Sunday, June 21, 2009

Anniversary and Father's Day

Kevin and I were married June 20, 1997--12 years ago!  Yep, the years are flying by!  Sigh!

Friday night we went and celebrated by going to dinner at The Melting Pot.  Yummy fondues!  It was all yummy and I was full for the first time in a long time.  I never eat until I'm full anymore, but this one did me in--partly due in part to the fact that the water boy came back to our table what seemed like every 5 minutes and I drank a lot of water!  We had a great time and tried to take a couple pictures of ourselves. 

IMG_0768

Smooch!  (Mom, I kissed a boy! ;) )  We got a chuckle out of my peeking over at the camera.

IMG_0767

I Love you, Hon!  Don't know what I'd do without you and cannot thank you enough for everything you do!

Oh I have so many recipes and things to share with you all and simply just can't get it all done.!  Sigh.

Today for father's day, I made Kevin some pasta jambalaya (he loves that stuff!).  I got the recipe for this one  at cdkitchen.com for Water Street Oyster Bar's Pasta Jambalaya and while I did make a few changes, besides doubling the recipe, I followed it mostly.  Yes, Mom, I even used the onion!  (The things we do for love!)  Kevin actually helped me a bit with this as there was a lot of chopping and things to do.   He researched a little and found this recipe/restaurant was featured on the Food Network a number of times and is "the" pasta jambalaya of New Orleans.  $40 a Day with Rachel Ray featured it and they share the recipe on FN.  One thing about doubling this recipe would have meant that it would take one whole cup of butter to saute the meats and veggies.  I could not make myself do that, so I only used half a cup.  It was PLENTY!

Water Street Oyster Bar's Seafood Pasta Jambalaya, adapted by Katrina (Remember that I doubled this and my changes are in red, but I'm leaving the recipe for a serving of four as it was written and my changes include the doubled amount as well as a few other omissions and changes.)

1/2 cup butter, melted (I did NOT double this!)
1 cup
chicken breast meat, cut into strips (I used 3 chicken breasts)
16 (21/25 count) shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails removed (I used 1 lb. of shrimp, which was about 45 shrimp)
1/2 cup crawfish tails (I did not use this as I just didn't take the time to find them at the stores, but Kevin does like them!)
1/2 cup sliced andouille sausage (one cup)
1/3 cup sliced yellow onion (I used one medium onion, Kevin chopped it for me!)

1/4 cup sliced red bell pepper (I used about 3/4 of a red pepper)
1/3 cup sliced green bell pepper (I used one green pepper)
1/3 cup sliced zucchini (I used one medium zucchini)
1/3 cup sliced yellow squash (I used one medium yellow squash)
1 cup diced Roma tomatoes (I used 6 Roma tomatoes)
4 cups cavatappi pasta (I used one pound of whole wheat penne pasta)
8 tablespoons sliced green onion (I omitted this)
1/2 teaspoon chopped parsley leaves (I used about 1/4 cup of chopped parsley)


***Andouille Cream Sauce:***
1 teaspoon canola oil (I used a good tablespoonful of olive oil)
1 1/2 ounce yellow onion, diced (I used one medium shallot)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh garlic (I used 9 cloves of garlic)
3 ounces andouille sausage, casing removed (I used 7 ounces of sausage)
2/3 cup crushed tomatoes (I used a 14 ounce can of petite diced tomatoes)
2/3 cup cold water (I used a 14 oz. can of chicken broth)
1/3 ounce chicken base (I used broth instead of water and boullion as our friend who came for dinner is allergic to msg and boullion has msg!)
2 teaspoons cornstarch (I used 4 teaspoons cornstarch)
1 cup heavy cream (I used 2 cups cream)
2 teaspoons blackening seasoning (I used 4 teaspoons)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I used 1/2 teaspoon)
1/5 ounce jalapeno jack cheese, grated (What is 1/5 oz.?  It was such a small amount, we just guessed a double amount and used 1 1/2 ounces of pepper jack cheese) 

Heat butter in a large saute pan. Add chicken, shrimp, crawfish, sausage, onion, and bell peppers. Saute to cook shrimp and chicken, over medium heat. Add zucchini, squash, and tomatoes, and cook 2 minutes. Add Andouille Cream Sauce, toss well and bring to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente, drain well. Pour pan contents over pasta, and toss with the sauce, pull shrimp, chicken and crawfish to the top. Evenly sprinkle green onion over pasta. Sprinkle parsley around rim of bowl and serve.
Andouille Cream Sauce:
Add the oil into a saucepan and place over moderate heat. Add the diced onion and saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic, mix well and continue to saute 2 additional minutes. Add the andouille sausage to the pan and saute for 2 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes and mix well to thoroughly combine. In a mixing bowl using a wire whisk, combine the water, chicken base, cornstarch and heavy cream. Add the liquid to the onion mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 8 to10 minutes over moderate heat. Add the dry seasoning and mix well to incorporate into the sauce. Add the grated cheese to the sauce and blend well. Allow the sauce to simmer for 2 additional minutes or until all the cheese has melted.

DSCF3095 

I ate just a little bit of this as I don't like shrimp or sausage OR ONIONS!  Kevin and everyone else liked it.  I made some yummy salad to go with it that I hope to blog about soon and some bread--Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day Bread!  YUM!  And so easy!

I also made Kevin a Turtle Cheesecake--no, not a turtle the animal, it was chocolate, caramel and pecans!  I'll post that later.

Here's a few recent pictures.  The other morning Sam woke up itchy with chigger bites (on his rear!!), so I made him a bath.  After his bath, he and Taylor were sitting in the chair together for a rare nice brotherly moment and Taylor told me to get the camera and take a picture of them to put on the blog.  CUTE!

DSCF3040

And this last picture makes me laugh.  Here's Sam with a big old bowl of homemade chocolate ice cream (Stay tuned for the post on that!) and I can't remember why, but he was mad about something and I snapped a picture of his complete disapproval.  I think maybe I wasn't letting him eat the ice cream in the living room. 

DSCF3046

How is it that a picture can just melt your heart, make you feel bad and make you laugh your head off at the same time!?  I mean, just look at him.  Awwwee, you just feel so bad for him, don't you?  The poor, leetle bebe! ;)

 

14 comments:

♥peachkins♥ said...

Happy Anniversary and Happy Fathre's Day to your hubby!

Those two boys are cute!

Emily said...

Awww so cute, but yes, I do feel sorry for him! He must have really, really wanted to eat ice cream in the living room.

Happy anniversary to you guys! The jambalaya sounds great.

Unknown said...

Happy Anniversary to you! You both look soo happy :D

The pasta looks delicious, I wish I could have a bite! I'm so going to make my Mom make this :P I can't cook!

Eliana said...

Happy Anniversary. What a cute pic!

Tiffany Winters said...

it is rare to get a nice picture like that with sibling love isn't it? Bummer for for Sam getting Chigger bites already. I don't miss that! Happy Fathers day to Kevin and Happy Anniversary to you both!

Culinary Wannabe said...

What great pictures! And congrats on your anniversary. Sounds like you guys had a wonderful weekend!

Valerie said...

Happy anniversary, Katrina! That recipe looks so pretty. I'm allergic to shrimp so I might make it minus the shrimp, even though my husband would LOVE it with.

Anonymous said...

Happy anniversary! Great pictures!

CookiePie said...

Happy anniversary!!!! Great pics!!!

Unknown said...

Those eyebrows are killing me! :-) Happy Anniversary!

Cate O'Malley said...

The Pasta Jambalaya is making my mouth water - yum!

Becky said...

Wow! What a treat, I'm not sure which I'm drooling over more the cheesecake or the pasta dish.

Happy Anniversary, every year is a blessing,enjoy.

Deborah said...

Happy Anniversary!! Here's to many more!!

Unknown said...

Happy Belated Anniversary to you guys! I am loving all of the pictures :)