Monday, August 8, 2022

Thank you to my email subscribers!

Just a little note to let you know that Google's Feedburner service has been terminated so I have migrated subscriber emails to follow.it as the feedburner replacement. Crossing my fingers it works! 

Food Lust People Love: Creamy Hatch Chili Pepper Chicken

Meanwhile, if you are in the southern United States, it's hatch chili time! I'll have a couple of recipes using those delicious peppers coming up shortly. Please stand by!

Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Mushroom Leek Zucchini Gratin

Packed with fresh vegetables and feta with more Parmesan and cheddar on top, this flavorful Mushroom Leek Zucchini Gratin is a delicious dish to put in rotation when zucchini are in season.

Food Lust People Love: Packed with fresh vegetables and feta with more Parmesan and cheddar on top, this flavorful Mushroom Leek Zucchini Gratin is a delicious dish to put in rotation when zucchini are in season.

This is an easy dish for a dinner party and if you have individual baking dishes to cook the gratin in, it makes a pretty presentation. If you don’t, just bake the mixture in a casserole dish. 

Mushroom  Leek Zucchini Gratin

For this dish, I used a combination of zucchini and yellow squash because 1. That’s what I had on hand and 2. I love the contrast in colors.  All of either would be just as delicious.  This recipe is adapted from one on Delicious.com.au.

Ingredients
2 lbs or 900g zucchini and/or yellow squash
2 leeks (about 11 2/3 oz or 330g whole, 5  1/3 oz or 150g after trimming)
8 oz or 227g button mushrooms, sliced
1 small red chili, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
7 oz or 200g feta, crumbled
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 egg
1 tablespoon canola or other light oil
1 3/4 oz or 50g grated extra sharp cheddar
1 3/4 oz or 50g grated Parmesan

Method
Grate all but two of the zucchini and put them in a clean teacloth and squeeze out excess liquid over the sink. Finely slice the other two. 


Remove and discard the hard green part of your leeks and wash the white parts thoroughly. Slice them thinly. Clean and slice the mushrooms. 


Heat the butter in a skillet over low heat and add leek, garlic and minced chili pepper and a good sprinkle of salt. 


Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until the leeks start to soften. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook until they release their moisture. 


Continue cooking till that liquid has evaporated. Scrape the mixture into a large mixing bowl and leave to cool. 


Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Once the mushroom/leek mixture has cooled, add in the grated zucchini with the lemon zest. Lightly season with salt and black pepper. Mix well until combined. 


Add in the egg and crumbled feta and stir again until well combined. 


Spoon the mixture into individual baking dishes or one large one. Toss the sliced zucchini with 1 tablespoon of oil and layer on top. 


Add a layer sprinkled cheese, then more sliced zucchini and finish with more cheese. 


Bake for 30 minutes in your preheated oven or until golden and bubbling.

Food Lust People Love: Packed with fresh vegetables and feta with more Parmesan and cheddar on top, this flavorful Mushroom Leek Zucchini Gratin is a delicious dish to put in rotation when zucchini are in season.

Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: Packed with fresh vegetables and feta with more Parmesan and cheddar on top, this flavorful Mushroom Leek Zucchini Gratin is a delicious dish to put in rotation when zucchini are in season.

National Zucchini Day is next Monday, August 8th. How will you celebrate? May I suggest you make one of the lovely dishes my Foodie Extravaganza friends are sharing today? Check out the list below. Many thanks to our host, Juli of Pandemonium Noshery


Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board.



Pin this Mushroom Leek Zucchini Gratin!

Food Lust People Love: Packed with fresh vegetables and feta with more Parmesan and cheddar on top, this flavorful Mushroom Leek Zucchini Gratin is a delicious dish to put in rotation when zucchini are in season.

 .

Monday, July 25, 2022

Crawfish Cornbread Muffins #MuffinMonday

Made with the bottom of the bag cracklin crumbs, extra sharp cheddar, onion and jalapeños, these tasty crawfish cornbread muffins are over the top cheesy, spicy and delicious. 

Food Lust People Love: Made with the bottom of the bag cracklin crumbs, extra sharp cheddar, onion and jalapeños, these tasty crawfish cornbread muffins are over the top cheesy, spicy and delicious.

The last time I went to Louisiana to visit family, I happened to spy some cracklin crumbs in bags on the counter at one of the local butchers. I couldn’t resist buying them since the price was so good compared to the actual cracklin which has reached the astronomical price of more than $20 per pound. I pictured myself sprinkling it on things to add flavor, salt and spice, and so I have. 
 
A zip top baggie with cracklin crumbs, with label $5.99/lb, price $4.67

But what I really wanted to do with it was make cornbread. I’m finally getting around to that!  And since I happened to have some crawfish in the freezer as well, that got added in too. Because why not? 

Crawfish Cornbread Muffins

If you can’t find cooked crawfish in the freezer section of your local stores, substitute shrimp. Also, I recommend baking these in silicone muffin cups. As you will see in the photos below, mine stuck on the bottom despite a generous brushing of the muffin pan with oil. If you don’t have cracklin crumbs, add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the mix.

Ingredients
1/2 yellow onion, finely diced (about 5 oz or 140g)
1-2 fresh jalapeños, stemmed and finely chopped (deseeding optional)
1 cup or 180g yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup or 32g flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (I use Slap Ya Mama since it’s lower in sodium than some of the other brands.)
3 eggs
1/3 cup or 80ml canola or other light oil, plus extra for sauté and muffin pans
4 oz or 113g extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 1/4 cups or 170g frozen corn, thawed
6 oz or 170g crawfish tail meat, roughly chopped
1/2 cup or 60g cracklin crumbs, optional, or 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Method
Preheat the oven to 350° F or 180°C. Grease 12 silicone muffins cups and put them in a muffin pan or on a large baking pan. 

Sauté the onion and jalapeños in a skillet with a drizzle of oil until softened. Set aside to cool. 


Stir the cornmeal, cracklin crumbs (if using), baking powder, salt and creole seasoning together in a large bowl. 


Add the grated cheese and stir to coat. 


Add the crawfish and stir to coat again. 


Add the corn and the onion/jalapeño mixture and stir to combine. 


Note: You will notice that you don’t see the onion and jalapeños in that photo. That is because I had already added the eggs and oil and then turned around to see them, all nicely cooled in their pan on the other side of the sink. So in reality they went in after the eggs but they sure would be mixed in more easily with the corn when all the ingredients were still relatively dry, which is what was meant to happen. 

In another bowl, whisk the eggs and oil together. Pour this into the muffin mixture and stir to combine. 


Divide the cornbread mixture into your prepared silicone muffins cups. 


Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. 


This is the debacle you can expect if you don't use silicone muffin cups or liners. You have been warned! 


I must confess though that we used a spoon to scrape those stuck bits out and they were delicious and crunchy! They did not go to waste. 


Leave to cool for a few minutes, then release them from the silicone cups and leave on a wire rack to cool. Serve warm with extra butter, if desired. 

Food Lust People Love: Made with the bottom of the bag cracklin crumbs, extra sharp cheddar, onion and jalapeños, these tasty crawfish cornbread muffins are over the top cheesy, spicy and delicious.

Enjoy!

It’s the last Monday of the month so that means it’s time for Muffin Monday! Check out the great muffins my friends are sharing below: 


#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.



Pin these Crawfish Cornbread Muffins!

Food Lust People Love: Made with the bottom of the bag cracklin crumbs, extra sharp cheddar, onion and jalapeños, these tasty crawfish cornbread muffins are over the top cheesy, spicy and delicious.

 .