Crawfish Etouffee

1 stick butter
2 cup Onions -- chopped
1 cup Celery -- chopped
1/2 cup Green Bell Pepper -- chopped
1 lbs peeled crawfish tails
2 clove Garlic -- minced
2 bay leaves
3 tbsp flour
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock or clam juice
1 tsp salt
pinch Cayenne
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
3 tbsp chopped green onions

In a large saute pan over medium high heat, melt the butter. Add the onions, celery, and bell peppers and saute until the vegetables are softened, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the crawfish, garlic, bay leaves, white wine and chicken stock or clam juice. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and cayenne. Stir until the mixture thickens, about 4 minutes. Stir in the parsley and green onions and continue cooking for 2 minutes. Serve over steamed rice.

Serves 4

Braised Oxtails

I'm here to confess one of my guiltiest pleasures--no, it's not chocolate or fine champagne--it's oxtails! Look up the word "unctious" in the dictionary--you should see a picture of some braised oxtails! My husband and kids won't go near them, so I wait until he's away on a business trip and order McDonald's for the kids. Then I steal away to the grocery store and pick out a package of the meatiest oxtails I can find. Patience is required for this endeavor as this is no 30-minute meal. The pressure cooker can be a timesaver, but perfectly cooked oxtails will still take at least 2 hours.

Serve over steamed rice or even better, mashed potatoes.

Braised Oxtails

2 tbsp canola oil

1/4 cup flour

4 pounds oxtails

1 onion, chopped

4 celery ribs, chopped

6 garlic cloves, peeled

3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch slices

14 oz can whole tomatoes

1 cup red wine

1 bay leaf

1 tsp dried thyme

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pressure Cooker:

Preheat oven to 350. Season the oxtails with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour. Heat the oil in the pressure cooker oven and brown the oxtails on all sides. Add onion, celery, garlic cloves, tomatoes, red wine, bay leaf and thyme. Bake, covered for 2 hours. Remove the lid and bake for an additional 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350. Release pressure and carefully place oxtails, vegetables and liquid into a 9x12 baking pan. Add carrots to the pan. Place baking pan in the oven and bake, uncovered, for 30-45 minutes.

Note: This recipe can also be made in a dutch oven. Simply bake at 350 degrees, covered, for 2 and a half hours. Then remove the lid, add carrots, and bake an additional 30-45 minutes.

Serves 4

Holy Guacamole!

My good friend Anna makes the best guacamole ever. Chunks of perfectly ripe avocado with just the right amount of onions and tomatoes. We open up a bag of tortilla chips, pour up a couple of icy margaritas, and that's all she wrote. I can never make Anna's guacamole as good as she can, so I created my own "signature" dip. A really simple recipe, but a wonderful juxtaposition of flavors and textures--smooth, crunchy, tart & hot. It's called "Green Guacamole" because all the ingredients are green, including a surprise ingredient.

Green Guacamole

3 ripe avocados

2 jalapeno peppers (seeded and diced)

1/2 Granny Smith apple (finely diced)

1/8 cup cilantro (chopped)

2 limes (juiced)

salt and pepper to taste

Mash avocados roughly with a fork. fold in apples, peppers, and cilantro. Stir in lime juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dig in!

Serves 2 to 6 (depending on how hungry you are!)

Optional: If you're into onions--add some sliced green onions.