Shrimp Po-Boys and Yam's Au Gratin

Fried Shrimp Po-Boys are a Louisiana favorite as well as my own. They are not that difficult to make in your own home. Au gratin potatoes are also very good, but i decided to change it up a bit by using yams. You could also use sweet potatoes.

Begin by making the Yam's Au Gratin first, as it will need 1.5 hours to cook.


Yam's Au Gratin

Slice about 5 yams in thin coins
Slice 1 yellow onion very thin in rings

Butter a casserole dish. Put down a layer of the yam coins in the bottom then a layer of onion on top of that. Add a bit of salt and pepper. Next add a big layer of the remaining Yam coins. Add more salt and pepper on top.

In a sauce pan add 3 Tbsp Butter and heat on medium. Add 1tsp Salt and 3 Tbsp Flour and wisk for about 2 min. Next add 2 cups milk and stir until thick, about 2 min. Add 1.5 cups of shredded Cheddar cheese and stir until melted. Finally pour over the yam dish. Cover with Aluminum foil and bake at 400F for 1.5 hours. Let cool about 10 min. Done.

Shrimp Po-Boys

First take the shells off the shrimp. Next I seasoned the shrimp with Tonys.

Toss the shrimp in the Zatarains shrimp fry. Heat up some oil in a skillet to around 375F. Fry the shrimp for about 3 min. Take out and let sit for a few minuted until warm.

A good fresh french bread is the way to go with a Po-Boy. I put Mayo, Ketchup, and tomatoes on my sandwich then layered the shrimp on. Most traditional shrimp Po-Boys have pickles on it, I wasn't in the mood though. Enjoy!

Healthy Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin

Well, wrapped in Turkey Bacon. 1 pork Loin seasoned with Dave's Seasoning and Emirils rib rub, then wrapped in Turkey bacon. Baked it in Aluminum Foil for about 40min at 350F.

Steamed Broccoli with salt/pepper and Benacol healthy butter substitute.

1 box CousCous with wild mushroom and herb.

Churasco!!

A flavor of Brazil!


I found this recipe in Cook's Illustrated and thought I would try it out. Sorry I didnt get step by step photos of everything. i was to excited to get these steaks on the grill.

The Meat- New York Strip
In a small bowl mix 1 Tbsp Corn Starch and 2 Tbsp Kosher Salt
Rub the mixture onto both sides of your steaks.
Put steaks in freezer for 30 min.
Take out and add fresh black pepper.

Chimichurri Sauce

add 2 Tsp dried Oregano and 2 Tsp kosher Salt to 1/4 cup hot water, let sit for 5min
press 5 garlic cloves. To food processor, pulse large handful fresh parsley, small handful of fresh cilantro, the garlic, and 1 Tsp red pepper flakes. Next add 1/4cup Red wine Vinegar and the water oregano mixture. Pulse togther about 8 times. Next put the sauce in a bowl and wisk in slowly 1/2 cup extra virgin Olive Oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temp for 1 hour.

Time to grill!

I used a chimney starter and fired up about 100 charcoal briquettes, once ashed over spread out in a single layer. Next put the grill grate on and close the lid. Let heat about 8min.

Add dry wood pieces on top of the charcoal. Add the steaks to the grill and cover. Cook 3 min then flip. Cook 3 more min the flip. Flip one more time and cook to your desired temp of meat. I like medium so I cooked an additional 3 min.

Take meat off grill and put on a plate and cover loosely with foil. Let sweat about 10 min. Slice and serve. Add sauce on top of steaks.

For a side dish I just cut up a sweet potato and rubbed it with olive oil salt and pepper and then baked at 425F for about 25 min.

Enjoy!

Crawfish Etouffee

My grandmaw's recipe. RIP Maw Maw, we miss you.

Dice 4 onion, 2 green Bells, 4 cloves Garlic, 4 stalks Celery.
Add 1 stick butter to large pot. Saute all diced veggies for about 20 min or until just starting to brown on med high to high.

While veggies are cooking, add 2 lbs crawfish tails to seperate bowl. Season with Tony's and let sit for about 15-20 min. Once veggies are soft add the tails to the pot and stir a few minutes while adding 1-1.5 cups water. Add a few shakes of worchischire and some more Tonys. Cover and let simmer for about 15-20 min. Turn off heat and throw in some green onion and some parsely. Serve over rice. I like to have peas with it and garlic bread. Peas are just with a bit of butter, salt and black pepper.

If you like it spicier, add a bit of cayene in addition to extra Tonys.

New Mexico to Azerbaijan- Trip Report

This trip is my typical journey to work in Azerbaijan from New Mexico. I work offshore on a drilling rig in the Caspian Sea. 28 days on and then 28 days off.

My trip begins with a 1 hour drive to Durango, Colorado to catch my first flight. It is a nice area to visit if anyone is inclined. Anyways, the United Express CRJ200 is fueled up and ready to depart for Denver on time. I grabbed 8A which is a window exit aisle. Good leg room for a regional jet. The flight is a very short 45 min, barely enough time to drink my Coke Zero.

View of the Rockies from 26,000ft

After landing in Denver I immediately made my way to the Red Carpet Club in terminal B. The RCC was quite busy. I grabbed a few snacks and a free Segrams and 7up and sat down to relax.

I was looking forward to the 2.20 min flight to Chicago in First Class as my UDU cleared 4 days previously. 30 min before I was to board the UA 757, the board showed a delay. The GAs tell us 1 hour for mechanical. I am not too worried as I figure I will still get to ORD with about 1 hour to make my connection to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines. Wrong!  As it turns out all UA 757s nationwide are grounded by the FAA for a software related issue. Here is a picture of our broken chariot lookin like a ghost town.

 The customer service desks were a mad house. Right when I realized I was not going to be getting on my Turkish flight, I had the RCC agent rebook me at the first available. I was put on a next afternoon flight on Lufthansa to Frankfurt and then Frankfurt on to Baku, Azerbaijan. I was given a very nice hotel room in Denver and a measly 15$ food voucher. They told me I could wait about 4 hours to get my bag or they would just transfer it for me. I made the mistake of trusting they would get it transfered for me, more on that later.

The next morning I woke up with a massive headache due to the amount of alcohol I consumed to ease my pain. I hung out in the hotel until they kicked me out around noon. I arrived at the airport and checked in with Lufthansa. Everything was on time. Our plane was a very nice A340-600.

 I took 26A which is a bulkhead. I had the seat next to me empty as well.

The first meal served was chicken and mashed potatoes, or so they claimed. It was pretty bad.

The in flight entertainment system is very nice on Lufthansa's a340. Wide selection of TV and movies, games, etc. I watched the movie Red with Bruce Willis, don't really recommend it but it did pass some time during dinner.

I then popped a sleeping pill and slept soundly for 6 hours and then was awaken  to breakfast. When I say awaken i mean awaken. I find the Germans really structured and some what harsh on their flights. "You vill eat now!" You vill put your vindow shade down immediately or you will be whipped!" Anyways, breakfast was horrible. Cold bread, and awful tasting eggs. I actually took 1 bite and that was that.

Upon arriving in Frankfurt, I went strait to the Senators Lounge. I had a coffee and a pastry and sat down to try my luck at some poker on my laptop. Won about 25$, so I wont be quitting my job just yet.

Of course a picture of the self cleaning toilet is a must.

View from the lounge of a SQ 747 just about to be pushed back

Before leaving the lounge I wanted to check with the desk about where my bags are now that I had been re-routed. They assured me they were in a container. I asked where, she just said, don’t you worry young man, they are safe. I have heard that before. I went over to the Hugo Boss store and bought a 35$ pair of under wear, 20$ pair of socks, and a 60$ T-shirt with the company credit card so that I could change into something once I got to Baku later that night, as I was going on 3 days now in the same clothes and I was not counting on my bags making it.

Boarding the A340-300 to Baku was done via a bus and stairs, so I snapped a few pics when boarding.

The flight was quite empty so I moved from my assigned bulk head aisle to the rear of the plane where I could have 4 seats to my self and make a bed for the 4 hour flight.

Here is a picture of the worst smelling man I have ever smelled. I was forced to move to the other side of my 4 seats before take off.

Soon after take off food was served. Beef stroganof or Pasta was suppose to be the choice, that is until it got to me. Pasta is all we have says the FA. No thanks I say politely, I would rather not eat. She ended up getting me some chicken dish with mushrooms from B class, I thanked her and told her she really didn’t need to do that. She said that if I had not been polite in the first place she would not have done what she did. Here is a pic I took before she found my other meal. Sorry no pic of the entree, not much to it anyways.

Arrived in Baku at 9pm and cleared immigration quickly. As expected, my bags were no where to be found. I sat there for 1 hour and filled out paper work with the only LH agent in the airport. Told me it could be 2-4 days before my bags make it. Lovely. Good thing I have my new Hugo Boss Undies and T-shirt.

Thanks for reading my first trip report.
 BEN