 Last month, I went on a family vacation, and brought back some wonderful, local fresh shrimp. I used some of that shrimp this week for my main dish, a po-boy. For those who aren’t familiar with them, po-boys are a traditional New Orleans sub sandwich. There are several variations of the po-boy, and I decided to keep mine simple. My sandwich uses hoagie rolls, cornmeal fried shrimp, shredded lettuce, and remoulade sauce. It’s perfect for a sandwich night meal served with a side of potato chips and an ice cold beer. Enjoy! ---Karly SHRIMP PO-BOYS WITH REMOULADE 1-2 pounds large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cut in half cross-wise (depends on how many people you’re feeding or how much shrimp you want to pile into your sandwich) Cornmeal Cajun Seasoning Milk Canola oil Shredded green leaf lettuce Hoagie rolls, cut in half, but not all the way through Remoulade: 1 cup mayonnaise ¼ cup chopped green onion Zest of ½ lemon 1 tablespoon coarse ground mustard 2 cloves garlic, minced 1-2 teaspoons Sriracha hot sauce Make the remoulade by mixing together all ingredients; set aside. It’s best if it has an hour or more to sit and let the flavors blend, so you could make it earlier in the day, and put it in the fridge in a sealed container. Heat a ½-inch of canola oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. While the oil is heating, peel and devein your shrimp and cut them in half. Get 2 bowls and put milk in one and cornmeal mixed with Cajun seasoning in the other. Salt and pepper the shrimp, then put them in the milk, then into the cornmeal and coat them well. The oil should be ready if you started before you peeled the shrimp, if you need to test the oil, splash a drop of water into it; if it hisses and spits, then the oil is hot enough. Fry the shrimp for 1-2 minutes per side, until golden (they won’t take long to cook through). Drain on a paper towel lined plate, and sprinkle with salt immediately when they come out of the oil. To make your po-boy, pile some shredded lettuce in the roll, top with several dollops of remoulade, then pile some shrimp on top. Printer-Friendly Version: 
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 So all week, I've had my mind on Mexican food, with the cornmeal and all... And I considered doing some sort of sweet tamale, but figured the tamale would be too bulky. Here's my solution! Enjoy... ---Jenny CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY CORN CREPES WITH VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM Crepes: 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 1/3 cup yellow cornmeal (I used corn flour - corn meal, but more finely ground) 1/4 tsp cinnamon pinch salt 1 cups whole milk 2 medium eggs 1 tbsp honey 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus additional for brushing skillet Filling: 1 tbsp honey 1 pint raspberries 1/2 bar of dark chocolate 1 can coconut milk, refrigerated In a large bowl, whisk crepe ingredients briskly until well blended. Let sit about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, warm raspberries and honey in a small saucepan or skillet, mashing them. You can choose to strain them, but I don't. They add bulk. And they're good for you! After they're warmed and saucy, transfer to a small bowl and refrigerate. Break chocolate into smaller pieces and warm on medium heat. Set aside. With a mixer, blend 1 tbsp honey and cream of coconut milk only until thickened. Spoon raspberries and coconut cream onto a crepe. Fold as pictured, drizzle with chocolate and serve with ice cream... Printer-Friendly Version:
 Once again, I went very Southern with this recipe for cornmeal week. I decided to make a lemon chess pie with a cornmeal pie crust. Chess pie is a Southern pie that’s usually made with eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, and sometimes buttermilk; there are also lemon and chocolate variations of chess pie. The pie recipe is slightly adapted from one I found on the King Arthur flour website. I put a little less sugar in it and added some lemon zest to really bump up the lemon flavor in the pie. The crust is my own. There are cornmeal pie crusts out there, but I added some extras to it to make it special. The result was spectacular; the pie is very lemony and the bourbon in the pie crust gives a slight hint of flavor to the whole thing which is just fantastic. If you are a lemon pie lover, then make one of these this weekend. ---Karly LEMON CHESS PIE WITH LEMON-BOURBON CORNMEAL CRUST Crust: 1 cup flour ½ cup cornmeal (I used white, use what you have) 3 tablespoons sugar Pinch of salt Zest of 1 lemon ½ cup (1 stick) butter, chilled and cut into small cubes 1 egg 1-2 tablespoons bourbon Pie: 6 tablespoons melted butter 5 eggs ¾ cup fresh lemon juice Zest of 2 lemons 1 ½ cups sugar ½ teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon cornmeal 1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch To make the crust, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and lemon zest in a bowl. Add the butter cubes, and using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. If you have a stand mixer, you can also use that, just put the flour mixture in the bowl, add the butter, and beat on medium speed until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Using a fork, beat the egg and bourbon in a small bowl, then pour into the flour mixture and mix until dough forms. Press the dough into a flat disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for an hour. After the dough has chilled, roll it out with a rolling pin on a floured surface, and press into a 9-inch pie plate. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. To make the pie, simply whisk together all of the pie ingredients until well blended, and pour into the unbaked pie crust. Bake the pie on 375 degrees for 40-50 minutes, until it is set in the center. If the crust is getting too brown, then shield the edges with a pie shield or aluminum foil while baking. Cool the pie and chill before serving. Printer-Friendly Version:
 Picture it: Jinotega, 2008. A small rural coffee town in northern Nicaragua. I was traversing the country, doing a little exploring, and I got hungry. Typical Nicaraguan food can be somewhat plain, but here on the dirty cobbled street near the town square, a tiny little walk-in "restaurant", if you could call it that, offered up Salvadoranean fare. El Salvador, as of late, has had a crime problem, but their pupusas are great! So this hole-in-the-wall eatery had two plastic tables and a few chairs, and I sat down to peruse the menu hand-written on the wall... Pupusas, what are those? I decided to get adventurous. The owner, the cook and the waitress - all the same person - brought me my dish. Three doughy discs smiled up at me; beans, cheese... and loaded on top, a vinegared mix of cabbage, onions and carrots. A dollop of sour cream and hot sauce, and I was in business! Holy goodness, I HAD to find a way to make these! ---Jenny PUPUSAS AND CURTIDO Pupusas: 4 cups masa harina (corn meal for tamales) 1 cup all purpose flour 4 cups water or chicken broth refried or mashed beans queso fresco about 5 medium to large tomatillos, sliced thinly Heat beans... Saute tomatillos in a little olive oil and mash with a fork when softened. Salt to taste. In a large mixing bowl, gradually stir water into flours until dough forms a ball. Divide the dough into about 24 pieces. (I usually cut the ball of dough in half, in half again, and then into smaller portions. Roll each section into a ball and flatten on your counter. (It's helpful to lay down a piece of plastic wrap first.) Put a spoonful of beans or tomatillos and cheese onto one side of each pupusa, fold over and form into a disc. Heat a heavy, weide-bottomed skillet until hot. Brush pupusas with oil and cook about 5 mins on each side until golden brown. Curtido: 1/2 head green cabbage, sliced thinly 1 medium onion, sliced thinly 2 small carrots, grated 2 cups vinegar 1 cup water 1 tsp salt 1 1/2 tsp oregano 1 tsp cayenne pepper 1 tsp cumin 2 tbsp olive oil Dump every thing into a wide-bottomed container, or a large gallon jar. Make sure everything is immersed in the liquid. Set aside for 6 hours. If there isn't enough liquid, add more portions of vinegar and water. Printer-Friendly Version:
 It really is fun doing this Secret Ingredient Cook-Off with a friend. So many different ideas! Karly thought of Southern cooking when confronted with Cornmeal Week, and I automatically went for Mexican! I'll give you a little heads-up: all three of my dishes this week are Hispanic-inspired! This one, my main dish, is a casserole. Simple enough, and very tasty! Nopales (pronounced noh-pahl-ess) are cut strips of cactus leaf, and they are used often in Mexican cooking. I chose a preserved kind that was bottled with a vinegar/serrano pepper juice, but many will buy the cactus "paddles", cut off the spines, and cook them... Regarding the Cornmeal, I thought it would make an awesome crust for a Mexican dish. I played this by ear because I couldn't find a crust recipe that made me happy. This one was a success, and yet another completely original idea straight from my brain to the dinner table! ---Jenny CHICKEN & NOPALES CASSEROLE WITH CORNMEAL CRUST Crust: 1 1/2 cups cornmeal (I used corn flour for a finer texture) 1 2/3 cups flour (I used organic all-purpose) 1/2 tsp baking powder pinch salt 1 egg 3 tbsp butter, room temperature 1 cup chicken broth (or water) Mix dry ingredients. Add egg, butter and broth. Mix well. You might even have to get your hands in there. Transfer to baking dish and mash onto bottom and up onto sides. (I had a little extra left over, so I put the extra on top...) Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly. Filling: 1/2 medium white or yellow onion, cut into small chunks 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into small chunks 1/2 cup preserved nopales 1-3 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, diced 1 can cut tomatoes, drained 2 breasts of chicken, cooked 2 tbsp diced cilantro 1/2 can black refried beans (I mashed my own black beans) 3-4 oz Mexican Quesadilla cheese, grated (you can substitute Monterrey Jack) Saute onion and pepper in olive oil until onion is translucent; add everything else except beans and cheese, and cook at med-high heat about 5-10 mins. Then cook out or drain liquid. First line the crust with a layer of the refried beans. Next, add the cooked mixture and sprinkle with cheese. Cook at 350 for another 10 minutes. I also sprinkled mine with pumpkin seeds. Buen Provecho!  Printer-Friendly Version:
 Cornmeal week is bringing out the Southern cook in me, so be on the lookout for different versions of Southern classics this week. One of the most classic Southern staples is cornbread. You can make it in an iron skillet and slice it, or you can bake it in a muffin tin for corn muffins. I decided to make corn muffins, but knew that I didn’t want to just do plain ones. I thought of a fantastic loaf of artisanal bread I bought once from my local farmer’s market that had roasted red peppers in it, and decided to add roasted bell pepper to my corn muffins. I also decided to add a little fresh goat cheese as well, because I thought it would go nicely with the bell pepper. I also played around with the ingredients in a typical corn muffin. Instead of shortening, I added some melted butter; instead of buttermilk or sour cream, I used plain Greek yogurt and a splash of milk; instead of sugar, I used honey. Overall, I was happy with the way they turned out. It’s not a sweet cornbread/corn muffin recipe, so if you prefer your corn muffins on the sweet side, you may want to add more honey. Serve them warm and slathered with butter. Enjoy! ---Karly CORN MUFFINS WITH ROASTED BELL PEPPERS AND GOAT CHEESE 1 cup corn meal (I used white, you can use yellow as well) 1 cup all-purpose flour 4 teaspoons baking powder Pinch of salt 2 Tablespoons honey 4 Tablespoons butter, melted 1 cup (8 oz) plain Greek yogurt 1 egg Splash of milk 1 bell pepper, any color, roasted and cut into a large dice 2 oz. plain goat cheese, crumbled First, roast your bell pepper by either charring it over the flames of a gas burner, or rubbing it with olive oil and putting it on a cookie sheet in a 450 degree oven and turning occasionally until blackened. Once the pepper is blackened, put it in a Ziploc bag and seal it, so that the pepper can cool and steam. Once the pepper is cool, remove the skin and seeds (the skin will rub right off) and cut into a large dice; set aside. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter, honey, egg, yogurt, and milk, and stir until well combined. Stir in the pepper and goat cheese. Spoon the batter into a greased muffin tin, filling the cups about 2/3 of the way. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, until the muffins are lightly browned, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Printer-Friendly Version:
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To Ponder..."Food is never just food. It's also a way of getting at something else: who we are, who we have been, & who we want to be." -- Molly Wizenberg  Archives
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