Southern Eats: Mississippi

Nearly a month after my trip to the Gulf coast, I find myself dealing with pouring rain and thunderstorms, 60 degree temperatures, the stress of work, commutes, life, etc… and a burning desire for flip-flops and summer skirts.  Feeling the need for some comfort and not being near my own kitchen or a fully stocked bar, I choose to recall with fondness the food and good times of Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

We left the world of Purple People Eaters and (fruit punch) Hurricanes…

mmm… tastes like grape kool-aid

…and moved on toward the lovely and artsy community of Ocean Springs, MS.

Nearly five years later, the damage from Hurricane Katrina is still visible.  

 

Hello bank vault, that used to be in a bank… 

Add in to that, a devastating oil spill (thanks, BP!), the communities along this coastline of the Gulf have had one hell of an effing bad time.  But the spirit is vibrant, there were tons of cute shops, art galleries, and plenty of good seafood to be found.  We forked over our cash, broke out the beach towels and grapefruit and vodka, consumed enough wine to fill a small liquor store (okay maybe just a closet in a small liquor store), and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly… 

For lunch the first day, we found ourselves at the White Cap Seafood Restaurant along the beach in Gulfport, with an ocean view, a big, wonderful aquarium greeting patrons near the entrance, and bar tenders shucking oysters.  I ordered a side salad (just to try to feel slightly better about all of the alcohol and fried foods) and a bowl of the gumbo, my third variety of the trip.  Others had fried catfish, fried oysters (which actually did not suck), boiled shrimp, and we split a basket of hush puppies.  We should have ordered a basket each!  They were crispy and golden brown and full of sweet cornmeal and other goodness, without being greasy or having some weird flavor of unidentified origin.  Two extra hush puppies were delivered to me in my bowl of gumbo, along with a big hunk of rice.  It looked a little weird, but it tasted like sunshine and rainbows and unicorns… Or something really good at least.  

Hello, fried catfish! I will put you in my belly and you will taste good!

Our next stop was at the fish market, where we ordered mass quantities of boiled and seasoned crawfish, fresh oysters, and shrimp.  

The oysters were baked with cheese and panko and fresh parsley and bacon and spices and other good things of Amanda's conception of which I do not know…

Amanda works oyster magic.

They went from this… 

… to this…

 

… to this…

And they were amazing.

The shrimp was seasoned cajun style and grilled, and we lightly steamed the crawfish to warm them back up. 

In the meantime, we drank plenty of wine and snacked on boiled peanuts (spicy and plain) and this magnificent thing called a cheeseball.

 

The recipe is simple… in a food processor chop up some green onion, some Armour sliced, dried beef (yeah, it sounds gross, but it's magnificently tasty), and mix those together with cream cheese. Serve with ritz crackers, or even better, melba toast.

And we nibbled on pralines from Southern Candymakers in New Orleans:

So. Damn. Good.

On a side note… I so want this for my own dream kitchen someday:

The next day after spending a good chunk of time and money buying furniture, cute dresses, and perusing the art galleries, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant/bar in Ocean Springs.  It had a decent selection of beer and wine and I liked that they suggested pairings on the menu.  I had a mediocre smoked chicken salad (the lettuce was just… wrong), which made me pine for the duck pizza that I had thought about ordering.  Despite that, the ambiance was fantastic.  We sat on a large, semi-shaded patio, with a huge fireplace and lovely trees and plants.  

It was essentially my ideal backyard.  Combine that with wine and mid-seventies temperatures, it was amazing that I ever left. 

But leave we did and ventured onto the beach, where I spent the rest of my day enjoying grapefruit and vodka… and this…

 

For dinner that night we ate grilled steaks, roasted vegetables and sweet potatoes.  I think.  I'm fuzzy because we also had wine.  Lots and lots of wine.  

Which probably led to shenanigans like this… 

Oh, look, my hand is behind the fence that's marked Private Property… Oh no!!!

I swear nothing happened…  :)

The next morning, we shipped Kat back home, but not before a tasty brunch at French Charley's in Pass Christian, MS.  I ordered the crab cakes, which were flaky, crispy, not greasy, very crabby and not too full of filler, but I wanted about six or seven of them to fill me up…

They also came with a corn salsa, which quite frankly, was a little lacking in substance and taste. But it didn't ruin the dish.  The restaurant was freezing, so I also decided on a little coffee with Bailey's.  I think they got confused and thought I wanted Bailey's with a little coffee.  :)

 

Like drinking a warm, alcoholic milkshake.  Mmm… milkshake.

I didn't take any food photos over the next 24 hours…  I was too relaxed and too busy enjoying good wine, good food, and good company.  And in the end, that was all that really mattered.

Spicy Shrimp and Pasta Aglio e Olio

I'm freshly returned from an extra-long girls weekend in New Orleans and Ocean Springs, Mississippi.  (Food memories coming soon!)   The beach was lovely, and with the help of three lovely women and a crap-ton of wine I came back home fully relaxed.  

We consumed our fair share of seafood and Oh My, Nola it was so fresh and wonderful!  

At a fish market in Mississippi buying shrimps and mud-bugs.

Check out the ginormous Grouper!

Anyway… I love shrimp, I love spicy, and as my thighs will attest, I loves me some pasta.  And in my desperate attempt to cling to the warm memories of the beachy good time, I give you tonight's dinner:

Roasted Cajun Shrimp and Asparagus with Spicy Pasta Aglio e Olio

For the pasta:

• 1 Tbsp kosher salt
• 1/2 pound spaghetti
• 4-5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1-2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 Tbsp butter
• ~1 cup reserved pasta water (or chicken broth if you screw up and forget)
• Optional variation: Add fresh basil, parsley and Parmesan cheese into the pasta at the end.

Start the water to boil in a large pot with 1 Tbsp salt.  When the water is boiling add the pasta.  (In the meantime, pop the asparagus in the oven).

Thinly slice the garlic (and chop basil and parsley if using).

When the pasta is done set aside about 1 cup of the water.  Try not to be a dumb-ass and forget like I do sometimes… If you do forget, you can use some chicken broth.  But it won't be as good.

Heat the olive oil and butter in a large sauce pan (big enough to hold the spaghetti at the end) over medium heat.  Saute the garlic for a couple of minutes.  

When the garlic is *just* starting to turn goldeny, add the crushed red pepper flakes.  Add more or less depending on how spicy you like it.  Saute for about 30 seconds or so.  

Add the reserved pasta water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the liquid is reduced by about 1/3 or so.  (In the meantime, start roasting the shrimp!)

Add the pasta into the sauce and toss to coat.  Turn off the heat and optionally add the basil, parsley and parmesan.  I usually make it this way if I just want to eat the pasta by itself, and honestly, it doesn't need the cheese.  I know, I know… I'm a shameful disappoint to the world of fromagerie.

For the roasted shrimp and asparagus:

• 1 pound of raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined
• Cajun rub:
  • 1 tsp Oregano
  • 1/2 tsp Onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp Garlic salt
  • 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
  • 1 tsp Parsley
  • A smidge of freshly ground black pepper
• Asparagus
• More cajun seasoning
• Olive oil
• 1 lemon quartered

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F. (Anyone wanna teach me some scientific html?)

Mix together the ingredients for the rub in a 1-gallon ziploc bag… Honestly, just use however much you want and whatever you want. We're just playing around here.  

After cleaning the shrimp toss it in the bag, seal and toss the shrimp to coat with the rub.  Put it back in the refrigerator.

Rinse the asparagus and pat dry with a paper towel. Snap off the ends.

Toss the asparagus with olive oil on a sheet pan, and lightly dust with some cajun seasoning.  Roast the asparagus for 10-15 minutes.  

Add the shrimp to the baking sheet and roast for another 5 or 6 minutes, until the shrimp is slightly pink and no longer transparent.

Serve the shrimp and asparagus over the pasta and garnish with a lemon wedge.

Pasta recipe slightly adapted from Ina Garten's How Easy is That?