Sunday, July 1, 2012

Celebrating #SundaySupper July 4th Fun...Featuring Texas-Creole Crawfish Potato Salad

This week’s #SundaySupper features everything you need to whip up a fun and delicious July 4th meal...from side dishes to main dishes to festive desserts. Think of your #SundaySupper bloggers as your one-stop shop for fantastic holiday-themed recipes! My contribution to the virtual cookout is a modern spin on an American classic: potato salad. Don't get me wrong: I LOVE potato old-fashioned potato salad. But...this time, I wanted to do something a bit different. Michael found a great recipe and showed it to me earlier this week...which usually means that he wants me to make the dish.

When I took a look, I was onboard in a split second. Try this on for size: Texas-Creole Crawfish Potato Salad. This recipe is my take on a recipe from Brennan’s Houston. It's one of my favorite restaurants of all time, and they really have an inventive way of combining Texas and Louisiana Creole flavors in delicious ways! I made a few tweaks to their recipe to suit our taste buds. I subbed cornichons (French baby pickles) for pickled okra, because that’s one veggie we no can do at Casa Garcia. I also left out the bell pepper since I can't eat it unless it's cooked really well. Feel free to add 1/2 cup of chopped bell pepper if you like it. 

To compensate for these changes, I upped the amount of boiled eggs and cooked bacon...so I hope all is forgiven. This defininitely ain’t your Mama’s potato salad, but it sure is good! It has just enough classic potato salad ingredients to taste familiar: boiled eggs, tangy pickles, and celery. Then? It takes a sharp detour with Cajun-spiced crawfish tails, sauteed shallot, and bacon. I know some of you might be skeptical, but sometimes different is good...

Texas-Creole Crawfish Potato Salad
adapted from Brennan's Houston

Step 1:  Boil 1 lb. potatoes and two large eggs in salted water. I used a package of Dutch yellow peewee potatoes, but fingerlings or Yukon gold potatoes would work well too. While the potatoes and eggs cook, make the dressing. Combine the following ingredients in a large measuring cup: 2/3 cup mayo, 1/4 cup Creole mustard (Zatarains is good), the juice of half a lemon, and 1/4 cup pickle brine. Whisk to combine and set aside.


Step 2:  Cook 3 slices applewood bacon until crispy and crumble; set aside. Drain the grease from the pan and add 1 tbs. olive oil. Saute 1/3 cup sliced celery and 1/2 cup diced shallot for a few minutes...until they are softened a bit, but still a bit crunchy. Set aside to cool. Add 1 more tbs. olive oil to the pan and add 1/2 pound crawfish tails and 1 tbs. Cajun seasoning. Cook until heated through over med heat.


Step 3:  When the potatoes and eggs are cooked, cool. Peel and dice the cooled eggs and set aside. Place the cooled potatoes in a large bowl and cut into bite-sized pieces. Add the reserved shallot, celery, and bacon. Then, add 1/3 cup sliced cornichons, 3 sliced green onions, and the cooked crawfish. 


Step 4:  Pour the dressing over the top and stir well to combine. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours to let the potato salad chill...and the flavors to combine. Serve as a side dish, or as a light Summer supper.


Oh. My. This unique potato salad is OUT of this world!! The earthy potatoes, creamy and tangy dressing, spicy and sweet crawfish, and smoky bacon work perfectly together...and I LOVED the shallot and cornichons. Every bite of this potato salad featured a slightly different flavor and texture profile, depending on what was on the fork. Truth told, I could've eaten the entire bowl of this potato myself, but I shared with Michael since he's the one who found the recipe!!

If you want to join in the weekly fun, all you have to do is visit our founder Isabel from Family Foodie and let her know you want to take part in our group. We will be sharing our featured recipes all afternoon via Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. Then, we'll be having a live chat on Twitter at 530 EST. Use the hashtag #SundaySupper, and come join in on the fun. While you're at it, take a look at all the fabulous recipes my fellow #SundaySupper bloggers are sharing! We look forward to spending time Around the Family Table with you!!!

Main Dishes:
Salads and Sides:
Desserts:
Fabulous Wine Pairings by Martin from ENOFYLZ

3 comments:

  1. Wow I never would've thought to add seafood to this! What a wonderful dish. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This sounds so awesome ans unique. I love crawfish!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This sounds so awesome ans unique. I love crawfish!

    ReplyDelete

I love hearing your feedback!!!