Mardi Gras Shrimp Po'Boy

Home Chef delivered one of the BEST meals yet. This Mardi Gras Shrimp Po'Boy...good heavens it was delicious.

Because this is a Home Chef recipe, I'm guessing on the amounts. Adjust as you see fit.

Mardi Gras Shrimp Po'Boy

Recipe from Home Chef
Serves 2

1 Romaine heart, chopped
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
16 shrimp (16/20 count - average size shrimp), shelled and deveined
2 tsp Cajun Seasoning (I'd add more as it wasn't as full of flavor as I had expected)
1 1/2 oz mayo
1 oz dill pickle relish
2 Italian hoagie rolls
1/2 fl oz seasoned rice vinegar
1/2 oz honey

Olive oil, salt/pepper

Prep your veggies. Chop lettuce coarsely. Core roma tomatoes and cut into 1/2" dice.

Rinse shrimp and pat dry. Combine shrimp with 1 tsp olive oil and half the Cajun Seasoning in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.

Make your remoulade by combining mayo, pickle relish and remaining Cajun seasoning. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Warm a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat.

Toast the bread. Slice the bread and brush with olive oil and place on the grill. Grill until browned, 1-2 minutes. Set aside.

Using the same pan, lightly coat with cooking spray. Place shrimp on grill pan and grill until shrimp is firm and opaque, about 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Make the salad. Combine the seasoned rice vinegar, honey and 2 tsp olive oil with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the romaine and tomato and toss to combine.

To plate, Spread remoulade on one side of the Italian rolls. Arrange romaine/tomato salad over remoulade and top with grilled shrimp.

JW note: I'd double the remoulade. I like my po'boy saucy. I'd also add a bit more Cajun seasoning as the flavor was muted.

Oh Henry Bar

I found this recipe in my Mom's recipe book and thought it would be fun to make for my February cookie of the month.

Then I noticed it was a recipe from my St. Louis Sister-in-Law and I KNEW it'd be tasty.

Then I had to look up what an Oh Henry Bar even was...

The website says it has caramel, peanuts and fudge. This recipe has none of those. Still these are tasty bars.

I under cooked them, that's for sure. The recipe warned to not over cook so instead I undercooked. I have no idea what it was supposed to look like so no clue what was over cooked or under cooked. Still, it didn't stop me from tasting them. They were "loose" so I dropped them in the fridge and they hardened up.

Oh Henry Bars
Recipe from Bev Wraspir
Servings 24

4 c rolled oats
1 c packed brown sugar
1 c butter
1/2 c white corn syrup
1 c semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 c peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix the oats, brown sugar, butter and white corn syrup together. Pat into a 10X15 pan. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes. DO NOT OVER BAKE!

Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter in a small sauce pan. Spread over baked crust while hot. Cut into bars right away.

Jenn Note: I tried to cut into it right away and they were too loose. I instead cut them once they had been in the fridge for 30 minutes or so.

Steak Wellington with roasted carrots and mushroom demi-glace

I'm a fan of steak wellington. I've always felt like it's harder than heck to make successfully - so I never tried. Home Chef delivered a version of steak wellington and I was thrilled to try it. What I mean by "Home Chef delivered" really means I ordered it.

Because the ingredients come already pre-measured, I'm going to make my best guess on a few of these things in this recipe.

Steak Wellington with roasted carrots and mushroom demi-glace
Recipe from Home Chef

3 sprigs of thyme
16 oz carrots, sliced on a diagonal
2 sirloin steaks (about 6 oz each)
6 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 Puff Pastry dough square (it needs to fit slightly around the steak, but not completely. this recipe calls for a strip of puff pastry to go around the steak, not fully covering the steak)
2 tsp beef demi-glace (i have no idea how to replicate this other than I've seen those packets of beef broth that's concentrated. Those might work)
2 pats of butter

Stem and coarsely chop thyme. Peel, trim and cut carrot into 1/2" piecs at an angle. Place a medium oven-safe pan over mediume-high heat. Add 1 tsp olive oil and carrots to a hot pan. Cook, stirring often, until lightly browned, 3-5 minutes. Place the pan in a 450F oven and bake until golden brown, 15-18 minutes, stirring once halfway through. Remove from oven and season with salt, pepper and half the thyme. While carrots are baking, sear steaks.

Pat dry your steaks and season with salt and pepper. Sear them in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Transfer steaks to a baking sheet with parchment paper on it.

Add 2 tsp of olive oil to the pan you cooked the steaks in and saute the mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown 4-6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove puff pastry from refrigerator. Cut into 2" strips to be wrapped around the steak. Use the back of a small knife to draw diagonal lines on puff pastry 1/2" apart. Draw another set of lines in opposite direction to make a crosshatched pattern.

Place steaks on prepared baking sheet. Place 1/3 of the mushrooms on top of each steak. Place the puff pastry over width of mushroom-covered portion of steaks. Place on top rack in oven and bake until pastry is golden brown, 8-12 minutes.

While steaks are in the oven, make the demi-glace. Add 1/4 c water and demi-glace packet to pan with remaining mushrooms. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil until reduced by half, 1-3 minutes (this took me about 10 minutes). Remove from the burner and put 2 pats of butter in the demi-glace.

To plate: Put spoon of mushroom sauce on the plate, and place the steak wellington on top of mushroom sauce. Put carrots on the side.

BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad

This was another Home Chef meal and it was fantastic. The lettuce tasted a little funky AND I think it's an easy recipe to duplicate without being part of Home Chef.

It made a HUGE salad. So don't think you aren't going to get enough to eat.

BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad

Recipe from Home Chef

1 Romain Heart
4 oz grape tomatoes, halved
1 green bell pepper, chopped (this didn't get used in my salad)
4 T chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 red onion, minced (use more if you'd like)
15 1/2 Oz canned black beans, rinsed
4 oz corn kernels
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 small corn tortillas
3 Oz BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rae's)
3 oz Ranch dressing (I used Hidden Valley)

Chop veggies (lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, and bell pepper) and put in a bowl.

Drain and rinse the black beans. Top the salad with them. Add corn.

Rinse and pat dry the chicken breasts.

Place chicken on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake until chicken reaches 165F, 12-15 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and set aside.

Slice tortillas in strips and toss with 1 tsp olive oil. Put on a baking sheet and bake at 375F until golden brown, about 5-7 minutes. Watch them though. They can burn quickly.

Shred the chicken and put on the salad. Mix the salad with the ranch dressing and plate.

Drizzle with BBQ sauce. Put tortilla and cilantro on top.

Dig In.

Parisian Bistro Steak w/ dauphinoise potatoes and green beans

I'm in week 5 of my Home Chef meals. I've only made a couple because I was off to Tucson for a bit. The friend who made those meals reported back that they were 'just ok'.

The one thing I like about these is you get the ingredient amounts exactly what you need. So you don't have to buy an entire thing of heavy cream for 6 oz. You get 6oz in the box. Perfect. I feel like I'm not wasting food as much.

The two portion is questionable. Maybe I think portions are larger than they are (most likely considering my weight...)

This meal overall is delicious. I'll repeat it for sure.

Parisian Bistro Steak w/ dauphinoise potatoes and green beans
Recipe from Home Chef

Serves 2

10 oz Yukon Gold potatoes
1 shallot
6 chives
6 oz green beans
2 sirloin steaks
6 fl oz Heavy Whipping Cream
1 oz shaved Parmesan
6 oz butter
4 tsp beef demi-glace

You'll need:
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Cooking spray

Slice potatoes into 1/8" rounds. Bring a medium pot with potatoes and enough lightly salted water to cover to boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until softened, 10-12 minutes. While potatoes cook, peel and mince shallot. Mince chives. Trim ends of green beans. Rinse steaks, pat dry and season both sides with salt and pepper.

Strain softened potatoes and return to pot over medium-high heat. Add heavy cream, half the shallots, and half the chives to pot. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cover. Cook stirring occasionally and gently, 5 minutes. Add half the Parmesan and season with salt and pepper. Transfer potatoes to prepared oven-safe casserole dish. Top with remaining Parmesan and bake until cheese browns, 15-18 minutes. While potatoes bake, cook steaks.

Place a medium non stick pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 T olive oil and steaks to hot pan and cook until steaks reach a minimum internal temp of 145F,  4-5 minutes per side. Remove steaks to a plate to rest and wipe pan clean.

Return pan used to cook steaks to medium-high heat and add half the butter, green beans and 1/4 c water. Bring to a simmer and cook until bright green and tender, 2-4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Return pan used to cook green beans to medium heat. Add 1/2 tsp olive oil and remaining shallots to hot pan. Cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add demi-glace and 1/2 c water. Bring to a simmer and cook until just thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 2-3 minutes. (mine took too long to thicken so I added some corn starch). Remove from burner, add remaining butter, and whisk to incorporate.