AllenOK
New member
I just thought of this tonight at work. A little background, first:
I made a big batch of Creole Sauce last week. We needed some for a buffet, and I made enough to have leftover sauce to use for menu specials this week
For the past three nights, we've been running a special with Creole Pasta (the sauce, with fettucini) with andouille sausage and chicken. MMMM
We're also going to do some kind of seafood special tomorrow and Saturday, involving Creole Sauce.
I was talking to my Chef about the possibilities for this sauce. It's extremely versatile. Just the sauce, by itself, is almost vegetarian. Sub out the butter with margarine, or just go with veggie oil to saute in, and you have a vegan sauce that highly flavorful. I'm interested in this angle, as we're entering our wedding reception season, and I usually get one or two vegan dishes when we have a plated function.
Well, I was in a "creative" mentality tonight, because of that discussion. Then, in a flash, it hit me! Eureka!!! We have breaded fried oysters on the menu or an appetizer. How hard would it be to make up a bowl of Creole Pasta, and fry an order of oysters, and place the oysters on top of the dish? Easy-squeezy, and it sounded GOOD!
I mentioned it to the Chef, and he immediately said that sounded like a good idea. I mentioned it to the Food & Beverage Manager, and he also immediately agreed. He even flipped out a couple of other ideas I may have to run with at a later date.
Hehehehe. I'm a stinker. I've even already tried it. I sold one of the Chicken Andouille Pasta dishes tonight. It had a little to much pasta, so I didn't bowl all of the pasta up. I reheated that small amount, added a little extra sauce, and while that was cooking, dropped two oysters into the fryer (a full order is six). I did a small saucer with the pasta and the oysters, and proceeded to eat, then INHALE it. GREAT FLAMING SPACE MONKEYS! It's delicious!
Anyways, here's the sauce recipe. This is one of Prudhommes, so I'm altering the directions to avoid copyright issues.
Creole Sauce
Yields: approximately 1 qt
4 T butter
1 c tomatoes, chopped
¾ c chopped onions
¾ c chopped celery
¾ c chopped green bell peppers
Seasoning Mix:
2 bay leaves
¾ t oregano
½ t salt
¼ t white pepper
¼ t cayenne
½ t paprika
¼ t black pepper
½ t thyme
½ t basil
1 ½ t minced garlic
1 ¼ c chicken stock
1 c canned tomato sauce (8 oz can)
1 t sugar
Tabasco, to taste
Allen's Method:
Forget the seasonings. Just use 1 T + 1 1/2 t blackened seasoning mix, if you have it. If you don't, follow the ingredients.
Melt the butter over high heat.
Add the trinity (onions, celery, peppers). Saute until you see some color in the pan, and the veggies have wilted.
Add the seasonings and garlic. Saute a minute or two.
Add the diced tomatoes. Saute a minute or two.
Add the tomato sauce (I'm actually using canned pizza sauce, as I didn't want to open a #10 can for the amount of sauce I need, and the pizza sauce is already open), stock (I used veggie stock), sugar, and Tabasco (I used Louisiana, as that's what I had within easy reach).
Stir. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.
For the oysters, we brought in a 10 lb bucket of shucked oysters. I mixed up a big pan of seasoned flour, with all-purpose flour and a commercial seasoned salt (don't know what brand, just what I had on hand). I floured all the oysters, and placed them on a large sheet pan lined with parchment. Once they were all breaded, in the freezer they went (so of you may flame me for this, but I have my reasons).
To make the dish, I open a bag of pre-cooked, portioned fettucini, and drop it into my pot of pasta water. I put a saute pan over the heat, and add about a cup of the now cold sauce, and bring it to a boil. Drain and dump the pasta into the sauce, rolling and shaking the pan. Drop six of the oysters into a fryer basket, and down into the grease it goes. Roll and shake the pasta some more. The oysters are cooked in just 2 or 3 minutes. Raise the oysters up and let them drain for a second. Roll the pasta again, and bowl the pasta. Arrange the oysters over the top attractively, and garnish with a sprinkling of sliced green onions.
I like garlic bread with mine.
I made a big batch of Creole Sauce last week. We needed some for a buffet, and I made enough to have leftover sauce to use for menu specials this week
For the past three nights, we've been running a special with Creole Pasta (the sauce, with fettucini) with andouille sausage and chicken. MMMM
We're also going to do some kind of seafood special tomorrow and Saturday, involving Creole Sauce.
I was talking to my Chef about the possibilities for this sauce. It's extremely versatile. Just the sauce, by itself, is almost vegetarian. Sub out the butter with margarine, or just go with veggie oil to saute in, and you have a vegan sauce that highly flavorful. I'm interested in this angle, as we're entering our wedding reception season, and I usually get one or two vegan dishes when we have a plated function.
Well, I was in a "creative" mentality tonight, because of that discussion. Then, in a flash, it hit me! Eureka!!! We have breaded fried oysters on the menu or an appetizer. How hard would it be to make up a bowl of Creole Pasta, and fry an order of oysters, and place the oysters on top of the dish? Easy-squeezy, and it sounded GOOD!
I mentioned it to the Chef, and he immediately said that sounded like a good idea. I mentioned it to the Food & Beverage Manager, and he also immediately agreed. He even flipped out a couple of other ideas I may have to run with at a later date.
Hehehehe. I'm a stinker. I've even already tried it. I sold one of the Chicken Andouille Pasta dishes tonight. It had a little to much pasta, so I didn't bowl all of the pasta up. I reheated that small amount, added a little extra sauce, and while that was cooking, dropped two oysters into the fryer (a full order is six). I did a small saucer with the pasta and the oysters, and proceeded to eat, then INHALE it. GREAT FLAMING SPACE MONKEYS! It's delicious!
Anyways, here's the sauce recipe. This is one of Prudhommes, so I'm altering the directions to avoid copyright issues.
Creole Sauce
Yields: approximately 1 qt
4 T butter
1 c tomatoes, chopped
¾ c chopped onions
¾ c chopped celery
¾ c chopped green bell peppers
Seasoning Mix:
2 bay leaves
¾ t oregano
½ t salt
¼ t white pepper
¼ t cayenne
½ t paprika
¼ t black pepper
½ t thyme
½ t basil
1 ½ t minced garlic
1 ¼ c chicken stock
1 c canned tomato sauce (8 oz can)
1 t sugar
Tabasco, to taste
Allen's Method:
Forget the seasonings. Just use 1 T + 1 1/2 t blackened seasoning mix, if you have it. If you don't, follow the ingredients.
Melt the butter over high heat.
Add the trinity (onions, celery, peppers). Saute until you see some color in the pan, and the veggies have wilted.
Add the seasonings and garlic. Saute a minute or two.
Add the diced tomatoes. Saute a minute or two.
Add the tomato sauce (I'm actually using canned pizza sauce, as I didn't want to open a #10 can for the amount of sauce I need, and the pizza sauce is already open), stock (I used veggie stock), sugar, and Tabasco (I used Louisiana, as that's what I had within easy reach).
Stir. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.
For the oysters, we brought in a 10 lb bucket of shucked oysters. I mixed up a big pan of seasoned flour, with all-purpose flour and a commercial seasoned salt (don't know what brand, just what I had on hand). I floured all the oysters, and placed them on a large sheet pan lined with parchment. Once they were all breaded, in the freezer they went (so of you may flame me for this, but I have my reasons).
To make the dish, I open a bag of pre-cooked, portioned fettucini, and drop it into my pot of pasta water. I put a saute pan over the heat, and add about a cup of the now cold sauce, and bring it to a boil. Drain and dump the pasta into the sauce, rolling and shaking the pan. Drop six of the oysters into a fryer basket, and down into the grease it goes. Roll and shake the pasta some more. The oysters are cooked in just 2 or 3 minutes. Raise the oysters up and let them drain for a second. Roll the pasta again, and bowl the pasta. Arrange the oysters over the top attractively, and garnish with a sprinkling of sliced green onions.
I like garlic bread with mine.
