Our Southern Shark Week Table

Our Southern Shark Week Table

Nice of you to join us.

We are Gordon and Julie,

Welcome to Our Southern Shark Week Table

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Tasso Gumbo with Shrimp

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This is actually our New Orleans themed Southern Shark Week Table

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So, What’s on the Menu?

Blackened White Fish (on a bed of Lemon Pepper Asparagus)

Blackened Salmon

Grilled Pork Loin

Grilled Zucchini

Tasso Shrimp

Maque Choux

Crab Cake Patties

(The Crab Cake Patties, and Hushpuppies we bought from the frozen section of the grocery store.)  🙂

Hushpuppies

Leftover Olive Tapenade Dip

And,

Brodie’s Pork Kabobs with Onions and Bell Peppers

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 Our Southern Shark Week Table

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Our Blackened Salmon with Grilled Veggies

Tasso Shrimp with our leftover Olive Tapenade and Shaved Parm

Cute little Shrimpy Handpainted Napkin Rings I bought from The Aloha Flea Market in Hawaii.  Fish plates I purchased from a thrift store, as well as a few of those other platters above.  And my traditional touch is the “lightening bugs” in the jars.  Just battery operated lights.  Recreating a memory.

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Brodie’s Grilled Pork Kabobs with Onions, and Bell Peppers

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You can also view our Sh..sh..sh..sh..SHARK!!!  Week here……..

Click Here for Shark Week:

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Click Here For:  Our Southern Soul Food

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Now that you have met us and read our menu, (here I am with our pug Monk) I would like to explain to you why we love Shark Week so very much. 

We both have a respect for the sea and it’s creatures.  All creatures!  Not just the nice friendly ones.  Sharks play a role in keeping the oceans clean.  Sharks may be a bit villainous, but it’s nothing personal.

Gordon was raised in a Power Squadron community as both his parents were involved in boating.  Gordon grew up sailing, and boating.  His parents also owned a marina at one time in Shallotte, N.C.  Here we are back when we were dating, 1982 in Charlotte, North Carolina.  He always wore that Greek Sailor’s Hat.  We actually boated over to this island with some other Power Squadron members as well as Gordon’s parents, for a cookout.  I do remember that the BBQ chicken was burnt, and the baked beans were not sweet.  🙁

Gordon and Julie, 1982, Charlotte, North Carolina

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Gordon with Monk

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A quick write up of our Shark Week menu.

Forget about the Asian Pizza…..  🙂

Looks like Gordon is prepping his pork loins, and helping Brodie with the Pork Kabob marinade.  Seeing as how Gordon is the one that created this kabob recipe to begin with.

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But first is the Tasso Shrimp

Tasso Seasonings Ingredients:

3 tsp Smoked Salt

1 t. Cayenne Pepper

2 T Paprika

2 T Smoked Paprika

3 T Sweet Paprika

1 T Roasted Garlic Seasoning

1 T Ground Black Pepper

1,1/2 t. Cinnamon

1 T Onion Powder

1 tsp Worchestershire Black Pepper

1 tsp Zatarain’s Creole Seasoning

1 T Splenda Brown Sugar

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Place your seasonings into a bowl. You may have had some of this mixture left over if you made our Tasso Gumbo, or Tasso Pulled Pork recipes from our 4th. of July…….

Click Here For:  Our New Orleans Style 4th. of July Foods, Tasso Seasons

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Meanwhile, you will need……

2 Lbs or more of shell on shrimp – use more if you like.

Here is a picture of the Shrimp we used.

Make sure your shrimp are well rinsed, thawed and drained.

Here you can see the size we are using.

6 Tbsp or so of Olive Oil

Add your shrimp and olive oil to a zip lock bag.

Add enough of your Tasso Seasonings to coat the shrimp well.

These don’t have to marinate long!

Close the bag and toss well to combine as shown.

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Brodie, Gordon, and Justin in the Kitchen

Just Washing some Zucchini and Red Bell Peppers

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Gordon Preparing the Grill

Place some oil on the cast iron grill grates after cleaning will help keep them clean and be more non-stick.

A nice ornament Julie got me!

Ice Cold Coca-Cola

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Time to cook the Pork Tenderloin! Remove them from the plastic as these come pre-seasoned!

Turn your grill on to high and close the grill for about 7 min. to get it good and hot. When done, turn your heat to medium and then place your tenderloins onto the grates as shown. Close the lid and cook for exactly 5 min.

When done, turn your tenderloins over and begin your timer for another 5 min or so. Here I also am cooking sliced zucchini as well. Simply slice them to about ½ inches thick and coat with olive oil on both sides. Using a spray olive oil works best for this method as it is fast and can be done ahead of time. Place them quickly around the grill as shown and close the lid.

Turn your zucchini over and turn the tenderloins over on their sides… again for 5 min.

After 5 min. remove your zucchini and turn your tenderloins over for the last time on their last side.

Beautifully Charred Pork Tenderloins

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Brodie and Justin did a great job with the skewers. 

Sitting on a chair waiting their turns on the grill.

Turn the burner off under the tenderloin and cook for another 5 min.

This is a good time to cook the skewers… simply line them up on the grill as shown and close the lid to the grill.

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Time to multi-task! Place your shrimp into a Wok and place on your side burner of your grill as shown.

Turn the Wok to high and cook the shrimp… this should only take a few min. as shrimp cook fast and you don’t want to over cook them. Remember, even after you have removed them from the heat, they are still hot and still cooking… this is called carry over cooking.

Did you remove your pork tenderloins?

Be sure to let them rest for about 10 min. before slicing to let the hot juices return to the center of the meat, and finish the cooking process.

Now, turn your skewers and turn on the burner that was off under the tenderloins. When you removed the tenderloins, this gave you space to roll the skewers to the left. Looking good!

 

Flip, or Sautee the shrimp quickly.

Here I am also adding a little melted butter to the pan from the blackened fish recipe I am about to start.

Give the shrimp a few more tosses and you are done.

Julie is so pretty here!!!  (Thank you Gordon.  I love you!)

Brodie and I working the grill.

Pour the shrimp onto a nice shrimp platter!

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Check the skewers as they are likely done by now.

Remember the pork needs to be cooked, so your vegetables will get nice and browned during the process.

Brodie carrying the skewers and ready to eat!

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Julie, manning the grill!

Cooking the Asparagus on the grill. Be sure to rinse them well and cut off any woody stems at the end on the root side. These will be very hard to the touch and not good to eat. Place the Asparagus on a baking sheet.

Add some olive oil to them and then sprinkle them generously with lemon pepper.

They should look like this, nice picture Julie!

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Gordon’s Trick! 

Take one of your old cooking racks that you keep in your kitchen to place things like muffins, cupcakes, loaf pans, etc. to cool on.  Place it on your grill rack and the asparagus won’t fall threw it.  🙂

Spread them evenly over a medium heated grill as shown and turn when starting to brown… about 3 min… another nice action shot by Julie! After another 3 min or so, turn off the grill and let them bake in the heat for another 2 min. then remove to your platter.

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For the Blackened fish, use your cast iron skillets. If you don’t have one, you need to get one!

Prepare your cast iron skillets by placing them directly on the grill and turn every burner on underneath them to get screaming hot!  Do not place any oil in them at all as we are NOT frying the fish.

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You first start off with your seasonings.  Here I used a few common brands such as Old Bay, and Paul Prudhomme’s seasoning mix.  I also used another brand that tasted good and wasn’t too salty.  You will find the main ingredients are Paprika, pepper, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder, so feel free to make your own mix!

Old Bay is a Favorite Seasoning of Ours

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Here I simply mixed the spices in a bowl and set aside for later.

(Sometimes it’s not about measurements, but about eyeballing accuracy in taste. 

Here Gordon probably used about a teaspoon of each.)

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It is so convenient to have a side burner on the grill.

Meanwhile, melt about ¾ cup of butter in a small sauté pan. 

Let it slightly cool then dip your fish fillets into the butter coating them well.

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  With the non-skin side up, sprinkle your seasoning mix over one side of your fish.  You always want to cook the pretty side first for presentation.

With the Asparagus cooked, and plated, Gordon is now cooking the Blackened White Fish.

Now, remove the seasoned fish from the melted butter, and place them seasoned side down in your very hot skillets.  Season the other side of the fish and flip them after 2 to 2 ½ min. time.

You should see them cooked as shown…

Great picture Julie!  These are nicely blackened, but not to the point of being burnt.

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We placed them on a bed of grilled asparagus seasoned with Lemon Pepper and Olive Oil. 

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Blackened Sockeye Salmon

Sockeye Salmon is also a very nice fish to blacken.

Why pay the high cost of eating at a restaurant when you can cook it yourself?

Here I use the same technique using the Sockeye Salmon.

Coat the fish with the melted butter on both sides and season the flesh side first as this is the side you will present, or will be face up on your plate.

Place the Salmon in your super-heated cast iron skillets and let them cook for ~2-3 min.  Lift up the fish to check the color making sure it is black, but not burnt.

Here again, Julie took some more amazing pictures of the fish and what they should look like.  Cook them skin side down for another 2-3 min. and you are done!

These were placed on a fish platter with some grilled vegetables.

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Our Maque Choux

Ingredients:

1 Kielbasa

½ of a Red, Green, and Yellow Bell Peppers – sliced and diced

2-3 Tbsp. Olive Oil

½ Yellow Onion – sliced and diced

~20 fresh okra – sliced into ½ inch thick wheels

3-4 ears of Corn – we used a variety called Peaches and Cream as it
is white and yellow

¼ tsp. smoked salt

2-3 cloves of garlic – finely chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

~20 Cherry Red Tomatoes – sliced in half

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Slice your Bell Peppers in half and save the other halves of each for a later
date.

From the half you are going to use, remove the stem of the seeds from
all of them. Now, slice them all into lengthwise slices as shown.

Now, slice them in the opposite direction making dice sized pieces.

Slice your Kielbasa into 1/3-inch rounds as shown.

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Add some olive oil to your sauté pan, turn the heat up to medium,
and place your kielbasa into the pan as shown.

Sauté the Kielbasa until just getting brown.

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Now, drain most of the oil off as shown.

Slice your onion’s stem off.

Now, slice the onion in half and save the other half for a later date.

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With the other half, slice into half rounds about ½ inch thick. Then slice
in the other direction to make a large dice as shown.

Add your vegetables to the sauté pan.

Nice closeup Julie!  (Thank you Gordon)  🙂

Toss, or stir with a wooden spoon.

Another nice picture of the ingredients cooking.

Rinse your Okra well in a colander.

Slice them into ½ inch rounds.

Add them to the other vegetables.

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Shuck your corn well.

Wrap your corn in a paper towel and then wet them just to moisten the
towel.

Place them all into your microwave.

Cook for about 3-5 min. or until done.

Add ½ tsp smoked salt to the vegetable mixture and continue to stir together.

Once your corn is cooked, remove them from the microwave to let cool.
Remove the wet paper towel as it will be very hot. When cool to the
touch, slice off the corn from the cob as shown.

Slice up your garlic finely…

And add it to the vegetable mixture.

Really looking nice now, another great picture by Julie!

Taste the vegetable mixture and adjust the seasoning with more salt
and some freshly ground black pepper.

Slice your red cherry tomatoes in half as shown.

And add them to the pan.

Toss them well and your ready to dig in!

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Gordon and Brodie’s Pork Kabob’s

And according to Brodie, this is ONE of THE best things he’s ever eaten in his life.

Mushrooms, and Colorful Bell Peppers

Brodie Skewering the Kabobs

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Brodie and Justin Prepping in the Kitchen

Click Here For:  Grillin’ With Aloha

Gordon Grillin’ With Aloha

If you would like the Pork Kabob recipe then just click on the link above and it will take you there.

Pork Kabob’s a Grillin’

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Just reflecting on such a great day!

Just our way of having a fun Shark Week dinner and watching all the great shows on………

Click Here For:  Shark Week Schedule

So Good, You’ll SCREAM!!!!!

Julie and Gordon  🙂

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Also Check Out:

Our July 4th. Tribute to the Movie JAWS

And,

Check Out Our:  Summer Seafood, Sides, and Salads

And,

Stay Out Of The Water!  JAWS Week

How to Make a Beachy Cheese Cake

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You can also view our Sh..sh..sh..sh..SHARK!!!  Week here……..

Click Here for Shark Week:

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AND,

Captain’s Galley

AND,

Click Here For:  Our Southern Shark Week Table

Just a few great recipes that you can make for Shark Week as well.

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Also Check Out:

Shark Week Feeding Frenzy

AND,

Shark Week Fun

 

STAY OUT OF THE WATER!!!!

Gordon and Julie