minced onion

4 garlic cloves, chopped

30 uncooked large shrimp, peeled, deveined

4 plum tomatoes, chopped

1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

Combine hot pepper sauce, wine, shallot, lemon juice and vinegar in heavy medium saucepan. Boil over medium heat until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 15 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup cream. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Bring 1/2 cup cream, 5 cups water, milk and butter to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Gradually whisk in grits. Simmer until grits are very soft and thickened, stirring frequently, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add sausage, both bell peppers, onion and garlic; sauté until vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes. Add shrimp, tomatoes, Cajun seasoning and Old Bay seasoning and sauté until shrimp are opaque in center, about 6 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring hot pepper-cream sauce to simmer. Spoon grits onto 6 plates, dividing equally. Spoon shrimp mixture over grits. Drizzle hot pepper-cream sauce over and serve.

Kinnon Phillips is Lagniappe cuisine editor. Contact him at kphillips@lagniappemobile.com.

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